海角论坛

November 8, 2012鈥擣or once, alumna and journalist Mary Jordan (C鈥�83) was the one answering questions.

As a foreign correspondent, Jordan has spent much of her career abroad. She recently returned to Washington, DC, and visited Georgetown to talk with students and Dean Chester Gillis at a Dean鈥檚 Lunch Seminar. These gatherings allow students to learn about the trajectory of graduates鈥� personal and professional lives after Georgetown. Jordan fielded questions from 20 students interested in everything from how she got started and how she finds stories to how she sees the future of journalism.

Jordan began her career in journalism at the Washington Post about 25 years ago and has been co-chief of bureaus in Tokyo, Mexico City, and most recently London. Now back in Washington, DC, she is the editor of , which hosts forums and events with the Post鈥檚 journalists and leaders in government and business.

As students asked about which majors and courses to pursue, Jordan explained the value of a strong liberal arts education. Although she did not study as an undergraduate student, Jordan鈥檚 education at Georgetown has heavily influenced her career. 鈥淚 have spent the bulk of my writing career on poverty and social justice issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 spent a lot of time in prisons and courts, and I directly relate that to my time at Georgetown because I was always interested in鈥攁nd believed in鈥攖he Jesuit teaching that we are how we treat the rest of us. And you鈥檙e happiest when you鈥檙e helping others,鈥� she continued.

Committed to social justice issues, Jordan has written about Mexican prisons and courts, discrimination against women, and DC public housing. In 2003, Jordan and her husband and fellow journalist Kevin Sullivan won a Pulitzer Prize for of the Mexican criminal justice system. One story led Jordan to an island prison of the coast of Mexico where she heard about Mary Clarke, a nun in Tijuana. Clarke became the subject of Jordan and Sullivan鈥檚 book The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia鈥檚 Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail (2006).

For budding journalists, Jordan stressed the importance of one fundamental skill: writing. 鈥淵ou have to know how to write. You have to spend time on it,鈥� she said. Jordan recalled a moment with one of her professors, then University President Timothy Healy, S.J. Father Healy showed her all of the drafts he wrote for a single piece of writing. Jordan realized that writing would be a lifelong process. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me, and I鈥檝e been doing this a long time,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淚f you want to write, you got to put the time in. That鈥檚 the thing that makes good writing. There鈥檚 no shortcut.鈥�

Jordan鈥檚 hard work has given her a career where she continues to learn new things every day鈥攁 value she recommended to students. Her assignments abroad have sent her back to school to learn Japanese and Spanish, but each article presents a chance to learn a new subject. 鈥淚 still feel like it鈥檚 graduate school,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou never know in the morning what鈥檚 going to happen that day.鈥�

Over the course of her career, Jordan has found herself interviewing prisoners in Mexico, cooks at Buckingham Palace, and celebrities like Paul McCartney, but she stressed that students don鈥檛 have to wait until after graduation to meet interesting people. She told students to relish in the opportunities on Georgetown鈥檚 campus, where each day a new expert or leader may be speaking on campus.

鈥淚 think this campus is just brimming with possibility. 海角论坛 is a cool time to open your mind and do something out of the box.鈥�

More About Dean鈥檚 Lunch Seminars

These lunches are held throughout the year with alumni from every industry. Learn more about the Dean鈥檚 Lunch Seminars and see an up-to-date schedule.