It’s common for long-established communities to ignore the history that preceded them. The history of the Americas didn’t begin in 1492. Football didn’t begin with Rutgers-Princeton. And the area that became Georgetown has a rich story that began long before our university and cobbled sidewalks came along.

In HOYA lore, DAYS ON THE HILLTOP has a personality. The goal of the column, traditionally written by a senior member of THE HOYA who served in one of the senior editorial positions at the newspaper, is to bring to light important campus issues and, hopefully, foster debate.

It looks like Georgetown is not on the Holy Father’s nice list.

Now in his fourth year as head coach of the men’s basketball team, it’s apparent that John Thompson III and the Georgetown Hoyas have performed quite a feat. After several years of almosts and maybes, Georgetown’s basketball team is once again counted among the great programs in the country.

When I was a greenhorn reporter for THE HOYA a few years ago, my editor assigned me a story about Georgetown students applying for Rhodes, Mitchell and Marshall Scholarships. I sat in on mock interviews of the applicants conducted by professors, Jesuits and policy experts, and I was routinely impressed by the capabilities and passion of these students.

It doesn’t take long to drive through Hope, a sleepy town of about 10,000 set back in the undulating woodlands of southwest Arkansas. But its small size hides enormous contributions made to state and national politics, and it has a lesson to teach to anyone willing to hear it.

Earlier this year, 20 members of the Georgetown faculty and administration released a report on Georgetown’s intellectual life.