University President John DeGioia talked with reporters last week about the Inauguration, expansion plans, the business school, and the LGBTQ center.
How is the University planning on changing and adapting its day-to-day operations and security to accommodate for the Inauguration, and what are the biggest problems you’re anticipating?
We realize that this is going to be a big moment for the University, since every Georgetown student has the ability to witness only one Inauguration during their time on campus. We want everyone to really enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity but ensure a safe environment at the same time. We’ve all been in regular contact with the Metro police, and, additionally, DPS, Rocco Delmonico, and Todd Olson have been engaged in a full state of readiness to address any security issues that might arise with the huge flow of people that will enter campus at that time.
How is the University proposing to adapt or alter its plans or projects for expansion in light of the current economic situation—especially with regards to the new science building and the multi-sport field?
The question of the science building and the multi-sport field right now is mainly one of timing. We’re not considering cutting back on or changing any of our original plans. There’s been no decline in our commitment to these projects. However, we realize that they may not be realized as soon as we had hoped for, and we’re still hesitant to make any concrete promises now. The whole situation largely depends on constraints in the University’s ability to borrow, which is expected to become more difficult. It also depends on how strong philanthropy will be towards the University in the future, since many of our projects are funded through alumni donations. While we haven’t seen a significant disjuncture in giving towards the University just yet, we probably will have a clearer idea of how the economy will have an effect on that around March or April.
Is the MSB planning to reevaluate or make alterations to its curriculum in light of the fact that the financial industry is undergoing drastic changes? Also, are you concerned that fewer young people will be inclined to enter the business school now?
[I] think as it relates to the undergraduate curriculum, prior to the financial crisis, Dean Daley recognized that it was important to carefully review the relevance of the curriculum against the contemporary realities of the practice of business. He’s been methodically working through some of the significant challenges in the MSB so that when we move into the new building in 2009, it will be kind of a re-launch. The opening of the new building is sort of symbolic of the beginning of a new era in business. We’re also counting on a rise in the MSB’s rankings because of all of these developments. However, no one really knows what the current disruption in the financial community means for the career prospects of our students. It’s a totally different landscape now. We did exceptionally well as a university in placing our students in the leading investment banks. That industry doesn’t exist anymore. Everyone right now is still trying to figure out what this means for the future. We want to be at the table trying to come up with solutions to these issues.
It has been a whole semester now that the LGBTQ resource center has been in operation. What has the alumni reaction to it been thus far and do you think that its presence has helped change the general climate of the University for the better?
I’ve been very pleased with how receptive and engaged the immediate University community and the larger alumni community have been to the efforts we’ve taken over the last year to strengthen the framework to support our LGBTQ community … The reaction and the reception have been extremely positive. That being said, we feel very lucky to have recruited a leader of the quality that we did to run the program. Shiva is Georgetown. Finding a director of the program was critical for us. This is a person who respects this place and the urgency for her role. Concretely, it is being realized because of an exceptional leader.
