[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING DEAN PHYLLIS O'CALLAGHAN AND GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY'S LIBERAL 
                                STUDIES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I commend 
the Liberal Studies Degree Program at Georgetown University, which is 
celebrating its 30th anniversary. For three decades, this unique and 
wonderful program has served the Washington DC area by offering 
bachelors and masters degrees in interdisciplinary liberal arts.
  And I am further pleased to commend the person who has headed and 
guided this unique program for the past 25 years, Associate Dean 
Phyllis O'Callaghan, a constituent from Chevy Chase, Maryland. As the 
cochair of the 30th Anniversary Celebration, Chester Gillis, Chairman 
of the Theology Department and Core Faculty Advisor for Religious 
Studies in the Liberal Studies Program, stated at the ceremony, the 
``heart and soul of this enterprise--someone who embodies Liberal 
Studies at Georgetown and commands national recognition and respect'' 
is Associate Dean Phyllis O'Callaghan. In recognition for her work with 
this program and for all her accomplishments, Dr. O'Callaghan was 
awarded the ``President's Medal,'' which is the highest award that 
Georgetown University can present.
  The Liberal Studies Program at Georgetown is truly unique, 
outstanding and very special. The program was designed to offer most 
courses in the evenings and on Saturdays, in order to best accommodate 
the schedules of those who wish to participate in academia while still 
pursuing professional careers. The majority of students in the Liberal 
Studies program are ``working students,'' and the program reflects the 
intellectual curiosity, breadth of interest, and professional 
experience of these students whose lives and occupations most graduate 
programs do not address.
  The students come from all walks of life. Some are recent college 
graduates who wish to continue their education by working for a 
Master's degree. Others work for the government--on the Hill or in the 
Executive branch. Some are foreign born and are currently working at 
various embassies or international organizations. This diversity 
enhances class discussions and enriches the entire program. The 
professors represent the best Georgetown has to offer. Many teach full-
time, but a number also have non-academic careers, which enable them to 
bring fresh experiences into the classrooms.
  Fourteen curricular fields provide concentrations in broad areas of 
special interest. Instead of focusing on academic disciplines, the 
courses are designed to reflect the questions and interests these adult 
students carry in their lives and their occupations. The courses and 
instructors enable the students to read and reflect on great issues 
that have concerned, thrilled and disturbed major thinkers and 
movements in the past and in the present. At the core of these courses 
are the values humans cherish, debate and that are replete in the 
liberal arts. The Liberal Studies Program graduate and undergraduate 
degrees are academically structured, intellectually demanding, and 
personally enriching carrying into the 21st century the Georgetown-
Jesuit tradition of educating the whole person.
  Dr. O'Callaghan received her Ph.D. in History from Saint Louis 
University and then was a Professor, and then Department Chair, at 
Saint Mary's Notre Dame, where she also was awarded the Outstanding 
Faculty Award. She is active in the Association of Graduate Liberal 
Studies Programs and a Member of its Board of Directors. Dr. 
O'Callaghan helped the program to receive an $85,000 Grant from NEH; 
and a $1,200,000 Grant for the James Madison Foundation. The author of 
several articles and editor of two books; A Clashing of Symbols: Method 
and Meaning in Liberal Studies and Values in Conflict: An 
Interdisciplinary Approach, she also served at one time as a chief 
legislative assistant and speechwriter in Congress.
  I congratulate Dean Phyllis O'Callaghan and the Liberal Studies 
Program and wish them success in the years ahead.

                          ____________________