Georgetown has more than 2,000 brand new alumni -- including the first from the Doha, Qatar campus -- after the university’s 210th commencement exercises.
Each of the university’s nine schools, plus the McDonough School of Business’ MBA program, held individual ceremonies to honor their graduates. The Washington campuses celebrated commencement weekend May 16-17, while the School of Foreign Service-Qatar held its inaugural graduation on May 9.
SEE FULL COMMENCEMENT COVERAGE“You came here with your dreams and your skills and your passions, and we’re also very proud of the women and men you’ve become,” President
John J. DeGioia told graduates. “You’ve been educated in a context that is animated by a spirit -- a spirit embodied in a tradition. This tradition is boundless in its resources, and it will always be available to you as you continue your journeys, now beyond this Hilltop.”
It is a Georgetown tradition to hold separate commencement ceremonies so students may graduate with their classmates and also hear from speakers who are experts and scholars in the students’ chosen fields.
PBS journalist
Gwen Ifill of “Washington Week” and “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” spoke at Georgetown College’s ceremony -- the largest at the university. Ifill encouraged the more than 800 graduates to approach life with a healthy dose of skepticism.
“You need to prepare to question yourself, to question those around you, and maybe even question those who you aspire to be,” Ifill said to a sea of graduates and their families sitting on Healy Lawn.
Saturday’s ceremonies included a host of other top leaders such as former
Sen. Charles Hagel (R-Neb.) for the Walsh School of Foreign Service, educator
Freeman Hrabowski III for the School of Continuing Studies, banking president
Luis Alberto Moreno for the business school, Nobel Prize winner
Daniel Kahneman for the graduate school and former foreign minister of Spain
Ana Palacio for the MBA program.
The Washington weather kept graduates on their toes throughout the weekend with intermittent rain. While the College and the Walsh School of Foreign were able to hold their ceremonies on Healy Lawn, the McDonough School of Business decided to err on the side of caution and held their exercises in McDonough Arena. The weather did not hold out for the School of Nursing and Health Studies, and that evening ceremony was moved inside to Gaston Hall.
Graduating indoors has become something of an unexpected tradition for the Zagar family of New Jersey.
Elizabeth Zagar (NHS’09) received her nursing degree this year. Her father
Fred Zagar, who graduated from the university’s Institute for Language and Linguistics in 1968, remembers that his own graduation was set to take place on Healy Lawn when black rain clouds rolled in.
“The ceremony was about to start, and it began to pour. They told us, ‘run!’ and that was it,” he chuckles.
By the time
Timothy Zagar (C’02) graduated from the Hilltop, Georgetown had a back-up plan in case of rain – and he also graduated indoors. Now, his daughter is part of the family tradition as well.
NHS graduates heard from Pulitzer Prize-winning health and science writer
Laurie Garrett, who spoke of looming health care challenges in the United States.
“I know that against all odds and obstacles that will be thrown at you each and every day of your new careers, you will carry on as consummate professionals,” she said.
Ceremonies for the School of Medicine and Law Center took place the next day with medical school speaker
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Law Center professor
David Vladeck, who was just appointed director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission by the Obama administration.
Medical school graduates walked the stage at Constitution Hall during their ceremony, while Law Center graduates gathered on Healy Lawn for the weekend’s last ceremony.
Georgetown’s commencement weekend kicked off for undergraduates on May 14 with
Senior Convocation in McDonough Arena. It ended in the same arena on May 17 with the
Baccalaureate Eucharistic Celebration, where the message focused on the love of God.
“Tuck this away in your memory,” said the
Rev. James Walsh, S.J. “When things get tough, remember the command is a promise. What we can’t do on our own, God will supply.”
