For the last two weeks, Georgetown has repeatedly stated that its focus is not on the Big East tournament, but on each game remaining in the regular season. Tuesday night suggested otherwise. ...

The No. 8 Hoyas (20-6, 10-5 Big East) suffered their worst loss of the season Tuesday night, a 73-55 drubbing at Seton Hall (19-9, 9-8 Big East), bringing the Pirates one step closer to an NCAA tournament berth and pushing Georgetown farther away from a Big East tournament double-bye.

The Hoyas failed to put a single player in double-digits, due to a combination of poor shot selection and tough defense by the Pirates. The Blue and Gray were unable to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit, which slowly ballooned into a double-digit lead as Seton Hall senior guard Jordon Theodore caught fire.

'They played a terrific game. Jordan Theodore played one of the best games that

I've seen him play all year,' Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. 'To tell you the truth, he didn't make any mistakes and I'm not just talking about the shots he made. He totally controlled everything, and tonight we just didn't have any answers for him.'

Theodore scored 29 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a 5-of-5 mark from three-point range, and torched the Hoyas from beyond the arc at key moments in the game. After freshman guard Jabril Trawick hit a pair of free throws to give the Pirates a 49-38 lead, Theodore hit a long, fadeaway three-pointer with a defender in his face to extend the lead to 14. That kick-started an 11-4 run that stretch Seton Hall's lead to 18, and the Pirates never looked back.

'Watching them on film, that is one of the best defensive teams in the country, by far,' Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard said. 'To play the way we played and execute the way we did was really good.'

The Pirates shot 60.9% for the game, the best shooting performance by a Georgetown opponent since Baylor shot the same percentage against the Hoyas in the 2009 NIT opening round. Seton Hall also committed just eight turnovers and limited Georgetown to 5-of-15 shooting from three-point range. Georgetown boasted the Big East's best defense coming into the game, allowing just 58.7 points per game and holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting.

Seton Hall made that defense look futile &- especially from the perimeter, where the Pirates were 8-of-13 from long range.

'We have had pretty good perimeter defense but we were atrocious today,' Thompson III said. 'They hit a couple shots early and our frustrations set in and carried over. That's something that we haven't done, nor haven't shown but we will fix that.'

Freshman forward Greg Whittington led the Hoyas with nine points, and junior forward Hollis Thompson added eight points, six rebounds and two assists.

Georgetown will return home from its two-game road trip for a noon match against Villanova Saturday at Verizon Center. Seniors Jason Clark and Henry Sims will be honored in the annual Senior Day celebration.  

Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark scored 13 points apiece, and No. 10 Georgetown won at Providence Saturday, 63-53. ...

Junior forward Hollis Thompson and senior guard Jason Clark scored 13 points apiece, and the No. 10 Georgetown men's basketball team (20-5, 10-4 Big East) overcame a turnover-riddled offensive performance to beat Providence (13-15, 2-13 Big East), 63-53, Saturday night.

The win was Georgetown's second in six hours over a Providence squad; the women's basketball team had blown out the Friars at McDonough Arena earlier Saturday afternoon in the Hoyas' Senior Day game.

The Providence men wouldn't go down as easily, though. Despite a horrendous shooting performance, the hosts hung with the highly favored Hoyas throughout the game, even narrowing the lead to four at one point. For its part, Georgetown allowed the underdogs to hang around by turning the ball over 12 times in the uncharacteristically fast-paced game.

The Blue and Gray's stifling defense and methodical offense eventually prevailed, however, as the visitors used a 13-3 second-half run to give themselves a cushion. Providence resorted to full-court man pressure to attempt to close the gap, but Georgetown picked apart the press for several easy buckets.

Providence sophomore guard and third-leading scorer Gerard Coleman missed the game with the flu, and Friar offense looked lost for much of the game. The hosts managed only 20 points in the first half and shot just over 25 percent from the field for the night. The Friars' 53-point total was largely a result of a flurry of threes when the game's outcome was all but decided.

Sophomore forward Nate Lubick had another solid game for the Hoyas, scoring nine points on 3-of-3 shooting, but was limited by foul trouble. Senior center Henry Sims filled up the box score with 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks in the win.

Georgetown plays next at Seton Hall Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. 

The university has expanded the scope of its socially responsible investment committees. ...

It also plans to broaden the constituency of the committee by the fall, according to a university statement released Friday. Proposals endorsed by the committee, which makes recommendations on socially responsible options in which to invest parts of the university's endowment, go to the finance committee of the board of directors.

'Our Catholic and Jesuit mission compels us to help ensure our investments are consistent with our basic values,' Rev. John Langan, S.J., a member of the CISR working group and a professor in the philosophy department, the Kennedy School of Ethics and the School of Foreign Service, said in the release. 'The committee will allow for an important extra layer of consideration in these matters.'

The changes to the CISR grew out of discussions between the Georgetown faculty, senior university officials and the Faculty Senate, who examined Georgetown's current socially responsible investment policies and those of about 30 peer institutions.

The modifications were approved by the board of directors last week.

The CISR was founded in the 1970s and is currently comprised of 12 representatives. These include faculty members, administrators and students appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs and the undergraduate, graduate and Law Center student associations.

'The committee reflects Georgetown's identity as well as the university's dedication to fostering open dialogue and celebrating a diversity of perspectives,' Chief Investment Officer Mike Barry said in the university statement.

The American flag comprised of Malkerson-Cleary campaign flyers on the Red Square wind tunnel wall was defaced early Saturday morning. ...

The words 'U.S. WANTED FOR MURDER!' were spray-painted on the sign's lower half, and another Malkerson-Cleary campaign banner hanging on the Intercultural Center was torn down.

'It's not in the spirit of the campaign. … It's quite disappointing,' Georgetown University Student Association presidential candidate Colton Malkerson (COL '13) said.

Malkerson is unsure whether the target of the vandalism was his campaign or the symbolism of the American flag.

'[The flag] wasn't meant to be a political statement, he said. It was meant to be eye-catching and get people's attention. The fact that it was attacked in [this] manner makes no sense.'

The Department of Public Safety told Malkerson that he was required to take his vandalized flyers down or cover them. After placing the other campaign banner that had been torn over a portion of the vandalized flag, Malkerson filmed a video from in front of the wall and published it to his campaign's YouTube channel.

Malkerson was told by the GUSA Election Commission that any repairs to the flag will not violate campaign laws limiting the number of flyers a candidate can post. Later Saturday morning, campaign members repaired the flag with sheets of plain colored paper. However, DPS removed the banner Satruday night because some of the paper covering the vandalism came off, allowing the spray paint to show through again.

In the wake of the vandalism, Malkerson and his running mate, Maggie Cleary (COL '14), have been approached by other tickets in sympathy.

'A few of the campaigns have reached out to us just to show support, which is appreciated,' he said. 

Hoping to make the publication a more permanent fixture on campus, the LGBTQ Resource Center will sponsor and publish the university's LGBTQ-fo...

Students are invited to submit artwork, photography, poetry and other creative media to the publication, which is called The Zine. This year's issue will be published in April.

'The general purpose of The Zine is to create a medium in which Georgetown students – out, closeted, gender nonconforming, allied, etc. – can show their experiences in a variety of ways,' Student Assistant to the LGBTQ Resource Center Jason Capecchi (COL '14) said. 'It is an opportunity for people to contribute their voices to the conversation.'

While The Zine has been published before, this is the first year the publication is being produced under the LGBTQ Center's leadership.

'It has not been an annual production by any means. Students did one in 2009 [and] 2010, and we wanted to keep it going,' Director of the LGBTQ Resource Center Sivagami Subbaraman said.

The LGBTQ Center will fund the new magazine with a portion of a $1 million dollar gift donation from board of directors Chairman Paul Tagliabue, which established the Tagliabue Initiative for LGTBQ Life in October. The Center hopes that the magazine will expand opportunities for students to involve themselves in its work. .

The Zine is currently being advertised through the LGBTQ Center's listserv as well as fliers around campus. Once published, The Zine will be available at many locations throughout campus, including The Corp services and university resource centers. 

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 Unlawful Entry, Copley Hall, 9 a.m. A student reported that her room was unlawfully entered by an unknown person. Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 Theft, New South, 1:55 p.m. A student reported that his unattended cell...

Unlawful Entry, Copley Hall, 9 a.m.

A student reported that her room was unlawfully entered by an unknown person.

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012

Theft, New South, 1:55 p.m.

A student reported that his unattended cellular phone was taken from a restroom.

Harassment, Kennedy Hall, 8:53 a.m.

A student reported receiving numerous text messages from an unknown source which were obscene and graphic in nature.

Theft, Hariri Building, 10:30 a.m.

A staff member reported a missing desk which was last seen in a stairwell.

Friday, Feb. 10, 2012

Drug Violation, Darnall Hall, 12 a.m.

DPS officers investigating a suspicious odor recovered drugs and alcohol from students in a dormitory. The case has been referred to student conduct.

Theft, Davis Performing Arts Center, 2 p.m.

A student reported that his bicycle was stolen from the bicycle rack.

Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

Urinating in Public, Leavey Center Parking Garage, 1:29 a.m.

DPS and MPD made contact with an alumnus who was found inebriated and urinating in public.

Theft, Alumni Square, 2:08 a.m.

A student reported that property was stolen out of her purse while she attended a party.

Urinating in Public, Henle Village, 2:30 a.m.

DPS and MPD officers observed a non-affiliated individual urinating in public. The person was officially barred from campus

Theft, Pre-Clinical Science Building, 2 p.m.

The complainant reported that his laptop was stolen from out of his locker. The case is under investigation.

Theft, Hariri Building, 3:37 p.m.

A student reported that his iPhone was stolen from a desk.

Drug Violation, New South, 9:30 p.m.

DPS officers investigating a suspicious odor, seized drugs from a dormitory. The case has been referred to student conduct.

Sunday, Feb.12, 2012

Threats to do Bodily Harm, LXR, 2:46 a.m.

A student reported to DPS and MPD that a delivery driver made threatening comments to him after the student refused to give the driver a tip.

The blotter is compiled weekly by the Department of Public Safety.

The seven Georgetown University Student Association vice presidential candidates advocated their tickets' respective platforms Wednesday in a debate largely centered on GUSA's interaction with other student groups. ...

Taking the stage in a packed White-Gravenor classroom, the candidates generally shied away from the rhetoric of their running mates in favor of outlining their specific proposals.

GUSA's influence over student groups was a point raised in Sunday's presidential debate, but the topic became a major theme of the questions directed toward the vice presidential candidates.

Candidates disagreed on whether GUSA should subsidize room reservation fees that groups must pay to the Office of Campus Activity Facilities. GUSA Director of Executive Outreach Maggie Cleary (COL '14) and Lauren Weber (COL '13), a member of The Hoya's board of directors, defended the policy. The budget laid out by Cleary and her running mate, Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Colton Malkerson (COL '13), covers OCAF subsidies.

Weber and her running mate John Morris (COL ‘13) have proposed allowing groups to apply to the GUSA Fund, through which student organizations can apply for additional funding throughout the semester, for money to help defray reservation costs.

GUSA senator Sheila Walsh (COL '14), running with Senate Vice Speaker Nate Tisa (COL '14), disagreed and argued that student activities fee funding should be controlled by student groups themselves. Senator Vail Kohnert-Yount (COL '13), on a ticket with senator Clara Gustafson (SFS '13), acknowledged her own struggles with OCAF during her tenure as chair of the College Democrats but expressed concern that GUSA's OCAF subsidies would not be distributed equally across organizations.

'The best people to equitably distribute that money would be the student groups themselves,' Kohnert-Yount said.

Men's basketball point guard Markel Starks (COL '14), who is running on a ticket with senator Daniel LaMagna (COL '13), failed to produce a substantive response about OCAF subsidies and was unable to address the similarity of his ticket's proposed Georgetown smartphone application to one currently being development by the university. He did, however, raise the point that students must also pitch in to improve campus life, suggesting that the campus rat problem could be avoided if students living in apartments took out their trash more frequently.

Candidates were also asked how they would aid the sports and arts communities if elected. Kohnert-Yount emphasized the necessity of increased space for these communities and more efficient use of the space that they currently have.

GUSA Secretary of Information and Technology Michael Crouch (MSB '13) suggested that the arts community is somewhat isolated from the rest of the student body, something that his ticket hopes to combat through an outdoor concert by student performers. Crouch, who is running with GUSA Director of Special Projects Tyler Sax (COL '13), also called for increased alumni engagement with the arts community. Sax and Crouch have proposed a program to strengthen the relationship between clubs and alumni.

All candidates expressed an interest in enhancing diversity-related outreach. Weber promised to engage both well-known diversity organizations such as the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access and niche groups like the Caribbean Culture Circle. Kohnert-Yount, a member of the only all-female ticket in the campaign, proposed reaching out to diversity organizations and encouraging members to run for positions in GUSA.

Michael Appau (COL '13), who is running with GUSA Fund Chair Murphy Kate Delaney (COL '13), hopes to better publicize the diversity-related programs that GUSA offers. He also stressed the importance of diversity within the GUSA executive branch.

'By making diversity open at the top, people will be willing to approach us more easily,' Appau said.

Candidates concluded the debate by reiterating the qualities of their platforms that set their tickets apart.

Cleary emphasized her ticket's experience and connections within the university administration, as well as her platform's relevance to student concerns.

Crouch and Appau both expressed interest in raising awareness of GUSA by better engaging students. Kohnert-Yount advocated for an executive branch with a foundation in Jesuit values as well as community and diversity, while Weber said her ticket would strive to ensure that students felt at home from the moment they stepped on campus.

Walsh emphasized the importance of working collaboratively with advisory boards and other student-led groups.

'We'll work with organizations like the [Student Group Union], people who are autonomous but will feed us ideas for which we can then advocate,' she said.

Starks promised, if elected, to stay involved with GUSA via Skype when his team is on the road.

'We're all in,' he said.

While some students spend several hours and hundreds of dollars traveling to visit their families back home, Darryl Robinson (COL '15) lives only a 10-minute bus ride away. ...

'It feels like every day, when I get up, I'm not at Georgetown,' Robinson said. 'I don't feel like anything has changed since I've lived in my room at home.'

Robinson, who applied to Georgetown as a neurobiology major and hopes to transfer to the School of Nursing and Health Studies, graduated from César Chávez Public Charter High School for Public Policy in Ward 7.

Although Georgetown became his top choice once he had researched his options, Robinson had never even heard of the university before his junior year of high school.

As the D.C. public school system struggles with a graduation rate hovering around 50 percent and massive achievement gaps among students in underserved neighborhoods, attending college is a distant dream for some of its students.

A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

After having friends and teachers encourage him to apply to Georgetown, Robinson attended information sessions offered by the Ward 7 Initiative, a program that links current undergraduate students with prospective students from D.C. high schools.

To his knowledge, Robinson is the first student to be accepted to Georgetown from his high school.

While there are few other students from D.C. in the freshman class, he has enjoyed meeting other locals, including students from the first graduating class of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, which focuses on serving low-income students. The school is located in Takoma Park, Md., but affiliated with the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Jessica Palencia (COL '15) is one of three Don Bosco alums at Georgetown.

Palencia had grown familiar with the Georgetown campus long before she arrived in the fall through Don Bosco's Corporate Work Study Program, which helps high school students to gain professional work experience and earn money to pay for a portion of their education. Palencia is now in her fourth year working for the Office of the University President.

Though she initially didn't want to attend college close to home, Palencia still thinks she's getting the full college experience.

'I don't feel like I'm being deprived of anything,' she said. 'I'm getting to explore the city and learn things about it that I never knew before, like social justice issues.'

She said she's thankful to be close to the support systems that she grew up with.

'I think it's the fact that my school is Cristo Rey that I have so many close relationships and connections.'

Robinson, who tries to see his family about every other week, acknowledged that he sometimes feels slightly too close to home, especially when his two younger sisters pressure him to spend time with them.

'They are always texting me and calling me, trying to go out, trying to make me go back home, [even] when I have to study for a test,' he said.

At times, Robinson feels like he never left home, but in other ways, his life at Georgetown has been a complete change from the environment he was used to.

'I was never in a situation where the majority of people around me cared about going to classes as much as Georgetown students,' he said. 'But just to see that everyone has the same mindset, they want to succeed in life and they're not willing to let things go in the hands of fate, it's amazing to me.'

STUDENTS REACH OUT

Georgetown students have launched several mentoring and tutoring programs that work with the most underserved communities in D.C., aiming to expose students to college and the importance of higher education.

The Meyers Institute for College Prep, which is run by the university's Center for Multicultural Equity and Access, works with local middle and high school students to help prepare them for college.

Each Saturday morning, MICP holds classes on Georgetown's campus for students from a variety of at-risk schools to immerse them in a collegiate atmosphere.

'We bring Georgetown to the community and present it as a rich, vibrant campus that is a home within a home,' Executive Director of the MICP Charlene Brown-McKenzie (COL '95) said.

Since the MICP was founded in 1989, six of its students have come to Georgetown as undergraduates and successfully graduated within four to five years, according to Brown-McKenzie.

The Georgetown University Math &' Science Hands-On Enrichment program, one of several student organizations at work in Wards 7 and 8, stresses the importance of college to its participants.

Angiela Sivakumar (COL '13), secretary of GUMSHOE, said having members of the university engage with the community makes college seem like a more tangible option.

'Students are able to interact with undergraduates and get a sense of what college is like,' she said.

Strive for College, a national organization that recently launched a chapter at Georgetown, pairs college students with students from disadvantaged high schools to help them navigate the college application process.

'Many low-income students are completely qualified to go to college but don't have the resources or support to go through the application process,' Brigid McCurdy (COL '14), director of public relations, marketing and fundraising, wrote in an email.

RECRUITING FROM WITHIN

Through its admissions process, the university has several programs to address the underrepresentation of D.C. residents on campus.

Kamilah Holder is senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions and coordinator of African-American recruitment. She also heads recruitment efforts for D.C. and serves as the first point of contact for local students learning about Georgetown.

'It's really important that we are representative … of the world, and we wouldn't be an accurate picture if we did not have students that represented the variety of different backgrounds and perspectives that come with being a native Washingtonian,' Holder said.

Holder said that there is great diversity in the types of students from D.C. due to the District's diverse array of school systems &- public and private, charter and independent. The university has longstanding relationships with some schools in the city and is forming new ties with others.

'John Carroll faces outward to D.C. … Our connection to D.C. and having D.C. students be a part of that community is very important,' she said. 'We aren't Georgetown without D.C.' 

By pairing undergraduate students with faculty members to conduct innovative research projects, the growing Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program aims to take students beyond textbook learning. ...

'Working in the lab helps me apply many of the techniques I learned in class,' Mathew Hoffmann (COL '14), who is researching methanol fuel cells, said. 'We're working with alternative energy sources and breaking new ground. It's very exciting to be a part of something so important and so new.'

The program, founded in 1966, helps professors to mentor students.

'The best thing about our program is the strong student-faculty relationships that develop,' GUROP Director Sonia Jacobson, who helped found the program, said. 'Research often occurs over the course of more than one semester, which gives students an incredible opportunity to develop and learn through first-hand work.'

This semester, 170 students are conducting research through GUROP, which is now housed under the Georgetown Office of Fellowships, Awards and Research. About half of these undergraduates are biology, chemistry or physics majors, while the other half are social science majors.

For upperclassmen, involvement in GUROP also has practical benefits. Research experience is especially valuable in the current job market, according to Lauren Tuckley, the research resource coordinator in GOFAR

'It's a vital asset to have research experience that supplements your coursework,' Tuckley said. 'The skill set acquired from participating in scholarly research is invaluable in the marketplace.'

While GUROP provides valuable research experience for undergraduate students, both Jacobson and Tuckley believe that its full potential has not yet been realized. The pair is currently developing a new, searchable database that will streamline the application process.

GOFAR is also implementing a new outreach group, the Undergraduate Research Ambassadors, to stimulate interest in research and to increase the program's visibility on campus.

'We are trying to get students to consider careers that they would not have considered otherwise,' Jacobson said. 'Instead of moving on to the State Department or medical school, some students become convinced that pursuing a Ph.D and performing research is a more suitable career.'

Tyler White (COL '14), a psychology major working in the Georgetown Autism and Communication Disorders Clinic, came to such a conclusion after conducting research through GUROP.

'For the past few months, as I have been reading through dozens of clinical reports, I've been paging through documents that profoundly reflect and affect people's lives,' he said. 'Playing a hand in the development of scientific knowledge is something I would love to spend the rest of my life doing.'

They celebrate masses, serve in the administration and teach some of Georgetown's most popular classes. The almost 60 members of Georgetown's Jesuit community play a wide variety of roles on campus, and their paths to the priesthood have been just as d...

PREMED TO PRIEST

Fr. Leo O'Donovan, S.J. (CAS ' 56), who served as president of the university from 1989 to 2001, first came to Georgetown as a student. He originally planned to attend medical school and become a psychiatrist, but after two years at the university, O'Donovan switched to a double major in English and philosophy. After graduation, he earned a Fulbright scholarship and began his studies in France at the University of Lyon. It was in France that O'Donovan decided he wanted to join the Society of Jesus.

'I became gradually aware that what I felt really called to do in life was to be a minister in the Church,' O'Donovan explained. 'So I applied [to the Society] from France and it was naturally a key decision in my life and one I've never regretted.'

O'Donovan's choice was influenced in large part by the many religious men and women he had encountered in his education, beginning with the nuns at his elementary school, Corpus Christi, on Manhattan's West Side.

'The sisters in that school were simply extraordinary,' O'Donovan said.

He recalls a teacher who, in the days immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, had his class draw nativity scenes of the Holy Family as Japanese people.

'I don't think I've ever heard anything more ethically imaginative,' he said.

O'Donovan was ordained as a Jesuit priest 10 years after graduating from Georgetown, having also received postgraduate degrees from Fordham University, Woodstock College and the University of Münster in Germany.

He went on to teach theology at multiple universities throughout the country until he became president of Georgetown in 1989, the year of the university's bicentennial celebration.

'It was wonderful to come home,' he said. 'It was a great time to be asked to lead the university.'

Georgetown had undergone extensive changes in the 33 years O'Donovan was away. Perhaps most significant was the university's decision to admit women to the College of Arts and Sciences in 1969.

'I thought this was great news and would make for better education for everybody, and it has. I won't say that women are better students, but I'm tempted to,' O'Donovan said.

One of the most controversial moments during his 10 years serving as head of the university involved his support of the pro-choice group GU Choice, a group that he refused to shut down until he was directed to do so by the Vatican in 1992. The group was the predecessor to H*yas for Choice, which is not officially recognized by the university as a student group.

'I saw it as an educational question,' he said. 'It wasn't that I sought to promote it, but talking about one's ideas seems to be part of the educational process. The Catholic Church is a church of reason as well as faith.'

Upon his retirement, O'Donovan returned to New York. He is now teaching theology again, primarily at Union Theological Seminary, but has given lectures in both the United States and Germany. He's written art criticism, served on a committee evaluating spiritual life at Yale University and is the official chaplain of the New York Athletic Club. He's also increased his pastoral work, officiating numerous weddings, performing baptisms and leading numerous Ignatian retreats.

Corpus Christi School became a major priority for O'Donovan. After he retired from his position on the Walt Disney Corporation's Board of Directors, on wihch he served from 1996 to 2007, the board offered to make a contribution to a charity of his choice, and O'Donovan had them build a science lab for the small school. He has also created an advisory board to help guide the school as it continues to grow.

LOVE LOST, FAITH WON

Fr. Charlie Gonzales, S.J. (CAS '56), former rector of the Georgetown Jesuit community and a current professor in the theology department, started his Georgetown career in a way eerily similar to O'Donovan. He too was premed when he entered, and the two men lived on the same floor in Healy Hall as freshmen, allowing them to become good friends.

Gonzales had not considered a life in the priesthood prior to his arrival on the Hilltop.

'I had no idea of becoming a Jesuit when I came down here,' Gonzales said. 'I thought I was going to marry Joan, my first love. We had it all figured out.'

But once Gonzales met the Jesuits who served Georgetown during his undergraduate years, he changed his plans.

'I thought, ‘They're smart, they're very worldly, but they're also very spiritual and they're doing great stuff for young people,'' he said.

After much reflection, Gonzales decided to abandon the future he had imagined with Joan, although they remain good friends.

'The Lord wouldn't let go of me,' he explained. 'He kept drawing me in to what he wanted me to do.'

Like the sisters at Corpus Christi who influenced O'Donovan, the nuns who had taught Gonzales in elementary school helped set the stage for his eventual decision to join the Society of Jesus.

'[The] Sisters of Mercy taught me academically and taught me how to be human and how to be a boy of faith,' he said. 'I learned from them what it means to live a dedicated life, to really look out for others, to really care about your students.'

After he was ordained, Wesleyan University offered Gonzales a position as their first Catholic chaplain.

During his time there, Gonzales developed connections with the Trappist monks in Massachusetts. The monastery held several Buddhist retreats in which Gonzales participated.

'That was the beginning of a new relationship with a different spirituality, which in the end led me to become a deeper Christian,' Gonzales said.

Gonzales later became the superior of the Jesuits at the University of Scranton and then the rector at Georgetown, where he served from 1988 until 1994. He took a year-long sabbatical at the end of his term to reconnect with his father's family and his 11 cousins in Spain.

Upon his return to the United States, Gonzales decided to take an assignment in Camden, N.J. after spending a weekend with the city's underprivileged Latino community.

'They're the most banged up, bereft, beaten human beings I ever thought I would meet in the United States of America. I was there for nine years,' Gonzales said.

He was inspired by his father, who had come to the United States from Spain in order to make a life for himself and succeeded.

'I felt that I needed to spend some time with Spanish-speaking people who were struggling and hold out a hand to somebody, like somebody must have done for him when he hit New York City,' Gonzales said.

After his time in Camden, Gonzales returned to Georgetown, where he began a Latino ministry. He also visits a local prison every Saturday, celebrating Spanish mass with the inmates.

Gonzales teaches a theology course, 'Latino Church Doing Justice,' which focuses on the particular issues of the Latino community and includes an optional field trip to Camden.

RELIGIOUS ROOFTOP LIVING

Fr. Otto Hentz, S.J., decided to enter the Society of Jesus in 1955.

'I was serious about the faith, but I wanted to be more serious about it and live it in a way that makes sense to me,' Hentz said.

During his time in the seminary, Hentz taught at Georgetown for three years.

'That's when I met Bill Clinton. I taught him logic,' he said.

He was ordained in 1968, and after doing his doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, Hentz returned to Georgetown as a member of the theology department. He has lived in his Village A rooftop apartment since the complex opened in November of 1979.

Hentz said he's particularly fond of 'The Problem of God,' which he teaches every semester.

'I think [it] is the most important course, because you want to get [students] thinking about basement issues, fundamental issues,' he said.

LAW AND THE ORDER

Fr. Kevin O'Brien, S.J. (COL '88), vice president for mission and ministry, took much longer to discern his vocation as a Jesuit. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Georgetown, O'Brien returned to his home state to attend law school at the University of Florida.

'I wanted to be involved in politics, so I went back to Florida on the advice that all politics is local,' he said. 'I found that my desire was a real desire to serve, to make the world a better place. There was also, though, a lot of ego and unhealthy ambition tied in there.'

O'Brien left law to teach at a local Catholic high school and eventually realized his calling to serve as a Jesuit priest.

'I found that my desire to serve was slowly transformed by God to serve not in public office, which can be a noble profession, but as a teacher,' he explained.

Although O'Brien was inspired by the Jesuits at Georgetown, it took time and distance for him to fully realize his calling.

'I'd thought about becoming a Jesuit at different times when I was a student here, but it wasn't anything serious back then,' O'Brien said.

During his training, O'Brien spent summers in places like a leprosy hospital in India, an immigration detention center in Los Angeles, poor neighborhoods in Bolivia and a summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains for innercity families.

At Georgetown, O'Brien continues his commitment to the poor by leading an annual Alternative Spring Break trip to the Arizona-Mexico border.

'One of the reasons we started that was to give our students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of the migrant poor, and also, very selfishly, I enjoy the experience,' he said. 'I need to get away on spring break and have that experience in a world very different from Georgetown.'

O'Brien previously served as executive director of campus ministry, overseeing the largest campus ministry in the country. Last year, he was appointed to his current position of vice president and is now responsible for advising University President John J. DeGioia on campus issues.

'Part of my particular role is to bring the Catholic and Jesuit heritage to bear on these decisions,' he explained.

O'Brien also teaches an extremely popular class in the theology department called 'The Church in the 21st Century.'

A JOURNEY WORTH TAKING

Although O'Brien loves life as a Jesuit, he acknowledged that it can be demanding.

'One of the reasons the Jesuits were founded was to meet the needs of the church that were not being met, and there are so many needs out there,' he explained. 'It's hard to not be overwhelmed by need and find the proper balance between prayer, work, study and leisure.'

Hentz also acknowledged that being a Jesuit isn't always simple.

'Sometimes you run into people who are arrogantly dismissive of religious issues,' he said. 'But sometimes the difficulty is the Church itself. It's slow to change in some cases and in some cases too inward looking.'

O'Donovan explained that although being a Jesuit can be difficult, it is a joyous existence.

'I love being a Jesuit priest, and I love it more now than ever before,' he said. 'You're asked to love Christ and the human family, and that's wonderful. I get up every morning, and the first thing I say is, ‘This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.''

The presidents of College Democrats and College Republicans will meet with administrators, the Student Activities Commission and GUSA today to resolve a debate about funding for student groups to att...

The issue was first raised when College Republicans requested money from the Georgetown University Student Association Fund to attend last week's Conservative Political Action Conference in D.C. The club applied for funding from GUSA after SAC refused to cover the event registration fees, according to club Chair Maggie Cleary (COL '14).

However, after the request was approved by GUSA, Cleary received an email from SAC Chair Jack Appelbaum (COL '14) explaining that SAC could neither authorize the organization to spend the money nor provide permission to attend the conference as a representative of Georgetown University.

'The commission considered it, and then we deferred to university officials and the [Office of] University Counsel,' Appelbaum said. 'Based on their interpretation and judgment of the policy, we asserted that it would be a violation of the policy and the commission couldn't authorize them to go.'

Georgetown operates as a tax-exempt institution under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits the university from engaging in or supporting any partisan political activity.

The Conservation Political Action Conference, or CPAC, was organized by the American Conservation Union Foundation, which aims to promote conservative education and is also registered under Section 501(c)(3).

'Read the headlines on [the CPAC] website,' Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming said, justifying the university's decision. 'I would suspect anybody looking at the headlines that came out of this conference could have left with the impression that it was partisan political activity.'

Cleary, however, disagreed that the fees would fund a partisan political committee or candidates.

'The money for registration fees was going to the American Conservative Union that runs CPAC every year,' she said.

According to Appelbaum, the rule has been applied evenly to both College Democrats and College Republicans.

'I know one of the things that the university administrators did was to look back in history to see what SAC has funded, and they couldn't find any other evidence of funding for an event of this nature that passed,' he said.

The College Democrats have not received funding to go to national conferences in recent years, but would like to attend the College Democrats of America annual conference this year, according to club Chair Joseph Vandegriff (COL '14).

Several members of the College Republicans ultimately decided to register for the conference as individuals unaffiliated with the university. Fleming said he supported the university's decision to withhold funding for the event, but was pleased that the students chose to attend on their own.

'It is our goal, to the extent we can, to find a way for you to do what you want to do in your organizations … within the constraints of the law,' Fleming said. 'My understanding is that it didn't stop anybody from going to CPAC. I'm glad they got to do it and it didn't dust up our tax-exempt status.' 

The university has developed a prototype for a mobile application that could soon become a one-stop shop for many student services. ...

University Information Services and the Office of the Chief Operating Officer partnered with Modo Labs, a technology design company whose mobile platform has already been adopted by Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown University, to design the product.

The apps will serve to connect student resources, like current Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle arrival times. The development team is also working on a campus directory through which students will be able to access emergency resources, campus maps, O'Donovan Hall menus, campus events, the school calendar and contact information for students, faculty and staff.

'What is exciting about working with Modo is that it gives us the framework to leverage a lot of apps that students here and at other universities have already created, apps catered specifically towards student needs, and pull them in and build upon our framework,' University Chief Information Officer Lisa Davis said at a Hoya Roundtable Wednesday in O'Donovan Hall.

Eventually, the team hopes to be able to include features such as a laundry tracker, which would require extra technology to be installed within existing laundry appliances, and a GPS locator for SafeRides.

According to Davis, the developers may soon allow students to submit apps that could be added to the pre-existing platform.

'There is innovation already occurring in the student body,' she said. 'We want to figure out how we can leverage that innovation with what you are already doing.'

According to Georgetown University Student Association Secretary of Information and Technology Michael Crouch, the idea for a smartphone app sprang from conversations between students and University Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Augostini.

'The conversation we had was based around how we saw long-term IT strategy developing for the university,' Crouch said. 'That conversation turned into a number of different discussions in order to try and get this prototype off the ground.'

Although a prototype of the app has been developed, a timeline for the release of a final version has not been determined.

According to Davis, the app will be compatible with iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and Droids and is designed to provide a way to improve student life and resources at Georgetown.

'The idea is to funnel all of your ideas and suggestions in order to figure out how technology can reshape your experience here at Georgetown,' she said. 'Ultimately, we are making the right decisions and taking the next steps here at Georgetown.'  

President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2013 budget contains provisions for D.C.'s spending to become independent of the federal government, marking a major victory for local politicians who have long called for greater District autonomy. ...

'Consistent with the principle of home rule, it is the administration's view that the District's local budget should be authorized to take effect without a separate annual federal appropriations bill,' the president wrote in the appendix to his proposal. 'The administration will work with Congress and the mayor to pass legislation to amend the D.C. Home Rule Act to provide the District with local budget autonomy.'

With this legislation, Obama fulfills a promise he made to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) to help pass a D.C. budget autonomy bill at Georgetown University's annual Let Freedom Ring Celebration last month.

'The president's budget supported budget autonomy last year, but this is the first time he also included language committing to work on the bill,' Norton wrote in a press release.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) drafted a bill in support of budget autonomy this past November, but it was rejected by District officials because it included a provision that prohibited local spending on abortion services for low-income women.

However, Norton said she would work with Issa to redraft the bill. Both agree that the final legislation should be largely free of such controversial clauses.

'We started with an issue where both parties have had some disagreement, and through fruitful discussions, ended with a piece of legislation that is very close to a bill that D.C. can support,' Norton said.

Because D.C.'s budget requires congressional approval as part of the federal budget process, a federal government shutdown would necessitate a municipal shutdown &- something that came close to happening several times last year.

Obama's proposed budget also includes language to prevent municipal services from closing down in the event of a federal shutdown. The amendment would ensure that basic services, including police work and ambulance services, would not be disrupted in case of a government closure.

'[D.C.] is the only place in the country where once the city council &- and the mayor in our case because there is no governor of the District of Columbia &- do their work and make their budget decisions with D.C. tax dollars, they still can't go ahead until Congress does, and it is not unusual for Congress to be late getting these appropriations done,' Georgetown's Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming said.

According to Fleming, the proposal is a major victory for both the District and the university.

'It is very important … to the university to see this kind of change happen,' he said.

Regents Hall, the university's new science facility, is on track to be completed by May 2012, two months earlier than previously announced. ...

The building is slated to open for the next academic year with an official ceremony to celebrate staff and distinguished alumni closely involved in the project.

The new facility will offer more study and laboratory space for both undergraduate and graduate students, according to Ali Whitmer, an associate dean of Georgetown College. Instead of having separate spaces for the biology, chemistry and physics departments, faculty members from different areas will have interspersed offices in the hope of promoting interdisciplinary research.

In an effort to be ecologically friendly, the facility includes plans for new green space &- a terrace running between the Hariri Building and Regents Hall that will incorporate water capture and reuse technology.

'We will have what we are referring to as a new quad, which will be an open space with plants and lawn,' Whitmer said.

Sustainability is also incorporated into Regents Hall's interior design and its heating and cooling system.

'We have included in all elements of construction, design and finishes what we all would call green building practices,' Whitmer said. 'The way the windows were designed and the orientation of spaces was planned to take advantage of natural light rather than using electrical lighting.'

The cost of the $93 million LEED-certified building was defrayed by a $6.9 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The grant was awarded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in part because the university employed 750 people during the building's construction and created 28 permanent positions during an economic recession.

Regents Hall was partially funded by the Board of Regents, the board of alumni advisers for whom the building was named.

'The building was named in their honor in recognition of the philanthropy and service they have provided to Georgetown as an entire institution. It is at such a high level that we wanted to honor them in a big way, and this was a way that we could do that,' Whitmer said. 

As the end of his term on Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E approaches, Jake Sticka (COL '13) is set to begin recruiting students to run for the...

Recruited during the spring semester of his freshman year by the previous ANC student commissioner, Sticka has served as the commissioner for Single-Member District 2E04 for two years. He is currently on the transportation committee and is secretary of the commission, a role typically held by the ANC's student representative.

ANC 2E's redistricting plan, which passed in December, split the Georgetown area into eight single-member districts, allotting two SMDs to areas inhabited solely by Georgetown students. As a consequence, two students will likely be elected in the upcoming contest.

ANC student commissioners must attend monthly ANC meetings &- as well as meetings throughout the city, vote on important issues and speak with constituents and campus media.

Because commissioners must live in the districts they represent, Sticka won't know who is eligible to run until freshman housing selection ends in the first week of March.

'[After March] I'll know where they are living, which is essential for me to go forward with the process because the two districts are split,' Sticka said.

Sticka plans to hold information sessions outlining what the job entails and how to run for the position. At these sessions, he hopes to gauge potential candidates' level of interest and prepare them for the election process.

Sticka expressed concern about the District's requirement that candidates collect 25 signatures from registered voting constituents in their specific SMD in order to appear on the November ballot.

'One thing that really is unfortunate is that the petition period … starts Aug. 3 and runs through Sept. 1, and there aren't students on campus during that period,' Sticka said.

Freshmen usually run for the ANC position because the term lasts two years and the commissioner must live in his district during his entire time on the commission.

'If any sophomore should want to run, I'd be happy to support them in the process, but I suspect that there won't be too many that will want to do that,' Sticka said.

Open to any interested and committed students, Sticka said that the ANC student commissioner position requires an open relationship with the Georgetown community, attention to student concerns and the ability to impart these concerns to the ANC.

'As a personal voter, I definitely will be looking for people that know how to be in touch with students,' he said.

In addition to representing university interests, any student commissioner would have to hold his own against the ANC's six other commissioners representing SMDs in Burleith, Georgetown and Hillandale.

Though the ANC has become a battleground for debate about Georgetown's 2010 Campus Plan during Sticka's term, his relationship with his fellow commissioners has been civil.

'We are very respectful of each other even when we have differences of opinion,' Sticka said.

ANC 2E chair Ron Lewis added that despite the tensions, he has always enjoyed a sound working relationship with student commissioners.

'[The student commissioners have been] engaged in community affairs, smart, interested and interesting folks, and I really like that. The one wrinkle this year has of course been the Campus Plan, and I wish that the Campus Plan would just go away because … emotions run high and people take positions they have to take and that's not easy,' Lewis said.

He added that he is confident that Sticka's recruitment efforts will yield strong candidates.

'I think the system is pretty good at coming up with the right quality of candidates,' Lewis said. 'I have no doubt that two great people will come through this election.'

Eighty-five students at The George Washington University have been diagnosed with norovirus, according to an email alert the university sent to its students Wednesday. ...

Officials from GWU's Student Health Service and the D.C. Department of Health announced that cases of gastrointestinal illness that had cropped up on campus this week were caused by the virus.

According the Department of Health, norovirus is highly infectious and can be transmitted via food and hand-to-hand contact. Symptoms typically last one to two days but can be severe and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

The GWU alert urged students to take preventative measures to protect themselves against the virus.

According to the alert, administrators have been unable to pinpoint the source of the infection or determine any trends in its spread. Cases have been identified on the both the main and Mount Vernon campuses and have been reported among students living, studying and dining in a variety of locations.

'No single commonality has been identified to date,' the alert said.

According to GWU freshman David Meni, the virus's impact has been widespread.

'Most people know someone who is sick or feeling ill,' he said.

A university broadcast email sent to Georgetown students, faculty and staff Thursday night stated that no incidents of the virus have been reported on GU's campus. But the alert echoed many of the warnings sent out by GWU officials.

'Students who are not feeling well and experiencing symptoms of severe vomiting and diarrhea should seek medical treatment at the Student Health Center or Georgetown University Hospital,' the email said. 'In general, if you feel ill, please use good judgment and refrain from group activities.'

According to the email, additional hand sanitizer dispensers will be set up at various locations around campus and cleaning staff have been asked to pay extra attention to common areas and high-contact surfaces as precautionary measures.

The university said it will continue to send emergency updates as needed.

Hoya Staff Writer Matthew Strauss contributed to this report. 

The Georgetown Program Board has secured a headliner for the annual spring concert early this year to prevent the problems with last-minute rescheduling that hampered last year's event. ...

Although concert planners have not yet released the name of the artist because contract details have not been finalized, they said the event will likely draw a larger crowd than it did last year.

Planning for the concert, which is scheduled for March 30 in McDonough Arena, began in November.

'We tried to get started a lot earlier this year, so we didn't have to scramble like in years past,' GPB Concert Chair Will Henderson (MSB '14) said.

GPB's annual concert budget totals $13,000, but Henderson said that additional donations from groups such as the Senior Class Committee and Students of Georgetown, Inc. have helped secure stronger performers than last year. The lineup for last spring's concert included Kevin Rudolf, Shwayze and Dev and the Cataracs. It is likely that seniors will receive a discount on their tickets this year because of the Senior Class Committee's contribution.

GPB Executive Board Chair Tyler Simpson (COL '13) said the responsibility of booking artists falls on the concert planning committee and an additional volunteer core of about a dozen students. These students act as representatives for the student body, suggesting artists that they think will be well received.

While the committee conducted a school-wide survey last spring in order to gauge student responses to certain artists, the current GPB board feels it was not a helpful tool in securing a performer and raising student interest in the concert.

'The survey didn't help much, and it wasn't realistic,' Simpson said.

Henderson, who is in his first term as GPB concert chair, believes the annual spring concert will continue to improve in the future as donations from campus groups increase and planning is more efficiently executed.

'Hopefully in following years we can make serious changes to make the concert a bigger and better deal,' he said. 

Donna Hernandez (SFS '13) eloped with her husband, Eduardo Panyaguy, two weeks into her freshman year at Georgetown. ...

The couple, who met in high school, married before Panyaguy, a U.S. Marine, was deployed to Afghanistan in the fall of 2009.

'We were planning on a long engagement until I realized that he was going to be part of the unit that was spearheading a lot of movement in Afghanistan. The unit he was replacing had a 40 percent casualty rate,' Hernandez said. 'We looked at the options and said, ‘Let's go ahead and do it.''

Megan Kirby's (COL '12) decision to marry young also stemmed from her then-boyfriend's commitment to the armed forces. James Kirby joined the U.S. Army two years into college and was stationed in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2011.

If the couple had not married, Kirby would have been unable to receive official news about her husband from the military or take advantage of education benefits for military families.

'We were going to wait until after college, but with him joining the military, honestly it was more practical,' she said.

Once her husband was deployed, Kirby struggled to fill dual roles of wife and student.

'It was really difficult balancing being a student and being married to someone in the army. Especially with the time difference, I would want to stay up and talk with him, but I would have classes the next day,' she said.

Kirby said that people began to notice changes in her behavior while her husband was overseas.

'One of my professors noticed that I was tired and distracted, so she emailed my dean, and my dean met with me to talk about my special circumstance,' she said.

The attention of Kirby's dean and professors ultimately allowed her more flexibility with class attendance.

'When I went home for [my husband's] homecoming ceremony, my professors were kind about giving me time off for that. Overall, Georgetown has been very accommodating,' she said.

But according to Hernandez, the university could do more for married students.

'I've never seen anything on campus that's focused on the married undergrad. I feel like there is much more that could be done, especially with the Jesuits and other leaders on campus,' Hernandez said.  

In addition to balancing academia with married life, students said they often have to jump through hoops to secure resources like financial aid because they are no longer considered dependents of their parents.

'It was so odd, because most people don't have to think, ‘Before I get married, let me talk to my financial aid advisor,'' Hernandez said.

Married students also face unique roadblocks in securing campus housing, because the university's Code of Student Conduct prohibits cohabitation.

'[Georgetown housing] is hesitant to provide married students housing because they don't want to provide de facto housing for your spouse as well,' Hernandez said.

For both women, perhaps the biggest challenge of their relationships is balancing their identities as college students with their responsibilities as spouses.

'It's like you're stuck in this limbo, middle place,' Kirby said. Hernandez agreed.

'The biggest challenge is really trying to live the college lifestyle,' she said.

'Especially being a female, guys try to tip-toe around me. But I'm just a regular person. I don't have cooties. I'm the same as everyone else, just on a different path.' 

President Obama called for the allocation of $165 billion to federal student aid in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 released Monday. ...

According to Georgetown's Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming, the number represents an $11.5 billion jump from fiscal year 2012. Education spending saw the largest increase among all federal discretionary budget categories this year, Fleming said.

'I think the funding levels are good, especially given the budget constraints,' he said. '[They show] the president's serious commitment to education as an important contributor to getting our economy in order.'

Federal funding for education is especially important to Georgetown students, who received $25.6 million in federal financial aid during the 2010-2011 school year.

The proposed budget includes $36.1 billion for Pell Grants, $1.1 billion for Federal Work Study and $8.5 billion for the Perkins Loan Program, all of which are major components of students' financial aid packages. During the 2010-2011 academic year, 952 Georgetown students were awarded Pell Grants, 1,954 earned Federal Work-Study funding and 546 received Perkins Loans.

'This is the first year in many years [the nation] hasn't been facing a shortfall in funding for the Pell Grant Program,' Fleming said.

But Georgetown's ability to access new funding will be contingent on Obama's newly announced Race to the Top program, which ties federal dollars to the cost of a university's tuition. In this program, colleges will be graded according to their total costs, graduation rates, student loan repayment rates, average student loan debt and graduates' earning potential.

Fleming worried that Obama's new rules might lead to a decrease in the amount Georgetown receives for student aid based on the school's high tuition.

Undergraduate tuition for fiscal year 2013 will rise to $42,360, a 3.5 percent increase over the current rate of $40,920.

'If they start fiddling with the formula, I don't want our students to lose access to loans,' Fleming said. 'It's my feeling that we have a very good approach to making Georgetown an affordable institution for students of all economic levels … and I will do everything in my power to make sure that there aren't some unintended consequences of what they're doing that would undermine what we think is a very successful model.'

Obama also called for Congress to extend the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which caps interest rates on student loans at 3.5 percent. The law is due to expire July 1, after which rates would go up to 6.8 percent.

According to Fleming, neither Democrats nor Republicans have made much headway in making sure the act is extended.

'There will be some partisan back-and-forth about this and … I am not ready to predict the outcome,' he said.

The budget Obama laid out Monday must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in order to become law. According to Fleming, it could be months before the budget is finalized.

'The current Congress hasn't exactly been a place where a whole lot has gotten done,' he said.

During last year's budget process, Congress passed a series of month-long continuing resolutions to temporarily fund the government after reaching an impasse in April.

'There's a pretty general assumption that a lot of the work of Congress is going to get done in a lame duck session [after the elections in November],' Fleming said.

'Those of us who do things like I do might be spending Christmas Eve on Capitol Hill,' he added jokingly.

Fleming said he will continue to work to increase the amount of funding allocated toward student aid programs.

'So much of this is so important to Georgetown students,' he said. 'At a time when we are doing so much here to help low-income students … I don't want to see anything stand in the way of our being able to do even more of that.'