Washington, D.C. -- Georgetown University today began notifying approximately 38,000 current and former students, faculty and staff that a recent computer theft may have exposed their personally identifiable information such as name and social security numbers.

An external computer hard drive was reported stolen from a locked office within the Office of Student Affairs in the Leavey Center on the Main Campus on January 3, 2008. Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety responded to the scene and the incident remains under investigation by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. Georgetown has also notified the U.S. Secret Service about this incident so that they may follow up as they determine appropriate.

A thorough internal investigation of the hard drive data has now determined that it included personally identifiable information for students enrolled and some faculty and staff from 1998 through 2006. This incident is limited to this one hard drive and does not extend to other University systems and services where personal data may be stored or updated.

Of the impacted individuals, approximately 7,700 are current students from the Main, Medical and Law Center campuses, 26,000 are Georgetown alumni, and 600 are current or former faculty and staff, with the balance having a combination of multiple student, staff, or other affiliations.

At this time Georgetown has no evidence that personal data have been misused. However, as a precaution, Georgetown is making every reasonable effort to notify all individuals whose personal information may have been exposed as a result of this theft and encouraging them to place a fraud alert on their credit reporting accounts.

In addition to mailings, Georgetown will be providing free credit monitoring to affected individuals, will hold campus information sessions and has established a toll free telephone number (1-866-740-2458) and a website (identity.georgetown.edu) to provide information and answer specific questions.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three campuses in Washington, DC. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.