Our Enduring Values

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

I write today to describe how our University’s roots motivate our day-to-day work, as a follow-up to prior reflections on January 28 and February 24.

Last week, we learned about the troubling detention of one of our colleagues, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Foreign Service. We are concerned about the circumstances of his detention and the questions it may raise about issues of free speech. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly, and we will continue to monitor this closely.

In 1789, Georgetown was founded by Archbishop John Carroll, with the mission of educating young people of all faiths, consistent with the new nation’s commitment to freedom of religion and expression. More than two hundred years later, Georgetown proudly remains a Catholic and Jesuit student-centered research university.

Although what we do day-to-day often resembles the work of other universities, our faith-based identity provides the “why” of what we do and defines our vibrant mission. 

The Jesuit value of Cura Personalis—caring for the whole person—underpins our curriculum and pedagogy. Georgetown combines the intellectual and spiritual. We have a strong framework for interreligious understanding, as our Campus Ministry employs leaders across a range of faiths—the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Orthodox Christian, and Dharmic traditions—who help us to understand the connections between faith and reason.

The Jesuit commitment to inter-religious and inter-group dialogue demands that we protect the freedom to articulate ideas and beliefs, that we build a community that respects their presentation, and that we together use the different perspectives to do what the human spirit was designed to do—seek the truth as a way to deepen our understanding of the world around us. The Jesuits do these things for the greater glory of God and to advance the common good.

Our University must foster and nurture a variety of viewpoints on every issue, in classes, in campus discussions. This is the only way for us to get closer to the truth. To do this, the University, as an academic community, needs students and faculty with different worldviews. We must in turn build an environment where all members of our community are free to express their thoughts. The University has rules that protect our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We give the widest possible latitude to freedom of expression while respecting its limits, such as harassment and discrimination, which can impede the rights of others to freely participate in the exchange of ideas. This is a fundamental commitment of our University.

That grant of freedom, demanded by our values and preserved by law, depends on recognition of the human dignity of all, a prerequisite for mutual respect. It requires that we strive to live “the Ignatian Presupposition,” interpreted in Jesuit education as the idea that we must always begin with the assumption that others are acting with good will. Sincere dialogue requires listening, really listening, as well as speaking.

The Jesuit precept of being “people for and with others” dictates that we recruit a diverse student body and then accompany our students to help them discern how they can serve others. As the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus tell us, Jesuit education is called to “make people aware of the burning need for reconciliation, of the many who are estranged, vulnerable, alienated.”

Given our array of educational programs, Georgetown needs to apply a global lens to every issue. This strengthens our capacity to understand different cultures, to stay alert to the needs of vulnerable persons and populations, and to cultivate a spirit of openness to different perspectives on the issues of the day.

We will always be striving to achieve the aspirations inherent in these faith-based values. We are but imperfect human beings. But our faiths and our mission demand that we never give up trying.

Sincerely

Robert M. Groves
Interim President