When it comes to the Catholic identity of Georgetown University, it seems that the degree of Catholicism is in the eye of the beholder. To some, Georgetown does not deserve to label itself a Catholic institution?the presence of groups such as Hyas for Choice, an abortion rights student organization, and GU Pride, a group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender students, as well as the presence of speakers with “anti-Catholic” messages on campus disqualify Georgetown from calling itself a Catholic school.
Others call for the University to follow in the steps of some of the most respected schools in the nation, such as Harvard, Brown and Princeton, who broke with their religious affiliations to rise to the top of the collegiate hierarchy.
Yet, others, including the administration, argue that the University perfectly walks the thin line between honoring its Catholicism and respecting the myriad beliefs on campus.
Georgetown has reached something like a mid-life crisis for Catholic schools, caught between the religious university it was founded to be and the secular society to whom it caters.
The truth is that there is no clear-cut answer to the question “How Catholic is Georgetown?” The answer lies somewhere in between “Too much” and “Not really at all.” And it is this ambiguous Catholicness that makes this debate such a pressing, important and interesting one to observe.
Why the complication?
When people hear that Georgetown is a Catholic school, many assume that, like Catholic high schools, the University is under the direct control of the local bishop or the Vatican. On the contrary, Georgetown is not legally bound or contractually obligated to the local diocese or to Rome.
It also comes as a surprise to some that the Society of Jesus has no ownership of the campus. The Jesuits’ legal ownership of Georgetown ended in 1966 when power over the University was transferred to a newly created non-profit corporation organized under D.C. law.
“The University has a membership corporation that is our corporate structure. In the past, members of the corporation were all Jesuits and excercised governing responsibility for the University,” Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille said. She also explained that in the 1960s the Jesuits officially split with the University and formed their own corporation, which left the majority of University power in the hands of the Board of Directors. In the 1990s, all authority was ceded to the University.
Today all power rests in the hands of the Board of Directors. The corporation is still in existence and meets annually, but it has “no legal responsibility for the University,” according to Bataille.
The corporation, then, rubber-stamps the decisions of the Board and serves as a figurehead leadersip body for the school. The Board of Directors has the last call on any campus issue and ends up deciding the direction of the University. Theology Professor Father Stephen Fields, S.J. explains, “The corporation owns the University, but the Board of Directors are the ones who run the show.”
At this point, six of the 44 members of the Board are Jesuits. The secularization of the Board of Directors was part of a nationwide trend after the presidents of America’s Catholic universities issued the 1967 Land O’Lakes declaration, which projected the need for laypeoples’ presence on school’s boards. There was a demand for the secularization of the boards due to the changing nature of universities, which, after the GI enrollment boom following World War II, morphed into organizations with a business-like corporate structure. Georgetown University needed to secularize, some say, not only for the purpose of receiving grants and for tax benefits, but also because some Catholics felt their institutions of higher learning should not remain completely Catholic.
Catholic Enough?
Three important facts cause many to question how, exactly, Georgetown considers itself a Catholic university, with a Board of Directors, the group who yields the most University power, dominated by lay-people; the lack of a binding obligation to the Church; and that the Jesuits don’t hold power over the University.
Not everyone is pleased with the direction President John J. DeGioia has taken the school. Georgetown University is no longer “technically Catholic,” according to Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society for Higher Education, an organization dedicated to the renewal of Catholic identity in Catholic higher education in the United States.
Reilly sees the potential for prolonged conflict with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbisop of Washington, due to previous and continued acts on the part of the University that go against Ex Corde Ecclesiae and therefore Georgetown’s “Catholic identity.” Among such issues are the abovementioned “sponsoring of pro-abortion speakers and the GUChoice [Hyas for Choice] group,” and “some questions about the gay and lesbian group [GU Pride] on campus,” says Reilly. He cites some additional concerns would include whether faculty members were to use the classroom “to dissent from Catholic teachings,” and also “if [in the future] the Health Center distributes contraceptives.”
Georgetown does not meet the requirements of Ex Corde Ecclesiae at this time,” according to Reilly, who also adds “it would mean years and years of dialogue by the bishop to remove the Catholic affiliation.” The document Reilly cites, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, was the Pope’s response to the Land O’Lakes statement. Issued in 1990, it defines the relationship between a Catholic college and the local bishop and outlines the Pope’s stipulations which a university should meet in order to consider itself Catholic. Among those stipulations are that those who teach Catholic theology must have a mandate from the local bishop and that at least 50 percent of the faculty, staff and student body should be Catholic.
Although the University website states that student population is over 50 percent Catholic, it is unclear as to whether 50 percent of University faculty and staff is also Catholic. This leaves the potential that Georgetown is not in compliance with the Pope’s wishes.
Fields, however, arguing that Georgetown does currently fulfill the requirements of Ex Corde Ecclesiae. “In my opinion, we’re still in the process of implementing changes to comply with Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” states Fields, adding, “Georgetown tenures its faculty, and the document was issued in 1990, I don’t see how it would be possible for the University to change overnight.” In fact, Georgetown does not have to completely comply with Ex Corde because the document is subject to McCarrick’s interpretation of the document.
But to others, the Catholic identity of Georgetown is clear and strong. “I believe our identity is very clear. Georgetown has a long and proud history as a Catholic and Jesuit institution and, as such, adheres to the religious and ethical tenets of the Catholic Church … In the days that followed Sept. 11, I saw our commitment to these values clearly demonstrated in the active concern of so many: Campus Ministry, the Jesuit Community, faculty, students and my colleagues in Student Affairs, virtually the entire campus community,” Assistant Dean of Students Jeanne Lord said.
In response to the criticism that too many of Georgetown’s leaders are laypeople, President DeGioia initiated a seminar on Jesuit tradition for the Board members and senior University officers. The seminar will be taught by Father Howard Gray, S.J. and Father Brian McDermott, S.J., according to Bataille. “The University also offers multiple opportunities for faculty, students and staff to learn about our unique and important mission as a Catholic, Jesuit University?from new employee and faculty orientation to Campus Ministry programs and events with the Jesuit community,” Bataille said.
However, Georgetown’s Catholic identity has less to do with attracting students and more to do with the “area of fundraising,” according to Reilly. “Look at the alumni publications, they clearly focus on Catholic identity,” Reilly says, adding, “There is a marketing strategy there, and it is somewhat crass.”
Like Reilly some feel that Georgetown uses its Catholic identity for the sake of raising funds from conservative alumni, feeling that this “identity” is merely “window-dressing to appease bishops and Catholic donors.”
Reilly says that Georgetown needs to make some serious decisions in the next two decades when it comes to complying with Ex Corde Ecclesiae and its Catholic identity.
But members of the administration and faculty are adament that the Catholic identity is more than a window dressing. “Cardinal McCarrick said that he was fully satisfied that President DeGioia has articulated his full commitment to Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity,” Bataille said.
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The Washington Post Magazine wrote in a November 2000 article entitled “Georgetown at the Crossroads” that “the university’s quick ascent has led to an identity crisis. Georgetown may seem content and confident to outsiders, but among faculty members and administrators there is confusion and disagreement over what kind of place, exactly, the university should be … the role that the university’s Jesuit and Catholic identity should play in the day-to-day life of the place” is an issue that the “secular faculty wish would go away.”
Although President DeGioia is the first lay-president of Georgetown, he has shown no indication that the issue will “go away,” however much some community members wish it would. And even though the make-up of the school leadership has decreased in Catholicness, it seems the University’s insistence on its religious heritage has increased.
But no matter how much the administration insists on its Catholicness, there will always be those who criticize its stance.
Are the facts that Jesuits have a presence on campus, that campus ministry is a prominent organization at the university and that students are required to take theology courses enough to say that Georgetown is a Catholic school? Is it enough to have the governing body of the school simply respect the tenets of Catholicism and not be clergy themselves or be bound to will of the Bishop? Would Georgetown loose its spirit if the administration decided to not project itself as a Catholic school?
Many would answer “no” to these questions and many would answer “yes.” But, until the administration says otherwise, Georgetown University is, and will remain, a Catholic university.
