Georgetown has more than 2,000 brand new alumni — including the first from the Doha, Qatar campus — after the university’s 210th commencement exercises.

Each of the university’s nine schools, plus the McDonough School of Business’ MBA program, held individual ceremonies to honor their graduates. The Washington campuses celebrated commencement weekend May 16-17, while the School of Foreign Service-Qatar held its inaugural graduation on May 9. Read Full Story.

Video of the following commencement ceremony can be viewed by click on the links below.

Friday, May 15, 2009

• 11:00 AM: McDonough School of Business Commencement Ceremony
• 2:30 PM: Graduate School Commencement Ceremony

Saturday, May 16, 2009

• 9:00 AM: Walsh School of Foreign Service Commencement Ceremony

Sunday, May 17, 2009

• 2:00 PM: Law Center
  

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“You are joining the profession at exactly the right moment,” Vladeck said during Law Center’s afternoon commencement on Healy Lawn. “There is much work to be done. There are millions and millions of Americans who urgently need your help.”

Vladeck, who is also the newly appointed consumer protection director for the Federal Trade Commission, told the audience that with crisis comes opportunity.

“Our nation’s financial crisis may be the greatest challenge our graduates ever face,” he said, “… (but) the poor, the unemployed and the dispossessed need the help of lawyers to reclaim their lives, and they need help now.”

On May 17, hundreds gathered on Healy Lawn to celebrate the graduation of more than 1,000 Law Center students this year. WATCH WEBCAST

The dreary weather didn’t keep the crowd from standing outside Constitution Hall prior to the 157th commencement ceremony of the School of Medicine.

Graduates stood near their classmates, family members and friends to talk, laugh, take photos and enjoy the last few moments of being medical students.

“For once, I’m actually speechless,” said Dan Alyesh, who graduated on Sunday. “We finally made it.”

During the last four years, 190 students in the class of 2009 spent countless hours studying, practicing and preparing for their residencies. Now, they are about to embark on one of the biggest journeys of their lifetime.

As students entered Constitution Hall during the processional, the crowd stood erupting with applause. Tears fell down the eyes of family members as their graduate walked by. Cheers were yelled and smiles were seen on all of the faces.

“I came with 34 of my family members from California to see my daughter graduate,” said Ranjit Vishwanath, who brought five of his children with him who are already doctors.

Being a doctor is something his daughter spent her whole life wanting to achieve, he said. On May 17 she fulfilled that goal and continued a family tradition. “We are so proud of her huge accomplishments,” Vishwanath said.

This year’s speaker, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), attempted praised the newest alumni for their tenacity, drive and great accomplishments during the last four years.

“You have done it all,” he told the graduates, “…and you have done it well. These are the men and women of tomorrow, and ladies and gentlemen, we are in capable hands.”

Barrasso, who is also a medical doctor, received a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, in recognition of his leadership in improving rural health care nationwide and his devotion to Georgetown’s spirit of service.

After the closing reflection, the new 190 graduates and their families were not the only ones beaming with pride. The faculty who ushered them along the way were right there with them.

“I anticipate wonderful things for this class as they engage in the incredible challenges of the 21st century,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, research associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center. “This is a very exciting time.”

Following the ceremony, a picnic was held at the Medical Center to continue the celebration of the great achievements of the Class of 2009.

For more information about your diploma distribution and reception sites, visit the Law Center Commencement Web site.

Graduates, their families and members of the university community gathered in McDonough Arena Sunday morning for the Baccalaureate Eucharistic Celebration, where the message focused on the love of God.

“Tuck this away in your memory,” said the Rev. James Walsh, S.J. “When things get tough, remember the command is a promise. What we can’t do on our own, God will supply.”

Amanda Huynh (SFS’09) offered prayers to the faithful “that graduating seniors everywhere will rejoice in their accomplishments and receive the grace they need to face the new challenges that lie ahead of them, we pray to the Lord.”

Recalling the feelings that emerged as he prepared to bid farewell to the Hilltop, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia shared how consolation and wholeness enveloped him in four different contexts. The first area for the 1979 graduate was with athletics.

“Despite obvious indications, I was the last one to understand the limits of my skills,” the president said of his athletic prowess. But that didn’t stop him from working hard to better his performance.

“I found myself doing things I didn’t know I could do,” he said.

He had the feeling again as he was writing a paper. “I was writing the words, and I didn’t know where they were coming from,” said. “I had that feeling, but (this time) as I was engaging my intellect.”

He said the third context came as he thought of his friendships and relationships that reminded him of home. “It’s a feeling of knowing you are loved.”

And lastly, those feelings came in the context the spiritual gatherings on the Hilltop.

“In the years ahead when you gather in your parishes or prayer groups … when you have that feeling of being your best self, when you know you are loved,” he implored, “perhaps, in that moment you’ll find yourselves right here, right back on this Hilltop.

With pressing health challenges around the globe — from the aging baby boomers and health care reform to nursing shortages and rising health care spending, Pulitzer Prize-winning health and science writer Laurie Garrett called the new graduates to lead.

Garrett addressed the 2009 graduates from the School of Nursing and Health Studies (NHS) at an evening commencement ceremony in Gaston Hall.

“I celebrate the miracle of each and every one of you,” said the award-winning journalist and best-selling author. “Against all odds, you are here today, ready to treat, administer, give TLC and carry out research,” Garrett said.  “Against all odds, you are ready, willing and able to fight inside our expensive, semifunctional health system. And I know that against all odds and obstacles that will be thrown at you each and every day of your new careers, you will carry on as consummate professionals.”

More than 160 NHS graduates received their bachelor of science degrees in health care management and policy, human science, international health and nursing.
Among the graduates: Three students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa; 34 students were elected to Sigma Theta Tau, the international nursing honor society; nine were selected as health studies scholars; four were named to Upsilon Phi Delta, the honor society for health systems administration; three were named to Alpha Sigma Nu, the national Jesuit honor society; and three were initiated into Sigma Xi, the scientific research society.

The graduating seniors chose Elizabeth Kucharczyk (NHS’09), an honors nursing major, to present the student address at the ceremony.  She said Georgetown’s values must guide her classmates in their careers.

“As we move forward in our careers, it’s important for us to remember our Georgetown roots and to bring the university’s values — like respect, integrity and social justice — to the international level,” said Kucharczyk.  “Even more important, perhaps, is that we demonstrate caring and compassion in all of the service that we provide.”

Many NHS graduates already know where either their academic careers will continue or where their professional ones will begin. They include:

• Yale School of Public Health
• Harvard School of Public Health
• University of Michigan Medical School
• Accenture
• Georgetown University Hospital
• Children’s National Medical Center
• Deloitte Consulting
• Massachusetts General Hospital
• Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies

Best-selling author and PBS journalist Gwen Ifill encouraged members of the Class of 2009 to question the things they encounter in life with a healthy dose of skeptism.

“Being a journalist has taught me the difference between skepticism and cynicism and how (it is) a virtue to have a little bit of both,” Ifill said to an audience of more than 800 graduates from Georgetown College and their families on Saturday afternoon. “You need to prepare to question yourself, to question those around you, and maybe even question those who you aspire to be.” [Watch video of Gwen Ifill's remarks]

One particular question she wanted to the class to ask themselves dealt with the “true expansive meaning” of diversity.

“Are we talking about diversity of skin color and ethnicity or diversity of opinion and thought,” asked the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week.” “If you do that your education does not end here or in graduate school or in the world of work. Because if all you take away today from this lawn is a college degree. You really haven’t been paying attention.”

The best-selling author of “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” (Doubleday, 2009) commended the College graduates on their accomplishments, thus far — as did Georgetown President John J. DeGioia.

“By virtue of your talents and gifts, the force of your characters and the quality of your minds, you are asked to push at the boundaries, to live out at the frontiers — at the frontier of a new humanity in our world,” said DeGioia.