Initiatives, projects and lecture series (Office of the President, Georgetown University)

Reflective Engagement in the Public Interest: This year, the Reflective Engagement Steering Committee will award up to $125,000 in grants to encourage public scholarship and help build the University's capacity to undertake this kind of academic work in the future.

Angel Tree: We never forget the books we loved as children. Every child should read, love, and own books. Throughout the Winter season, members of the Georgetown community share the gift of reading with youngsters in local tutoring and mentoring programs and in area schools through the Angel Tree book drive. In 2006, over 3,000 books were distributed to area children in need.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration: Georgetown University's annual "Let Freedom Ring" initiative honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through a series of academic, artistic, and extracurricular programs that examine Dr. King's life and work and address the contemporary challenges our nation faces in order to fulfill his dream of justice and equality for all people.
Pedro Arrupe: Georgetown University commemorated the 100th Anniversary of the birth of the Very Reverend Pedro Arrupe, S.J. through the commissioning of a documentary and panel discussion.

Pacem in Terris: In 1963 while the world was locked in a Cold War nuclear arms race, Pope John XXIII, a peacemaker of extraordinary influence, issued a Papal Encyclical entitled Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth. In this powerful document, Pope John XXIII called on all peoples to begin an authentic dialogue in the quest for peace and human fulfillment. Inspired by the vision of Pope John XXIII, Georgetown is examining issues and prospects in the global imperative for peace with a series of presentations by distinguished scholars, religious leaders, and human rights activists from around the world.
The Nostra Ætate Lecture Series: This lecture series buils on the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's document on interreligious dialogue, as well as on other similar initiatives like the Pacem in Terris lecture series. Nostra Ætate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, which continues to revolutionize the Catholic Church's approach to the Jewish people and members of other religions. Lecturers from various traditions and experiences examine both ancient and contemporary questions of interreligious understanding.