[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S433-S434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am not anyone would call a ``blue 
blood''--at least not in the conventional sense of that term. My 
ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower. My mom was an immigrant; 
she came to this country from Lithuania when she was 2 years old. But I 
do have some blue blood in my veins--Hoya blue--for Georgetown 
University.
  With help of affordable loans from the United States Government, this 
immigrant's son from East St. Louis, IL was able to earn two degrees 
from Georgetown University--an undergraduate degree from the Walsh 
School of Foreign Service and a law degree from the Georgetown Law 
Center.
  In addition, it was a college internship while I was a Georgetown 
undergraduate 50 years ago that first brought me to the United States 
Senate. I had the amazing good luck to land an internship with Senator 
Paul Douglas of Illinois--one of the great ones. He had a brilliant 
mind and enormous moral and political courage. Had I not gone to 
Georgetown, it is likely that I never would have met Paul Douglas and I 
would not be here today. Had I not gone to Georgetown, I never would 
have met some of my greatest teachers.
  I owe Georgetown a great deal, so I would like to take a moment to 
say thank you as this great university prepares to celebrate an 
historic milestone. Next week--on January 23--Georgetown University 
will celebrate its 225th anniversary.
  January 23, 1789. That was 6 weeks before the United States 
Constitution took effect and 6 weeks before the first United States 
Congress was seated.
  Georgetown was founded by John Carroll, America's first Catholic 
bishop. It was America's first Catholic and first Jesuit college. In 
his proposal for the new university, Father John Carroll wrote that in 
keeping with ``the liberal Principle of our Constitution, the [school] 
will be open to Students of Every Religious Profession.''
  That steadfast commitment to religious liberty remains a hallmark of 
Georgetown University. Today, only about 40 percent of Georgetown 
students identify as Roman Catholic. The other 60 percent are 
Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon and members 
of other faith traditions.

[[Page S434]]

  On November 22, 1791, Georgetown enrolled its first student, William 
Gaston, from North Carolina. Due to illness shortly thereafter, William 
Gaston was also Georgetown's first dropout.
  But he turned out well. He eventually graduated from Princeton 
University and returned to North Carolina, where he was elected to the 
State Senate . . . the state House of Commons . . . and the United 
States House of Representatives, making him the first Georgetown 
student to serve in Congress.
  Many other Georgetown graduates have gone on to serve in elected 
office. Among them are are former President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court 
Justice Antonin Scalia, several members of this Congress, including the 
President Pro Tem of this Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy.
  My State of Illinois may hold the current record for statewide office 
holders whose views of public service Georgetown helped to shape. Not 
only are my Senate partner, Senator Mark Kirk and I both Georgetown 
graduates but so are our Governor Pat Quinn, our Lieutenant Governor, 
Sheila Simon, and our state Attorney General, Lisa Madigan.
  In the years following the Civil War, Father Patrick Healy helped 
transform Georgetown into a modern university. So profound was his 
influence that Father Healy is often called Georgetown's ``second 
founder.''
  Father Healy's accomplishments are all the more extraordinary when 
you consider that the laws of Georgia, the State in which he was born, 
made it a crime even to teach him to read. You see, Father Patrick 
Healy was born a slave. His father was a wealthy Irish American cotton 
farmer and his mother was mixed race--half white and half African 
American. His parents joined in a common-law marriage and gave all of 
their children excellent educations in Northern and European schools.
  Father Healy's mixed-race background was not widely known until the 
1960s, when he was recognized as the first American of African ancestry 
to earn a PhD, the first to become a Jesuit priest, and the first to be 
president of a predominantly white college.
  Georgetown University today is one of the top research universities 
in the world. The university today has around 7,500 undergraduate and 
over 9,500 post-graduate students from every State and territory in the 
United States and more than 130 foreign nations. In 2001, Georgetown 
gained its first lay president, John DeGioia, a philosopher by training 
and a champion of civil discourse, for whom I have great respect.
  Education at Georgetown is rooted in the Jesuit tradition: ``for the 
glory of God and the well-being of humankind.''
  I am continually impressed by the commitment of Georgetown students 
to causes of social and economic justice.
  Georgetown has the second most politically active student body in the 
United States according to the Princeton Review. Georgetown is also one 
of the top-10 yearly producers of Peace Corps volunteers. Georgetown 
students founded one of the first chapters of STAND, the student-led 
movement to end mass atrocities in Darfur and elsewhere. And Georgetown 
faculty, administrators and--especially--students remain fearless and 
dedicated champions of a cause that is very close to my heart, the 
DREAM Act.
  I could not speak about my alma mater without bragging a little about 
its athletic teams and programs. The men's basketball team is 
particularly noteworthy. In 1984, it was the NCAA championship under 
Coach John Thompson. All told, the Georgetown men's basketball team is 
tied for the most Big East conference tournament titles with 7, and has 
made 27 NCAA tournament.
  U.S. News & World Report lists Georgetown's athletics program among 
the 20 best in the Nation. Perhaps even more impressive, Georgetown's 
student athletes have a 94 percent graduation success rate.
  I did not start out at Georgetown. I spent my freshman year at 
another Jesuit university, St. Louis University, just across the 
Mississippi River from my home town of East St. Louis, IL.
  Partway through my first year, I decided that I wanted to go away for 
school. So, I went to the university guidance office, looked through 
some pamphlets and chose two. I had never been to either place.
  I told my mom that I wanted to go away for school and I had narrowed 
it down to two choices. I said the first is a school in California 
called Stanford. Mom said, ``No, if you go to California you'll never 
come home.''
  I said the other is a school in Washington called Georgetown 
University.'' She thought for a minute and then said, ``OK. Your 
brother goes to Washington frequently for his work. He can keep an eye 
on you.'' That is how I ended up attending one of the best universities 
in America and the world.
  My mom is gone now. But on the eve of Georgetown University's 225th 
anniversary, I want to thank her for steering me to a truly great 
university. I want to thank all of the professors who taught me--
brilliant, brave men like Professor Jan Karski.
  Finally, I want to commend President Jack DeGioia and all of the 
Georgetown administrators, faculty, alumni, supporters, and students 
for continuing to uphold Georgetown's mission of academic excellent and 
service to God and humankind.

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