Mission Priority Examen Update

November 19, 2024

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

Over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year, Georgetown participated in the Mission Priority Examen (MPE), a self-study and peer review process for Catholic and Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. President DeGioia announced the 2023-2024 MPE process in a message to the University community in September 2023.

An 18-person committee, led by co-chairs Jeanne Lord, J.D., Ed.D, senior advisor, Office of the President, and Fr. Stephen Sundborg, S.J., Special Assistant to the President, in close collaboration with Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., Ph.D., Vice President for Mission & Ministry, facilitated Georgetown’s self-study. The self-study was informed by the Characteristics of Jesuit Higher Education and the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, a set of priorities recently set by the Jesuit order to guide its next decade of work.

As part of the self-study, the Committee was responsible for conducting a series of listening sessions as well as a survey of Georgetown community members, and a self-study report. 

The Committee completed its self-study report in December 2023 and hosted a peer-review team in January 2024. Following this visit, our self-study and the peer-review team reports were provided to the Superior General of the Jesuits, Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J., and the local Jesuit leadership, including, Rev. Joseph O’Keefe, S.J., Provincial of the USA East Province. 

We recently received a positive affirmation of our Mission Priority Examen process from Fr. Sosa and Fr. O’Keefe. In affirming Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity, Fr. Sosa highlighted three overarching goals as priorities for the coming years: “ongoing reflection on identity and mission; renewed engagement with the Ignatian spiritual tradition; and construction of an Ignatian campus culture on the Capitol Campus.” These will be important elements of Georgetown’s work going forward as we continue to reflect on our Catholic and Jesuit identity and to pursue a deeper engagement with Jesuit values.

Please join us in expressing our gratitude to the members of the MPE Committee for their efforts to support this important process for our University community.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Groves
Provost

Joseph A. Ferrara
Vice President and Chief of Staff to President DeGioia