2000-2009
View from Lauinger, 9/11/2001
University and MedStar agree to the sale of the Hospital in February 25
First issue of The Fire This Time, a newspaper for African-American students and students of color, is produced on April 5. This publication, the name of which is inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, starts after two hate attacks against students of color and becomes an expression of activism and dialogue
Nursing School changes its name to School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS)
Students and faculty submit petitions supporting the creation of an African American Studies program with over a thousand signatures
John J. DeGioia becomes president on July 1
Main Campus closes at noon on September 11 after the terrorist attacks but classes are held on September 12. On September 14, proclaimed a National Day of Prayer, classes end at noon and the Healy Hall bell tower tolls from 12 to 12:05 p.m., signaling moments of silence and reflection. Students gather on Copley lawn to create and hang banners in tribute to the victims. These join yellow ribbons at the entrances to campus buildings and American flags hanging from dorm windows
Madeleine Albright returns to the faculty after serving as Secretary of State
Statue of Jan Karski is unveiled; the Polish Foreign Minister attends the ceremony. The memorial is a life-size sculpture of the professor sitting on a bench playing chess, his favorite game. It is located on the lawn beside White-Gravenor
$12 million renovation of St. Mary’s Hall is completed
Samuel Halsey, the first African American to earn an undergraduate degree, receives the President’s Medal from University President John J. DeGioia in recognition of a lifetime of achievement
Midnight Mug opens on the second floor of the Lauinger Library in January
Episode from season four of the West Wing tv show is filmed on campus in April 2003. In the episode which airs on May 7, West Wing President Josiah Bartlett (played by Martin Sheen) speaks at the Georgetown graduation of his daughter Zoey Bartlett (played by Elizabeth Moss)
Southwest Quad, including Leo’s, opens
Georgetown Women’s Leadership Institute is founded
John Thompson III becomes head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown; he and his father join 18 other sets of fathers and sons who have both coached at the collegiate level
Foreign Service School’s Qatar campus opens, overseen by founding Dean James Reardon-Anderson
Reena Aggarwal is named interim Dean of the McDonough Business School
MBA evening program is launched
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, visits campus for a seminar on faith and social responsibility on November 3
Sugar’s (a diner at 35th and O Streets, NW) closes. It had opened as a drugstore in 1917
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations speaks in Gaston Hall on October 30
Rosemary Kilkenny is appointed to the newly created position of Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity
Department of Performing Arts is created
Guild of Bands (GOB), an academic music ensemble, is established as part of the new undergraduate degree in American Musical Culture. It is designed as a training laboratory for aspiring musicians and songwriters
Global Executive MBA program is launched
Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative is founded
Rafik B. Hariri Building is dedicated on September 16
