The  brings Georgetown students to a D.C. elementary school to tutor their students in different languages. This academic year, the program elected to include classical languages in its tutoring offerings, so organizers reached out to the ������̳’s Department of Classics.

Willard tutors for five to 10 Fridays each semester. At the end of the semester, her group of tutees gives a performance. This semester, they’ll perform the song “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen — all in Latin.

Willard has found that young students are receptive to learning classical languages in ways that many older students are not.

“It’s so funny, because since Latin is a dead language, there’s a tendency for people to be like ‘What’s the point?’” she said. “But these kids don’t realize that. It’s just another language for them. For them, it’s a cool thing to be able just to learn a language.”

Each of Willard’s lessons has a different focus: One week they might work on numbers, and the next they’ll focus on grammar. However, the goal is not only to teach vernacular and syntax, but also to help the students better understand Roman culture. That’s where Willard’s experience studying classics has helped.

“In high school none of my professors were as passionate as Professor Osgood is about how Latin reflects the Roman culture overall,” said Willard about Classics Department Chair Josiah Osgood. “Not only did I learn about grammar from him, but there was a lot of meaning and culture from it as well, a lot of imagination exercises. And I think I’ve really tried to keep that approach in mind when I’ve been talking to the kids too.”

Willard also appreciates how the size of the department has given her opportunities to meet people at Georgetown and develop her own community.

“It’s such a small department, so you really get close to the professors, and they’re really passionate about what they do and about the students,” Willard said. “It’s [also] really cool because it has small enough majors that I’ve gotten to know a lot of the upperclassmen, too.”

While she hadn’t originally planned on studying classics in college, Willard found during her college application process that she was constantly referencing the material from her classical language courses.

“I just think that classics is such a building block for western society and explaining where we’re coming from,” she said. “Having done both semesters of intermediate Greek, I remember finally getting a Greek text to translate — it was the most exciting thing. I felt like I was just unlocking the door to a whole other world.”

Willard hopes to impart this view on her students in the HILL program, so they too can unlock that world. For herself, she is also considering major in classical studies here at Georgetown.

“Classics, everyone can relate to, to an extent,” Willard said. “The ideas the Greeks were considering are still ideas we’re working with today. And a lot of the problems they had, are problems we have today.”

The program will be open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, with programming slated to begin in earnest this coming fall. The students will have opportunities to learn from ������̳ alumni who have found success in service-related industries, from health accessibility to educational administration.

Members of the SRN alumni board visited campus last month to meet with ������̳ Dean , Senior Associate Dean Thom Chiarolanzio, and students interested in applying to the program. They provided students with valuable advice over dinner and stayed afterwards to answer more questions in a one-on-one setting.

NON-LINEAR PATHWAYS

One common refrain from alumni panelists was the idea that there is no clear-cut path to a successful service career. Each arrived at their current position through a unique series of events, often passing up more lucrative opportunities.

“I had this meandering path to find the thing I was passionate about,” said Jennifer Caspar (C’88), an affordable housing consultant and former journalist. “It wasn’t one big risk, it was a bunch of smaller decisions that helped me figure out where I wanted to go.”

Mackenzie Copley (C’15) is the co-founder of , which conducts free pop-up health screenings in underserved communities. He sees a series of unorthodox choices as a necessity.

“When I quit my consulting job to run One Tent full-time, that was a big risk. But there were a lot before that, too,” he said. “Normal decisions lead to a normal life. I’m not interested in a normal life.”

THE VALUE OF COLLEGE EDUCATION

Many of the evening’s panelists believe that a college education — particularly the liberal arts focused championed at Georgetown ������̳ — prepares students well for a variety of careers.

Adrienne Villani (C’06), who worked in emerging markets investing before joining a nonprofit development organization, noted that certain skills are sharpest among recent college graduates.

“Coming out of college, sometimes your writing skills are the best they’ll be,” she said. “That’s a skill that the liberal arts taught you — how to create an argument, write succinctly, even write beautifully. It’s a real skill that is not being replaced by machine learning.”

Davine Scarlett (C’09), a grant manager at a social services nonprofit in her native South Florida, sees Georgetown’s service-focused mission as particularly valuable.

“I’ve always have a love of service, and Georgetown ties that into what you do with your day-to-day life,” she said. “Service at Georgetown always provided me with time for contemplation and reflection.”

MENTORING

One of the SRN’s primary purposes is to set up students with mentors who will help guide them through the early stages of a career. Many of the panelists see mentorship as an invaluable resource they were lucky to find themselves.

“I started to do research on environmental causes, and I was lucky enough to find a mentor I could trust in [environmental activist] Randy Hayes,” said Francesca Vietor (C’86), now a  and public utility commissioner. “That element of trust is fundamental to the mentorship relationship.

According to high school assistant headmaster Michael Scanlan (C’86), students and young alumni shouldn’t be shy about approaching older professionals for advice.

“Don’t ever use your age, your place, your different stage in life to limit yourself,” he said. “Frankly, a lot of adults are bored in their day-to-day and get excited when talking to someone like you. You might make their day!”

MOVING FORWARD

Chiarolanzio and the Dean’s Office staff have high hopes for the SRN, which they expect to expand from mentorship into service projects, field trips that allow students to see workplaces firsthand, and more.

“I think it will be a great experience for students to have the opportunity to be mentored by ������̳ alumni, who have dedicated their professional careers to serving others,” Chiarolanzio said. “I’m really excited to welcome our first cohort of students in the fall.”

. ������̳ students are encouraged to reach out to the ������̳ Dean’s Office with questions.

Georgetown ������̳ is proud to introduce the Social Responsibility Network, a new program designed to help students pursue careers in nonprofit and public service fields.

“Here in Georgetown ������̳ we take the idea of ‘women and men for others’ seriously,” ������̳ Dean Chris Celenza said. “We are immensely proud of our many students and alumni who work in non-profits, education, and other service-based sectors. The SRN will help them make connections that will serve them throughout their careers.”

Applications will be posted later this spring for the program’s inaugural cohort of about 15 students, and programming will begin in the Fall 2019 semester.

Modeled after the ������̳’s successful Baker Scholars Program, the Social Responsibility Network will provide lessons, programming, networking, and mentorship for students who seek out careers centered around doing social good.

“Since I administered the Baker Scholars Program for many years — and knowing that many ������̳ students pursue careers in nonprofit work, education, and community development — I suggested that we build a new program,” said. “I am excited to share that we have an outstanding group who have agreed to be part of this new initiative.”

The SRN will connect students with an advisory board composed of alumni currently working in a wide range of service-based careers.

Some alumni went straight from the Hilltop into service careers. Davine Scarlett (C’09) worked in the AmeriCorps City Year program in Miami before pursuing her master’s in public administration. She now works as a grant manager at , a humanitarian agency for those experiencing poverty and homelessness.

“My job choices have always tried to be in line with our mottos of ‘Cura Personalis,’ ‘People for Others,’ and ‘Educating The Whole Person,’” Scarlett said.

Others tested the private sector waters before turning to service-oriented work. Mackenzie Copley (C’15) worked in consulting before co-founding , a D.C.-based community health screening organization. Adrienne Villani (C’06) worked in emerging markets investing before joining , a nonprofit media development organization.

Chiarolanzio sees these backgrounds as valuable in advising undergraduates who are trying to figure out a viable career path.

“I often hear how our students choose to attend Georgetown because of our Jesuit values, and in particular serving others,” he said. “Students want to use their Georgetown ������̳ liberal arts degree to benefit the greater good, and this will allow them to connect with alumni who have centered their careers on helping others.”

The SRN will host a dinner panel for ������̳ students on Monday, February 25. All members of the Advisory Board will share information about their career trajectory and current work. The panel will be moderated by ������̳ Dean Chris Celenza. An invitation will be emailed to all students in February.

The award recognizes and honors a scholar for “outstanding research in curricular and/or co-curricular service learning which advances the field.” CCMA is the mid-Atlantic wing of , an organization co-founded by Georgetown, Stanford, and Brown Universities in 1985 to promote community engagement among institutions of higher education.

“It is inspiring to see a prodigious scholar like Professor Hirsh manifest such lifelong dedication to teaching and to social justice,” Georgetown ������̳ Dean Chris Celenza said.

of the s was also honored with CCMA’s Early Career Engaged Scholarship Award.

An English literature expert with degrees from Boston ������̳ and Lehigh University, Hirsh has taught classes on Chaucer, medieval spiritual literature, and early American literature at Georgetown for nearly 50 years. He has held fellowships at Oxford University and Cambridge University, published 11 books, and contributed dozens of articles to academic journals.

But Hirsh did not limit his passion for teaching to Georgetown students alone: He was a primary faculty member in the Sursum Corda Project, a program founded in 1970 by a Gonzaga High School priest that recruited Georgetown students to tutor children at a drug- and poverty-stricken housing complex just off North Capitol Street. From 1989 until the Sursum Corda was slated for demolition in 2017, Hirsh served as Georgetown’s lead for what was the longest-standing service program between an American university and a specific urban community.

Hirsh’s work with the Sursum Corda Project brought him into the academic disciplines of education and urban literacy. In addition to the tutoring workshop, he teaches education-related electives and has published books on urban education. He went on to help found more tutoring programs: The D.C.-based Catholic Schools Project and several similar organizations in London and Oxford.

Throughout his Georgetown career, Hirsh has been a model member of the faculty community, serving as an advisor for applicants, a faculty committee member in the , and an advocate for the renovation of Lauinger Library on the .

“Georgetown ������̳ is honored to count Professor Hirsh as a colleague,” Celenza said.

Hirsh will join King and a delegation representing Georgetown to the CCMA President’s Institute ceremony on November 8 at Gallaudet University.

This summer, the awarded the junior government major its annual , which he is using to conduct a qualitative research project on the role of play in childhood education. He is conducting this research while teaching preschool-age children at the JumpStart program in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

CREATIVE TEACHING

Play as an academic interest comes naturally to Dyson. A native of Rochester, N.Y., he worked in high school as a tour guide at the , where his father also works as vice president for exhibits.

“My father worked at the Play Museum, and I’m the oldest of 3 siblings in a neighborhood full of kids,” Dyson said. “I think play was something I was familiar with already, and it’s developed over time as an academic interest.”

An avid fan of Aaron Sorkin’s long-running TV show The West Wing, Dyson originally sought out Georgetown because fictional presidential daughter Zoe Bartlet attended school here during her father’s administration. Once he visited the real thing, he was sold.

“I got in, and I visited during GAAP weekend, Dyson said. “It was the most halcyon weekend you could imagine — the cherry blossoms out and the Potomac looking great — and I just fell in love with the school and the town as a whole,” Dyson said.

Dyson thrived on the Hilltop, joining the Carroll Fellows Program and eventually rising to become editor-in-chief of , the student research journal affiliated with the Tocqueville Forum for Political Understanding.

But it was at the CSJ that Dyson kept alive his passion for integrating play and education. He originally found the DC Reads program while looking for a work-study job; before long, he was a deeply invested coordinator for kindergarten and first-grade tutoring.

“The minute I got into the classroom I knew this was something I wanted to stick with,” Dyson said. “I loved figuring out creative ways to teach — what makes the kids learn well? What helps pique their interest? Am I doing a good job getting to know these kids and helping them succeed?” Dyson said.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS

CSJ staff took notice of Dyson’s leadership and encouraged him to apply for the Andretta Fellowship, awarded annually since 2012 to a rising senior to conduct research on a social justice issue during the summer.

For the Andretta Fellowship project, Dyson incorporated his work with the Jumpstart Summer Program — also facilitated by the CSJ — into his research. Through focus groups, interviews, and observational data, Dyson aims to publish a report on the ways play can be incorporated into the classroom.

“Everyone on the committee liked the creativity and engagement level of this project,” said , Director of Research and Evaluation at the CSJ. “Jake would both be participating as an educator — really getting to know the students — at the same time that he’d be studying them.”

Dyson hopes that observing how students choose to play will help him develop best practices for teachers that incorporate games and entertainment into early childhood education in productive ways.

“I’m looking at the way play can be used as a pedagogical tool, empowering students to express themselves in the classroom,” Dyson said. “It’s such multifaceted thing — it can be purely therapeutic, but also didactic. How can we incorporate the ways children play into the skills and concepts we’re trying to teach?”

THE ADVENTUROUS SOUL

The Andretta Explorer Fund, which provides funding for the fellowship, was established by the Andretta family in memory of their son David (C’99 M’04), who died in a tragic rock climbing accident in 2007.

“David’s parents, brother and I spent a lot of time talking about the best way to honor his life, and three main themes kept coming up — his commitment to social justice, his aptitude for problem solving and his love of exploration,” said Melissa Andretta (B’99), David’s wife.

Each year, a committee selects one rising senior who presents a clearly defined research proposal that serves to advance social justice, engages local cultures and peoples, incorporates outdoor activity, and is conducted with the intention of publication.

Dysons’ project reflects many of the values that the Andretta family envisioned their fellowship funding.

“That’s very much the type of person Dave was, in a way,” Melissa Andretta said. “He did a lot of tutoring in D.C. schools and summer programs. He also saw a lot of value in play — he was quite the adventurous soul.”

Billed as “The nation’s largest celebration of STEM,” the Science and Engineering Festival has brought together scientists, students, and curious citizens of all ages in Washington, D.C. every other year since 2010.

The Georgetown booth featured 20 scientists — faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduates, and alumni — who highlighted the fascinating scientific research happening in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Georgetown has participated in the festival all five times it has been held since 2010.

According to Elmendorf, the Georgetown delegation went through 10 pounds of corn starch, 20 liters of liquid nitrogen and 300 petri dishes as they performed for more than 1,200 festival attendees.

“Lots of other organizations brought the bling and fun,” Elmendorf said. “But many visitors to our booth — adults and kids alike — commented that they liked how we featured the types of science activities they could do at home, and that we described the science.”

Scroll through the photo gallery above to see a selection of images from the 2018 Science and Engineering Festival.

In the fall of 2013, ’s “Modern Mexico” course helped Olsen realize his passion for Latin American culture and immigrants’ rights activism. Since graduating, he has worked in immigration law, helped families navigate the dangerous journey to the American border, and helped bring the struggle of immigrant families to the attention of both houses of Congress.

Four years after he left Lifshey’s classroom for the last time, Olsen returned to the Hilltop as a guest lecturer in two of his former professor’s courses.

A PASSION FOR IMMIGRATION

Olsen began researching immigration issues as an intern in the office of in 2013. He got a real-life perspective on the immigrant experience while working alongside primarily Salvadoran employees in his part-time job, as well as while volunteering with Cameroonian high school students in the Strive for ������̳ program.

Still, Olsen wasn’t expecting to get a lot out of Lifshey’s class. As a senior with other things on his mind, he coasted through the beginning of the semester — that is, until Lifshey intervened.

“[Lifshey] took me aside midway through the semester and said, ‘You’ve got to take class more seriously.’ So I started to pay more attention, and I really started to enjoy the content,” Olsen said. “One day later in the semester, he took the class out on a field trip to a Mexican museum and out for Mexican food, and we really bonded.”

The Modern Mexico course helped solidify Olsen’s burgeoning interest in immigration issues. After graduating with a major in American studies and a minor in Spanish, he began working as a paralegal at a law firm near his hometown of Philadelphia, specializing on immigration law. He took a job teaching English in Bogota, Colombia for a year, then worked as a legal assistant at La Casa del Migrante, a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.

At the shelter, Olsen learned about the harrowing journey many Central Americans take in their attempts to escape drug-fueled violence and begin a new life in the United States. Soon, he knew he wanted to do more to help them.

THE CARAVAN

Through contacts in Tijuana, Olsen got involved in the planning process for a “caravan,” an organized group that would help refugees travel from the southern border city of Tapachula to Mexico City and eventually Tijuana. Organized by the political activism group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the project had dual political and humanitarian aims.

“It was about helping people, but also giving them the tools and helping them realize they have a right to migrate, the right to apply for asylum,” Olsen said. “By the end, these people were really involved in the political fight.”

The group traveled to Mexico City via donated buses, then those who sought to travel further north boarded the infamous freight train colloquially known as “La Bestia.”

The journey through Mexico via La Bestia, during which refugees stow away within or atop freight cars, is illegal and highly dangerous. But tens of thousands of people — predominantly Central American immigrants — nonetheless attempt it each year, risking injury or death in search of a new life.

This reality prompted Pueblo Sin Fronteras to organize the caravans, which unify immigrants in their journey north and aim to make that journey a safer one through a support network and simple strength in numbers.

For first-time organizers like Olsen, the trip was a jarring firsthand experience with the conditions many refugees experience before even arriving in the United States.

“The first night on the train, I was freezing and had one piece of bread the whole day,” he said. “It was so physically and mentally taxing. It really takes a toll.”

#GIVEMATEOBACK

Upon arriving in Tijuana, the Pueblo Sin Fronteras caravan had 37 members who turned themselves into border control authorities to seek asylum in the United States.

Among the asylum-seekers were a young El Salvadoran father, Jose, and his infant son Mateo. At the processing station in San Diego, Jose was pressured by ICE agents into giving up custody of Mateo, ostensibly due to lack of proof of relationship.

According to Olsen, their paperwork was sound, and the separation of families is an increasingly common scare tactic used by border agents. Mateo and three older children separated from their fathers were taken to foster care, and Olsen was the first to see the fathers afterward.

“It was a really emotional moment,” Olsen said. “Whenever you hear about things like this, it’s meant as a deterrent for immigrant communities.”

Since the separation, Olsen has helped launch a viral campaign to reunite Mateo and Jose that has drawn the attention of major advocacy groups and lawmakers.

Using the hashtag #GiveMateoBack, Olsen has recruited allies at, immigration law nonprofit , , and from within Congress — most notably Sen. Kamala Harris of California, of Washington, and members of the .

Thus far, the movement has secured pro bono counsel for Jose, and another father has been released on bond. The families likely face a long legal battle, but Olsen is optimistic that the public attention garnered by #GiveMateoBack will help their cause.

“While we are happy to see the amount of public attention the issue of family separation has garnered, we are appalled that the Department of Homeland Security has done nothing to address or denounce the practice,” Olsen said. “#GiveMateoBack won’t end until Mateo, Jose, and all unlawfully-separated families are reunited.”

RETURN TO THE HILLTOP

Olsen got back in touch with Lifshey after returning to Philadelphia last fall. Upon hearing his former student’s story, Lifshey invited him to guest lecture in two classes on the literature, film and music of Central America and Mexico.

“This is what education has to be about — what true education is,” Lifshey said. “When Lenny returned to Georgetown and shared his narratives and his knowledge with us, he taught me as well as my current students, and a professor could hope for nothing more than that. I am extremely proud of him.”

Olsen was grateful for the opportunity to share his story with students.

“It was a huge honor to be there, especially because the students were so curious about my experience,” he said. “I hope some of them are motivated to get out and make a difference.”

Olsen plans to assist on another caravan before attending  on a public interest scholarship in the fall. His experiences over the last year helped solidify his interest in applying legal knowledge to policy change.

“I want to motivate and rally people to change the system towards one that doesn’t victimize migrants.” Olsen said.

March 19, 2018 — Shakera Vaughan (C’19) has received a , a national program for students who demonstrate meaningful engagement with their communities.

The fellowship is awarded by , a nonprofit that encourages college students to be involved in civic life.

That’s a description that fits Vaughan well: The government major and sociology minor has volunteered in local schools, works in a church nursery, and has interned for and at the offices of .

, Director of the , noticed Vaughan’s passion and civic-mindedness and encouraged the university to nominate her.

“Shakera is attentive to the needs of those she serves and is well known across Georgetown University for her capacity to create and strengthen community by building bridges of understanding through dialogue and shared reflection,” President John J. DeGioia wrote in her nomination citation.

Vaughan, a Richmond, Va. native, chose Georgetown largely due to the resources the university commits to helping students from all backgrounds thrive, like the and the .

“Georgetown not only gave me the financial support to come here, but also gave me the resources to stay here,” she said. “I knew the opportunities in the nation’s capital were endless and I wanted to try and take advantage of what is supposed to be the ‘best four years of my life’”

Like many first-year students, Vaughan took some time to adjust to college life.

“I didn’t quite feel like I belonged,” she said. “I had experienced imposter syndrome.”

But before long, involvement in campus clubs — particularly — helped her feel more invested in her new home.

“I was given a strong sisterhood of such phenomenal and welcoming women,” Vaughan said. “Not only did I finally feel like I belonged, but I was a part of an organization who really set out to advocate for marginalized groups of people.”

Grounded by her new community, Vaughan flourished on the Hilltop. She joined the and the Baker Scholars, one of Georgetown’s most prestigious undergraduate programs. She became vice president of GUWOC and helped organize the BRAVE Summit, which celebrates Black women and bring their voices to the forefront of conversations.

Vaughan took full advantage of the academic opportunities afforded her, enrolling in courses that helped her explore fascinating new ideas.

“One lesson that I quickly realized was that my professors have so much wisdom to offer in and outside the classroom, and all you had to do was talk to them,” she said. “Classes like ‘Education/Politics/Policymaking,’ taught by , and ‘Public Housing: Theory and Practice,’ taught by , have pushed me to think outside of my normal realm.”

Between classes and shifts at Vital Vittles or the student guard desk, the junior has found the time to volunteer at , the , and the .

The Newman Fellowship provides its fellows with a full academic year of learning opportunities, networking events, and mentoring to help them achieve their community-based goals. Vaughan hopes it will help her to come up with more systemic solutions to societal problems she sees at the street level.

“I am hoping to brainstorm and develop strategic solutions to the problems I truly care about, like equity in educational resources and affordable housing for low-income people,” Vaughan said. “I hope to truly take what I learn from their trainings and resources and apply it to my career, which will most likely be dedicated to public service.”

November 30, 2017 – Georgetown ������̳ alumna Deirdre Collins (C’17), who hopes to work to promote environmental preservation and sustainable development, has been named a 2018 .

Collins, a native of St. George’s, Bermuda, will use the scholarship to pursue a M.Phil in environmental change and management at the , beginning next fall.

A biology major at Georgetown, Collins received the only Rhodes Scholarship awarded to a Bermudian this year.

“On behalf of our entire Georgetown community, I wish to congratulate Deidre on this extraordinary achievement,” said University President John J. DeGioia. “We look forward to the many contributions she will make to our global community as she engages more deeply in her studies in environmental science at Oxford.”

DNA and Mars

Collins excelled in the classroom during her years at Georgetown and impressed her professors from the start.

“She tackled every aspect of the [Foundations of Biology] course with intellectual vigor, mastered the work at hand, and then pushed of her own accord to reach a level of understanding far beyond what we expected,” biology professor wrote in a recommendation for Collins’ Rhodes candidacy.

Collins eventually served as a research assistant in the Johnson Biosignatures Lab led by , a Rhodes scholar herself and an assistant professor of planetary science with the and the program.

The student helped Johnson extract DNA in soil samples from regions of Western Australia thought to be similar to Mars. Such research may one day help solve the question of whether there was ever life on that planet.

Inspired by Faculty

During the summer of 2016, Collins traveled to an icefield in Juneau, Alaska and British Columbia as part of the Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research’s Juneau Icefield Research Program.

While on the icefield, she conducted original research on alpine ecology and went on present her analysis on the topic to the — the world’s largest Earth and space science conference.

“The classes I took and the faculty I met at Georgetown were instrumental in helping me to engage in scientific field research,” Collins said. “They inspired me to wholeheartedly dedicate myself to a career in fighting climate change.”

Environmental Advocacy

While her classes at Georgetown helped develop her interest in ecology, Collins became interested in the environment at a young age.

“My initial interest in environmental issues came from growing up in Bermuda, a 21-square-mile island that is particularly vulnerable to the effects of increased storm surge, sea level rise, and the rising ocean and air temperatures that accompany climate change,” she said.

Her field work experience helped drive home the immediacy of the climate change threat — the icefield she worked on, for example, is at risk of melting entirely within 150 years.

Facing the Anthropocene

“I find myself forlorn with nostalgia for a time when coral reefs and glaciers functioned imperviously to human impact — a time I have never experienced,” Collins wrote in her personal statement for the Rhodes. “In each of these instances, I am unfailingly reminded of a time before the Anthropocene, when the Earth’s condition was not contingent on human activity.”

Collins’ dedication to environmental work didn’t end when she graduated. After returning to Bermuda, she became a certified scientific diver with the .

She currently serves as in investment analyst for the , a $1 billion state-sponsored fund that invests in clean energy.

Renaissance Woman

Collins maintained a diverse set of academic interests and remained active in student life and co-curricular activities throughout her undergraduate career.

She served in multiple editorial positions at the student newspaper, , where she sought to develop and maintain effective writing skills.

“I wanted to continue to develop myself as a writer despite my choice to major in biology,” she said. “I knew that writing would always be important and necessary to whatever career path I chose.”

Collins held leadership positions at , a network of students partnering with grassroots organizations to carry out public health projects. She also volunteered with Georgetown’s .

A French minor, she spent a semester abroad in Lyon, France, where she concentrated in African studies and tutored English on a weekly basis.

“She embraced Georgetown’s mantra of ‘men and women for others,’ ” Elmendorf wrote. “Deirdre is a modern-day Renaissance woman.”

A LASTING IMPACT

Collins hopes that her Oxford education will help her pursue her dreams of facing one of the world’s greatest challenges head-on.

“I am driven to study climate change as it relates to politics, business economics and climate science because it poses an enormous threat to every continent on the planet,” Collins said. “We have never seen a global issue quite like climate change. The decisions we make today will impact us decades down the line.”

Georgetown has now produced 26 Rhodes scholars, including President Bill Clinton (SFS’68).

The all-female group of Georgetown finalists this year also included four women from the United States and one from China.

May 16, 2017 — The 2017 Georgetown ������̳ Commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient is Sister Mary Scullion.

Sister Mary is president and executive director of Project HOME, an immensely successful service and advocacy group for people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. TIME named her to its “100 Most Influential People” list in 2009, and the Philadelphia Inquirer named her Citizen of the Year in 2011. She is both a tireless ground-level worker to alleviate homelessness in Philadelphia and a passionate advocate for fair housing policies on a national scale.

We spoke with Sister Mary in advance of Saturday’s Commencement ceremonies to learn more about her life, her mission, and what brought her to Georgetown.

Georgetown ������̳: What motivated you to choose a religious vocation?

Sister Mary Scullion: I loved the mission of the Sisters of Mercy: to work directly with those that are poor, sick, and uneducated (especially women), and to provide those people with opportunities. I love their work; their spirit of mercy and justice; and their commitment to community.

GC: Tell me about founding Project HOME.

SMS: I started working with the men, women and children experiencing homelessness in 1975, mainly though emergency shelters. We all perceived homelessness as a crisis – we needed emergency shelters, because people were just experiencing emergency situations. Over the years, we saw that housing supply was being strained for the bottom rung of the economic ladder. We realized that homelessness — while an emergency situation for some initially —was a permanent reality for many people, because of a lack of affordable housing and changes in federal housing policy that institutionalized homelessness. It was becoming a permanent situation, especially for people with special needs, people who were mentally ill, people who were addicted, mothers, and children.

In 1989, Joan McConnon and I decided we wanted to focus on permanent solutions to homelessness. Project HOME stands for affordable Housing, Opportunities for employment, Medical care, and Education, because we see these four areas as the most important for ending and preventing homelessness. Our vision statement is “None of us are at home until all of us are at home,” and it’s rooted in strong spiritual conviction of the dignity of every person.

In 28 years, we’ve developed 800 units of housing, The Stephen Klein Wellness Center (including medical care, behavioral health services, a dental clinic and legal counseling), and the Honickman Learning Center Comcast Technology Labs as a center for education and workforce development located in second poorest zip code in Philadelphia.

GC: What is most difficult about your job?

SMS: It’s difficult to make the broader community understand that we can end homelessness — what we lack is the political will. Knowing that we can end it and not being able to do so because of that is the most difficult thing.

GC: Most rewarding?

SMS: Being a member of the Project HOME community, and working on this issue with the most incredible people you’d ever meet —especially those who have experienced homelessness. The strength and resilience of the people experiencing homelessness inspires me every day.

We partner with so many other organizations and people, and we always want to engage more because we think the solution lies within all of us. There’s short term efforts, but also long term commitments that need to be rooted in advocacy for these issues — today, we focus on affordable housing; for the future, we invest in quality education.

GC: Is there one achievement makes you the proudest?

SMS: I’m proud to be part of a community of people from all walks of life, all dedicated to ending homelessness. We can’t rest until we end it in our city and in our country, and we still have a ways to go. I’m grateful for our staff, donors, trustees, partner organizations, and huge army of volunteers — well over 500.

GC: Why Georgetown?

SMS: I was nominated by Prof. Alan Mitchell (of Georgetown’s theology department). I am Jesuit-educated myself at St. Joseph’s University, and I have a strong relationship with the Jesuit community. One of my heroes is Fr. Horace McKenna, who started the McKenna Center, situated on the grounds of Gonzaga ������̳ High School. It’s a center on campus for people experiencing homelessness — the only one of its kind in the country, I believe. It’s really awesome for the students there to work directly with men and women who are experiencing homelessness as a key aspect to their service learning.

Fr. McKenna is someone that we did look up to: He lived and walked with people who were homeless. He embodied Pope Francis’ call for a “revolution of tenderness.” Fr. McKenna and Fr. Ed Brady — my mentor at St. Joseph’s —  got myself and many others in Philadelphia connected with Jesuit spirituality.

Mark McConnon, the husband of [Project HOME co-founder] Joan McConnon, is also a Georgetown alum and continues to live the Jesuit values of social justice and striving to be a person for others.

GC: Without spoiling your speech, do you have any advice for social-justice-inclined college students?

SMS: In addition to getting an excellent academic education, it’s equally important to work directly with, know, and walk beside people in our society and in our world who are struggling and suffering — be it people on the street, immigrants, or refugees. Touch the pain and suffering around us, and through that, help to affect the injustice and suffering, but you too will be transformed. Students often lead by example.

GC: What do you want people to know about you that they might not know already?

SMS: I have a good sense of humor! And I love working with and being with young leaders and people who are on fire about changing our world.

Interview conducted by Patrick Curran and edited for length and clarity.