On Oct. 1, we were called to reflect on the legacy of our “Messenger of Hope,” Dr. Jane Goodall. After her passing, her absence was felt in each and every corner of the world, including the Georgetown community.
Accredited with the groundbreaking discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools, Dr. Goodall’s work reshaped the way the scientific community understood humanity and the way humanity itself understood its relation to the natural world.
Goodall devoted her life to environmental activism for over three decades before passing. She traveled for more than 300 days a year on a perpetual speaking tour since 1986, even coming to speak at Georgetown’s own Gaston Hall in 2009. Her powerful approach to change-making through storytelling has touched the hearts and minds of millions of individuals across the globe, including my own.
My introduction to Jane Goodall came in the Fall of 2023 when I registered for a one-credit class at Georgetown called The Jane Goodall Rules. Somewhat unfamiliar with her life and work at the time, I was largely drawn to the class by Professor John Trybus’ biography.
As the Academic Director of the Center for Social Impact Communication at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, Dr. Trybus has devoted his career to shaping the social awareness and responsibility of governmental, corporate, and non-profit organizations.
At Georgetown, I had encountered professionals in a variety of fields, ranging from diplomacy to journalism to medicine. But this was the first opportunity I would have to learn from a professional in the business of ‘doing good.’ Within the first week of the course, I could tell that Trybus had created a special experience.
For many years, Trybus worked as Goodall’s personal advisor at the Jane Goodall Institute, traveling alongside the activist on her global tour.
“That was a key form of her outreach and her social movement, as she believed strongly in connecting with people through her stories, her lectures, and her speeches,” Trybus said.
It is with this deeply personal understanding of Goodall’s messages of connection, peace, and hope that Trybus set out to share “The Jane Goodall Rules” with the Georgetown community.
“I was going to create a very experiential course that was focused on Jane’s ethos and moral leadership and her perspective on hope,” Trybus said. “But it was also going to be a class where students had the opportunity to explore what hope meant to them.”
The class material delves into Goodall’s life story and The Book of Hope, which explores Goodall’s four reasons for hope: the amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of young people, and the indomitable human spirit. While Goodall’s philosophy is the foundation, Trybus encourages and provides space for his students to discover their own reasons for hope.
“I’ll never forget this one in particular,” Trybus recounted. “One person said, ‘My reason for hope is my dog Luna.’ Not just animals, not just dogs, my dog Luna. So [the reasons] have ranged from the big to the small, which suggests that hope is very personal.”
For the past five years, Trybus has brought Goodall’s mission to Georgetown by sharing her story and welcoming students into their own community of inspiration, dialogue, and purpose.
Sarah Sanders (CAS ’26), a current student in the class, recalled feeling uncertain about her next steps after college, leading her to seek out a space for reflection. Sanders explained that by being able to look up to and learn from Goodall, she has since found the guidance and grounding she was searching for.
“What I love most about Jane is that she never saw anything as out of reach,” Sanders explained. “She believed that if you care deeply enough and you put your heart into something, you can make it happen. That mindset, that kind of fearlessness, is what makes her so inspiring to me.”
Sanders and the rest of her class will join a community of Georgetown students whose academic paths have been shaped by the legacy of Jane Goodall. Although the course only spans seven weeks, many alumni of the class can feel its impact on their lives for years to come.
Stella Vance (CAS ’26) is one of the many students living in Goodall’s legacy. Since participating in the class in the Fall of 2023, Vance has spent the past few years implementing the practice of hope on both a personal and professional level. She recalled speaking to Trybus one day, curious about how to apply the course material beyond the classroom.
“He told me that he’d heard of one woman who had a company about hope and building hope in communities,” Vance said. “I’ve worked with her for two years now, helping develop programs across diverse communities.”
At The Shine Hope Company, Vance works with incarcerated individuals, educators, and students to teach how to build and strengthen strategies of hope. By gaining a glimpse into the world of social impact, Vance recognizes Goodall’s contributions and sacrifices in her advocacy work.
“[Goodall] was someone who remained committed to her values and sharing them with the world, up until literally her last day. It’s a balance of how much of yourself you give to working towards your mission. I think Jane went all the way,” Vance said. “She’s an example of someone who tirelessly worked for the things she believed most in, and I think that’s a huge legacy.”
While students like Sanders and Vance had the privilege of connecting with Goodall’s mission before her passing, her impact will live on through those who share her story. Now more than ever, Trybus looks to be this messenger among the Georgetown community.
“She knew about this class. She loved it, and she considered it to be part of her ongoing legacy,” Trybus said. “The Jane class will continue. It continues with even more importance as we think about her legacy and the challenges facing this world and the hope that we need to have to have that action orientation going forward.”
In my own life, taking this class felt like a turning point. I had never before been called to explore the relationship between despair in the challenges of today and belief in a better tomorrow. In learning to see hope as more than a fleeting emotion but as a foundation of my identity, I’ve begun to make sense of the world and my place in it. Through times of joy and sorrow, I find myself calling upon the Jane Goodall Rules —to recenter, to connect, to advocate, to hope.
Like me, Sanders carries Goodall’s lessons and spirit with her. On the day of Goodall’s passing, she saw a beautiful sunrise and immediately thought of Jane. She even reached out to Trybus to share the profound moment of connection she had experienced.
“He wrote back and said that Jane didn’t believe in coincidences; she believed in fate, or what she called ‘Jane Magic,’” Sanders said. “It made me realize that the sunrise wasn’t random; it was fate, a reminder from both Jane and Professor Trybus to slow down.”
In the wake of Goodall’s passing, we look towards this ‘Jane Magic’ as a guiding light. While the world grieves the loss of an extraordinary change-maker and protector of our natural habitat, we can take comfort in knowing her teachings and legacy will live on through all those she has made an impact on. They live on in John Trybus. They live on in Sarah Sanders. They live on in Stella Vance. They live on in “The Jane Goodall Rules.”
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News Commentary
“The Jane Goodall Rules”
By Nicole Abudayeh
November 2, 2025
On Oct. 1, we were called to reflect on the legacy of our “Messenger of Hope,” Dr. Jane Goodall. After her passing, her absence was felt in each and every corner of the world, including the Georgetown community.
Accredited with the groundbreaking discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools, Dr. Goodall’s work reshaped the way the scientific community understood humanity and the way humanity itself understood its relation to the natural world.
Goodall devoted her life to environmental activism for over three decades before passing. She traveled for more than 300 days a year on a perpetual speaking tour since 1986, even coming to speak at Georgetown’s own Gaston Hall in 2009. Her powerful approach to change-making through storytelling has touched the hearts and minds of millions of individuals across the globe, including my own.
My introduction to Jane Goodall came in the Fall of 2023 when I registered for a one-credit class at Georgetown called The Jane Goodall Rules. Somewhat unfamiliar with her life and work at the time, I was largely drawn to the class by Professor John Trybus’ biography.
As the Academic Director of the Center for Social Impact Communication at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, Dr. Trybus has devoted his career to shaping the social awareness and responsibility of governmental, corporate, and non-profit organizations.
At Georgetown, I had encountered professionals in a variety of fields, ranging from diplomacy to journalism to medicine. But this was the first opportunity I would have to learn from a professional in the business of ‘doing good.’ Within the first week of the course, I could tell that Trybus had created a special experience.
For many years, Trybus worked as Goodall’s personal advisor at the Jane Goodall Institute, traveling alongside the activist on her global tour.
“That was a key form of her outreach and her social movement, as she believed strongly in connecting with people through her stories, her lectures, and her speeches,” Trybus said.
It is with this deeply personal understanding of Goodall’s messages of connection, peace, and hope that Trybus set out to share “The Jane Goodall Rules” with the Georgetown community.
“I was going to create a very experiential course that was focused on Jane’s ethos and moral leadership and her perspective on hope,” Trybus said. “But it was also going to be a class where students had the opportunity to explore what hope meant to them.”
The class material delves into Goodall’s life story and The Book of Hope, which explores Goodall’s four reasons for hope: the amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of young people, and the indomitable human spirit. While Goodall’s philosophy is the foundation, Trybus encourages and provides space for his students to discover their own reasons for hope.
“I’ll never forget this one in particular,” Trybus recounted. “One person said, ‘My reason for hope is my dog Luna.’ Not just animals, not just dogs, my dog Luna. So [the reasons] have ranged from the big to the small, which suggests that hope is very personal.”
For the past five years, Trybus has brought Goodall’s mission to Georgetown by sharing her story and welcoming students into their own community of inspiration, dialogue, and purpose.
Sarah Sanders (CAS ’26), a current student in the class, recalled feeling uncertain about her next steps after college, leading her to seek out a space for reflection. Sanders explained that by being able to look up to and learn from Goodall, she has since found the guidance and grounding she was searching for.
“What I love most about Jane is that she never saw anything as out of reach,” Sanders explained. “She believed that if you care deeply enough and you put your heart into something, you can make it happen. That mindset, that kind of fearlessness, is what makes her so inspiring to me.”
Sanders and the rest of her class will join a community of Georgetown students whose academic paths have been shaped by the legacy of Jane Goodall. Although the course only spans seven weeks, many alumni of the class can feel its impact on their lives for years to come.
Stella Vance (CAS ’26) is one of the many students living in Goodall’s legacy. Since participating in the class in the Fall of 2023, Vance has spent the past few years implementing the practice of hope on both a personal and professional level. She recalled speaking to Trybus one day, curious about how to apply the course material beyond the classroom.
“He told me that he’d heard of one woman who had a company about hope and building hope in communities,” Vance said. “I’ve worked with her for two years now, helping develop programs across diverse communities.”
At The Shine Hope Company, Vance works with incarcerated individuals, educators, and students to teach how to build and strengthen strategies of hope. By gaining a glimpse into the world of social impact, Vance recognizes Goodall’s contributions and sacrifices in her advocacy work.
“[Goodall] was someone who remained committed to her values and sharing them with the world, up until literally her last day. It’s a balance of how much of yourself you give to working towards your mission. I think Jane went all the way,” Vance said. “She’s an example of someone who tirelessly worked for the things she believed most in, and I think that’s a huge legacy.”
While students like Sanders and Vance had the privilege of connecting with Goodall’s mission before her passing, her impact will live on through those who share her story. Now more than ever, Trybus looks to be this messenger among the Georgetown community.
“She knew about this class. She loved it, and she considered it to be part of her ongoing legacy,” Trybus said. “The Jane class will continue. It continues with even more importance as we think about her legacy and the challenges facing this world and the hope that we need to have to have that action orientation going forward.”
In my own life, taking this class felt like a turning point. I had never before been called to explore the relationship between despair in the challenges of today and belief in a better tomorrow. In learning to see hope as more than a fleeting emotion but as a foundation of my identity, I’ve begun to make sense of the world and my place in it. Through times of joy and sorrow, I find myself calling upon the Jane Goodall Rules —to recenter, to connect, to advocate, to hope.
Like me, Sanders carries Goodall’s lessons and spirit with her. On the day of Goodall’s passing, she saw a beautiful sunrise and immediately thought of Jane. She even reached out to Trybus to share the profound moment of connection she had experienced.
“He wrote back and said that Jane didn’t believe in coincidences; she believed in fate, or what she called ‘Jane Magic,’” Sanders said. “It made me realize that the sunrise wasn’t random; it was fate, a reminder from both Jane and Professor Trybus to slow down.”
In the wake of Goodall’s passing, we look towards this ‘Jane Magic’ as a guiding light. While the world grieves the loss of an extraordinary change-maker and protector of our natural habitat, we can take comfort in knowing her teachings and legacy will live on through all those she has made an impact on. They live on in John Trybus. They live on in Sarah Sanders. They live on in Stella Vance. They live on in “The Jane Goodall Rules.”
Nicole Abudayeh
More: Jane Goodall, Professor Trybus, The Jane Goodall Rules
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