Around 100 members of the Georgetown community gathered in the newly completed Memorial Park in West Georgetown for an opening ceremony Saturday. The park, dedicated to members of the Georgetown community who died on Sept. 11, is a result of the Senior Class Gift of 2002 and the efforts of the Alumni Association.
Construction began in late August on a lot bordered by University-owned townhouses that sits on N street between 36th and 37th Streets. The park was completed on Sept. 10.
The park cost around $50,000, according to Matthew Lambert of the Office of Alumni and University Relations, with over half of the funds being contributed by the Alumni Association.
The memorial park garnered 28 percent of the votes from the 780 seniors who chose the gift. Other ideas included a new flag and flagpole, money for scholarships, a glass plaque calling for peace and Georgetown University signs for the entrance off Canal Street.
Roger Gill (MSB ‘02), chair of the Senior Class Gift 2002, said that all ideas for the 2002 senior gift included some remembrance of Sept. 11.
Since 1994, students have participated in the senior class gift, with the percentage of participating seniors steadily increasing from an initial 12 percent to a record-setting 72 percent with last year’s graduates.
“We broke every record for the senior gift,” Gill said. 1,200 people donated money, he said.
Justin Schellenger (MSB ‘02) said that he voted to have the senior gift go to financial aid. However, Schellenger said that he feels that the final choice was appropriate.
“[Sept. 11] was the mark of our senior year,” Schellenger said.
“This will be here for every generation. We can share it with everyone,” Gill said.
Rabbi Harold White, Sr. Jewish Chaplain at Georgetown, called the park an “oasis of green.”
University Chaplain Scott Pilarz opened the dedication ceremony with a prayer referring to the park as a “sacred space.”
The dedication ceremony occurred during Homecoming weekend, an appropriate time, according to University President John J. DeGioia, because alumni could attend the event.
The memorial proves that students at Georgetown understand the tradition and legacy imparted by alumni, DeGioia said.
“The legacy has never been more alive. The best evidence we have was last Wednesday [Sept. 11],” DeGioia said.
University alumni, especially younger alumni, are the focus of fundraising at Georgetown.
There are over 120,000 members of the Alumni Association, according to Kathy Baczko, Chair of the Board of G overnors
“If you look at just sheer numbers, over half of the alumni graduated since 1980. Young alumni really have the potential to move us to the third century,” Lambert said.
The Third Century Campaign is a fundraising drive by the University to raise $1 billion by the end of June 2003. This campaign began in 1995 and the University has raised over $800 billion towards the goal.
The majority of those attending the gathering on Saturday were alumni, including many graduates of the class of 2002.
“This is the class that will never forget their senior year at Georgetown,” Baczko said.
