Title:Recent Gifts to Georgetown University

Preparing the next generation of allies and leaders

A recent gift from the Behrens family will establish a new position in the Department of Athletics: the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will focus on matters related to social justice, specifically the training and education of student-athletes, coaches, and staff members.

“My family and I are honored to assist the Athletics Department in creating this important new position,” says former student-athlete Mary Taylor Behrens (C’83). “We hope the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Athletics will serve as a voice and mentor for the Black student-athletes to feel more welcome and accepted on campus, as well as among their teammates. Additionally, the new position will help educate all student-athletes, coaches, and staff on how to be better allies.”

Behrens was a member of the track team during her time on the Hilltop, is a Regent Emeritus, and serves as the head of the Regent’s Athletics Committee. Her son Matt (C’18, L’22) played lacrosse and was a Patrick Healy Fellow, and her son Chris (C’16) also attended Georgetown.

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A partner for the Americas

Longtime Georgetown supporters Rolando (C’68) and Monica Gonzalez-Bunster (Parents’00,’05,’14,’16) have committed $25 million to establish the Americas Institute at Georgetown University, creating a cross-disciplinary platform for the university’s work on Latin America and the hemisphere.

“As the prime learning institution in the nation’s capital and one of the leading universities in the United States, Georgetown is positioned to be a center of influence, thought, and innovation for the Americas and the rest of the world,” says Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster. “I’m a firm believer that Georgetown can always make positive changes because of those who run it, teach in it, and attend it.”

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Facilitating summer internships, even in a pandemic

A newly expanded summer program at Georgetown University provides first-generation and low-income undergraduates with financial and programmatic support as they participate in summer internships. This past summer’s session was adapted to ensure everyone’s safety during the ongoing health crisis, with students living around the world—rather than only in Washington, D.C.—and participating in remote internships.

The Idol Family Fellowship Program was made possible by a $5 million gift from the Idol Family Foundation. John Idol, father of Christina (C’14), is a former member of the Board of Directors, Board of Regents, and College Board of Advisors.

“Our family believes that education and access to professional development opportunities that serve as a training ground for future employment will help create advantages for first-generation students at Georgetown,” shares Idol.

Read more and watch a video message from the Idol Fellows below:

Support for future health care workers

Given the disproportionate toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has been having on the elderly and marginalized groups, a $1M gift from Luci Baines Johnson (NHS’69, H’18)—daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson—and her husband, Ian Turpin, to the Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS) comes at a critical time. The Johnson/Turpin Fellows Endowed Fund supports scholarships for graduate students who have a demonstrated interest in serving adult and geriatric populations, along with other underserved communities.

Luci Baines Johnson says she is grateful for a way to help the health care workforce during this time of immense suffering. “This has given me an opportunity—in a time when so many people my age can feel a sense of uselessness—to feel a sense of purpose.”

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Investing in tech and women’s leadership

Georgetown’s groundbreaking work in ethical technological innovation and international women’s development and peacekeeping efforts will get a $5.4 million boost, thanks to a gift from Anisya (Parent’11) and Lynn Fritz (C’64, Parent’98,’11), longtime leaders in the Georgetown community.

Five million dollars of the gift establishes the Fritz Family Fellows Program within the Georgetown Initiative on Technology & Society, a joint effort among Georgetown’s three campuses and nine schools to harness technology for the betterment of humanity. The fellowship program aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders with expertise in the social impacts of technology, and build a network of public interest technologists who learn from and support each other’s work.

An additional $400,000 creates Georgetown Ambassadors for Women, Peace, and Security, a dynamic community of influential leaders who support and amplify the cutting-edge work of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security to put a gender lens on issues of diplomacy, defense, and development. The Fritzes say they hope that the council will strengthen women’s leadership within the Georgetown community, as well as abroad.

“I feel extremely strongly that there should be a women’s lens on any public policy,” says Lynn Fritz.

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