Gratitude to Our Alumni and Friends

The following message was sent to all alumni in the Georgetown University community.

Dear Alumni and Friends of Georgetown,

Later today, I will conclude my service as interim president and become a senior advisor to our new president, Eduardo Peñalver.

I want to thank you—alumni and friends of Georgetown—for your good will, engagement, and generosity during these two years.

In June 2024, we did not anticipate the external instability that we later experienced. Beginning in February 2025, the Federal Government quite rapidly began to redefine its relationship with higher education. This produced deep uncertainties.

But we recommitted to our mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution. We believe that learning requires exposure to different perspectives, best achieved by a community who manifest different backgrounds. Together, we seek to nurture the minds, bodies, and spirits of the students who come to us. We want them to become global leaders—“people for others.”

Our alumni and friends multiply the impact of the university. Your willingness to give back to Georgetown, through your time and treasure, is a significant component of the university’s success.

At midnight tonight, we will meet a significant milestone: we will have completed the largest fundraising campaign in Georgetown’s 237-year history. The Called to Be campaign has raised more money for scholarships, faculty research, and campus infrastructure than any prior campaign.

More than 160,000 alumni and friends of Georgetown have donated to this campaign, which has raised more than $3.1 billion and provided Georgetown with vital resources to meet this moment. [numbers up to date as of June 25]

On behalf of all of us at Georgetown, I thank each of you who donated or volunteered. We have reached this level of success because of your generosity. (And if you wish to share a closing gift, I encourage you to do so before midnight tonight.)

At times like this, an intentional commitment to our mission, which is honorable and good, sustains us. In my belief, we must never lose focus on the “why” of what we do, of who we are called to be. With that as our North star, Georgetown will continue to succeed in its mission because of the talents and values of its faculty, staff, students, and all of you.

It has been an honor to work together to support this mission for the last two years.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Groves
Interim President