Programs

In 2019, a committee of the Georgetown University African American Advisory Board formed to launch We Are Georgetown: Celebrating our Black History, an oral history project designed to document and share the rich history and experiences of the Black community at Georgetown University. Co-chairs Michael C. Ford (L’84) and Fonda Sutton (SFS’87, L’95, G’15) lead the alumni and current student volunteers for this project. 

Through storytelling and first-hand accounts, We Are Georgetown documents the history of the Black experience at Georgetown, leveraging oral histories, artifacts, and memorabilia. The project’s initial focus is on the stories of Black students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others from the 1960s to the present. The project aims to represent an intergenerational portrait of our narrative, spanning across the University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools.

Georgetown University’s academic and campus life is truly unique. The Black experience at Georgetown University presents its own set of exceptional opportunities and challenges. By documenting this rich mosaic of individual stories and their intersection, we begin to shed light on our diverse experiences and the impact we make to the campus, community, and the world.   

• How has the Georgetown experience impacted or influenced your life’s journey, direction, and career?
• Was there someone at the university who inspired you, supported you, or made a significant difference in your GU experience?
• What meaningful changes did you witness or influence during your tenure at Georgetown?

We Are Georgetown: Celebrating Our Black History gives voice to these and many other important questions. 

“Being Black at Georgetown has meant to have an endless community of support.”

– Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (SFS’88)

This groundbreaking project explores the evolution of the Black experience at Georgetown University, leveraging not only oral histories but also artifacts and memorabilia. While the project will eventually document the Black experience from the school’s inception, it initially spotlights the stories of Black students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others from the 1960s to the present—from the most notable alumni to the talented generation of current students. 

This ongoing program will continue to collect a set of oral histories from former and current students, alumni, faculty, and staff with the intent of identifying and cataloging historical information relative to the university’s Black community. Over time, the project will paint an intergenerational portrait of a diverse narrative, spanning across the university’s undergraduate colleges and its graduate and professional schools and programs, including the School of Medicine and the Law Center.

As stated by Michael Ford (L’84) and Fonda Sutton (SFS’87, L’95, G’15), co-chairs of the initiative and committee, this work is crucial because “in order to leverage the long-held Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, it is important that the Black experience at Georgetown be told, from persistence to perseverance, from possibility to prominence.”

Volunteer Opportunities

Interviews are conducted by student and alumni volunteers. If you would like to get involved in any of the following ways, please fill out this form or contact blackalumnicouncil@georgetown.edu to:

• Conduct interviews
• Recommend someone to be interviewed
• Volunteer to be interviewed
• Donate funds, relevant photos, memorabilia or artifacts
• Work on the We Are Georgetown: Celebrating Our Black History Committee

“Being at Georgetown has meant having ‘No fear.’”

– Judge Marcia Cooke (SFS’75)

The We Are Georgetown: Celebrating Our Black History interviews are presented in partnership with Georgetown University Library and made available in Digital Georgetown. Explore the interviews or search for a specific topic or individual. 

For additional information, please submit your inquiries to blackalumnicouncil@georgetown.edu. 

 

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THIS COLLECTION AND ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THEREIN ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR USE OF A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT.

The content provided herein is being furnished to promote dialogue and discourse about the experiences of certain persons in relation to their direct and indirect interactions with the Georgetown University community. The Georgetown University Alumni Association (GUAA) Black Alumni Council’s We are Georgetown project represents the opinions and personal recollections of the interview subjects and may or may not be verifiable to a level that would meet academic, journalistic, or scientific validation criteria. Georgetown University, the GUAA, the GUAA Black Alumni Council, as well their respective employees, members, directors, and officers, (hereinafter referred collectively as “Georgetown”) do not warrant, and hereby disclaim any warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the factual accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information obtained from this site, or any link to this site. Use of information obtained from or through this site is at your own risk.

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The Patrick Healy Scholarship was established to promote diversity at Georgetown by providing assistance to undergraduates who have demonstrated financial need for Georgetown scholarship aid, with preference in selection to eligible minority students. It has been supported by donations from members of the former Georgetown University African American Advisory Board, dinner attendees, alumni and friends.

Make a gift to the Patrick Healy Endowed Scholarship >

Patrick Healy Scholarship Recipients

2021 LaHannah Giles (C’23)
2020 Tiana Holston (C’22)
2019 Josiah Laney (SFS’21)
2018 Taurjhai Purdie (C’20)
2017 Elizabeth Nalunga (SFS’19)
2016 Luce Angeline Lovely Olivier (C’18)
2015 Angela Williams (C’17)
2013 Grace Yeyeodu (C’16)
2010 GrettaDigbeu (C’14)
2009 Tanore Barrow (C’10)
2008 Jodi Greer Callender (B’09, G’11)
2005 Lauren Alicia Johnson (B’08, L’14)
2004 William Garard Godwin (C’07)
2003 Neal Fisher (C’06, L’09)
2003 Kathryn-Ann Bloomfield (B’04, L’07)