The Georgetown Secular Society is often asked whether secularization is necessary. Reparations, for instance, are seen as a sufficient (if not, an achievable) measure to ameliorate Georgetown’s atonement. It is a mistake to frame the goals of the Georgetown Secular Society and any of the various proposals currently floating amidst Georgetown’s community as mutually exclusive. The question of secularization bears no implication on any of them. However, amongst the various ideas currently debated on Georgetown’s campus, secularization uniquely addresses a simple truth from Georgetown’s participation in the U.S. slave trade.
Georgetown University’s Catholic and Jesuit identity is neither benign nor innocuous. Primary source documents establish that Georgetown’s administration understood slavery as ordained by God. A serious effort at self-improvement, therefore, would have reconciled Georgetown’s previous and present-day understanding of the Bible. How did Georgetown reform its position on slavery? Not through divine intervention, but through military conflict where “the overwhelming majority of students and alumni of [Georgetown] College [...] who fought in the Civil War sided with the Confederacy.” Believing themselves to be on the side of God, the Georgetown community was ultimately coerced to accept the humanity of Black Africans after losing in civil strife responsible for the deaths of over 600,000 Americans.
In subsequent zeitgeists, Georgetown University has similarly failed to lead on issues of political and moral significance. These are always human rights issues. From 1979-1987, Georgetown University fought a legal case to prohibit campus recognition and financing for gay students. Georgetown sacrificed 200 million dollars in tax-exempt bonds from the federal government in this effort and has not reconciled its present-day attitude against the bigotry espoused by its lawyers in U.S. courts—when the civil liberties of the LGBTQ community were uncertain. On the issue of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, Georgetown University is spectacularly failing. Contraception, readily provided at over 85 percent of U.S. universities, is deemed contrary to traditional Catholic principles and unavailable at Georgetown’s Student Health Center. When the history of organized religion on scientific truth is considered, the necessity of secularization is clear.
Georgetown University must become a secular institution to better approach the future, forever-changing issues of scientific and moral progress that comprise the human condition.
Yes.
The Georgetown Secular Society is rooted in the early years of Georgetown University’s atonement initiative. Upon observing the glaring omissions in the final report of Georgetown University’s Working Group on Slavery, a private letter to President DeGioia on 13 November 2017 delineated the connection between Christianity and Slavery. Initially ignored, President DeGioia eventually assigned his Chief of Staff and Vice President, Joseph Ferrara, to reach out for a telephone conversation.
Vice President Ferrara’s message was this: Georgetown University is owned by the Society of Jesus, so the university would not explore relationship between Christianity and slavery. The abandonment of Georgetown’s responsibilities as a university, the betrayal of Georgetown’s atonement initiative, the disregard for Georgetown’s religious identity. There’s a lot to scrutinize about this admission. Suffice to write, in the intervening years since conversing with Vice President Ferrara, Georgetown University has followed through on this commitment.
After observing that Georgetown University plans to indefinitely ignore the relationship between Christianity and slavery, the Georgetown Secular Society was founded in February 2023.
The religious beliefs of Georgetown’s students and faculty would remain whatever they wish them to be, decided on a personal level. Georgetown’s religious communities would still congregate and worship. Interfaith dialogues would still be had on campus. Holidays and traditions with religious roots would still be celebrated. Because Georgetown has already adopted a largely secular culture, life at Georgetown University would remain largely the same—with the exception of a few notable, positive changes:
- Georgetown University would no longer be maligned by Catholics for failing to uphold Catholic principles:
The 21st century demands of administrating a prestigious university has often placed Georgetown in conflict with its Jesuit identity. For instance, in 2009 Georgetown’s administration sparked ire among Catholics when it concealed a monogram of Jesus Christ at the request of visiting President Barack Obama. Administrative decisions like these provoke Catholics seemingly every academic year. In 2012, Georgetown’s administration was criticized by the Archbishop of Washington D.C., Donald Wuerl, for hosting then Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius—whom he called “the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history.” The backlash against this decision was so widespread among Catholics, that it inspired a petition to the Vatican containing approximately 2000 signatures for the university to be stripped of its Catholic and Jesuit labels. These controversies suggest that a secular Georgetown would better respect the beliefs of practicing Catholics by dropping the pretense of a Catholic identity that isn’t born by the record Georgetown’s administrative decisions.
(Donald Wuerl resigned from the church in 2018, shortly after indicted by a Pennsylvania Grand Jury for covering up child sex abuse.)
- The crucifixion of Jesus would no longer be displayed inside Georgetown University’s classrooms:
Georgetown University’s classrooms currently feature the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A secular Georgetown would remove this Catholic iconography, better representing the diverse beliefs of Georgetown’s student body and the secular administration of the university.
- Reproductive health resources would be available at Georgetown’s Student Health Center:
Georgetown University would join the 85 percent of universities in the United States that offer contraception at their respective student health centers. Religiously affiliated students would be under no obligation to pursue any reproductive health resource that contradicts his/her beliefs. These resources would simply be available to whoever desires them.
- Georgetown University’s administration would be open to making better administrative decisions in the future:
A secular Georgetown could better assess the future issues of moral significance it will inevitably face. By adopting a secular identity, Georgetown University could weigh these issues on their individual merits by examining the pertinent evidence of all sides. Neither the Bible, the Society of Jesus nor the Catholic Church would bear any influence on the administration of Georgetown University. Religious superstition would be replaced with a fact-based epistemology, resulting in happier a campus community. Secularization represents a real change, resulting from the efforts at atonement which Georgetown University began in 2015 for participating in the U.S. slave trade.
As a secular humanist organization, the Georgetown Secular Society considers itself an ally of the LGBTQ movement. While issues concerning sex and sexuality are not the current focus of our organization, we believe the secularization of Georgetown is a necessary step towards a more inclusive future.
Succinctly, we are helping Georgetown University to become more accepting of diverse sexual orientation by challenging organized religion—the basis for much anti-LGBTQ sentiment around the world.
