Georgetown v. Notre Dame

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From Inside Ed:

"In 1981, President Reagan first after surviving an assassination attempt was to deliver the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. In 2009, many anti-abortion activists (largely outside the university) condemned Notre Dame for inviting President Obama to deliver the address, given his support for abortion rights. But he was warmly received and praised the university for being willing to listen to all views. University leaders at the time noted the tradition of inviting presidents, many times in their first year of office.

That tradition may have ended Thursday, when Notre Dame announced that Vice President Mike Pence would be this year's commencement speaker . . . not[ing] the links between Pence, a former Indiana governor, and Notre Dame."

They didn't want Trump and settled on Pence. Best they could do. Kudos to them.

Plus considering Pence is former governor of Indiana...there is somewhat of a connection there.

This recently produced documentary about Father Hesbergh, former president of ND, will give you a sense of the ND culture then and even now.

[Anonymous]

My son looked at both. He got into both but chose ND mainly because he wanted to be further from home, BUT, also he did not like the GT campus...very small and cramped compared to the gorgeous sprawling ND campus.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing that clip, PP. He truly was an extraordinary man. I had the pleasure of meeting him once, as a law student.

ND not being interested in social justice? Hogwash.

https://www.wndu.com/content/news/Notre-Dame-president-issues-statement-against-immigration-policy-485931501.html

[Anonymous]

The idea of social justice was literally invented by Catholics.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Very different culturally. Georgetown is Jesuit and much more progressive/social justice oriented. ND is a big football school; Georgetown isn’t. As others have mentioned, the locations also couldn’t be more different.

You obviously know very little about ND's commitment to social justice.

https://kroc.nd.edu/

+1 ND is as social-justice oriented as they come.

Putting aside for a moment the role of social justice in the Jesuit tradition, which is unique, I’ll simply say that a school that invites Mike Pence to be commencement speaker cannot claim a deep and abiding commitment to social justice. Yes, Georgetown hosts speakers of all types, from all political backgrounds. But commencement speakers are a statement about who you are and what you value as an institution.

They did that to avoid having to invite Trump, who by the way is the first sitting president who they haven't invited the year after their inauguration. You really know nothing about the school.

signed, Jesuit undergrad degree, Notre Dame Law degree

Context is everything. Did not know this, but it makes sense. Thanks.

Wow. A gracious DCUM poster. You're welcome. Here's your context:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/03/notre-dame-known-commencement-speeches-new-presidents-invites-pence

Haha, that was me and I'll admit to having a WTF reaction when I heard that Pence would give the commencement address that year. I thought that it was tone deaf at the time, but I clearly was ignorant of the dynamics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which would you choose, and why?

Unless the student already has a prestigious job or internship lined up in Washington, Notre Dame, because it sounds as if Georgetown has awful
dorms overly competitive students. The low alumni contribution rate seems to be a sign that a lot of the undergrads have a bad experience there.

People here hate on George Mason, but I think that’s the university in the region that’s on the rise. If I could get in-state tuition and really wanted to go to school in the area, I’d focus on George Mason first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame. This shouldn’t even be up for debate.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame. This shouldn’t even be up for debate.

yes it should. it is a valuable debate, unlike a useless blanket judgment with no explanation that contribute little.

Well it seems pretty clear most think ND is a better choice just based on this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ND is higher ranked the Georgetown, with an endowment over twelve times larger. By *objective* measures, ND would have an edge. However, there are some things to think about:
- South Bend vs. DC — drastically different places
- ND is more Catholic than Georgetown...parietals, etc. For some people this is a positive, others a negative.
- dorm life is HUGE at ND with your dorm kind of functioning like a sorority or fraternity.
- does your kid want to go to school close to home or far?
- what is prospective major? For anything DC-centric (poli sci, IR etc.) Georgetown’s location would be appealing
- does your kid like sports? Football is a really really big deal at Notre Dame. Obviously not so much at Georgetown.
- Notre Dame is working on it, but for all intents and purposes it’s very homogenous and a bit of a bubble. Not that Georgetown is insanely diverse either, but definitely more than ND in that respect
- Georgetown is much more progressive than ND, which is pretty conservative in feel (of course, you can still find pockets of liberalism at ND and conservatism at Georgetown...but overall they are different)

I have quite a few grads of both in my extended family and this is a pretty good summary. I'd simply add a nuance to your last point, however. Georgetown is somewhat more politically and culturally liberal than ND, but the ND grads I know are extremely committed to social justice as a religious principle. As a lawyer, I also see this among the ND grads I know professionally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very different culturally. Georgetown is Jesuit and much more progressive/social justice oriented. ND is a big football school; Georgetown isn’t. As others have mentioned, the locations also couldn’t be more different.

You obviously know very little about ND's commitment to social justice.

https://kroc.nd.edu/

+1 ND is as social-justice oriented as they come.

Unless you’re LGBTQ. Regressive catholic schools.....I’d pass on all of them.

[Anonymous]

I hate the cold, so not notre same.

[Anonymous]

Notre Dame was never on my radar, but Georgetown was at the top of my list. I wanted a smaller Catholic school, preferably Jesuit. I had plenty of people tell me I just HAD to consider ND, but it wasn't a place I was interested in.

This is so specific to every kid. Sure, with a generic comparison Notre Dame might be the obvious choice, but no single school is right for every student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame was never on my radar, but Georgetown was at the top of my list. I wanted a smaller Catholic school, preferably Jesuit. I had plenty of people tell me I just HAD to consider ND, but it wasn't a place I was interested in.

This is so specific to every kid. Sure, with a generic comparison Notre Dame might be the obvious choice, but no single school is right for every student.

Well, GT's undergrad enrollment is barely smaller than ND, and when grad students are included GT is actually bigger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son looked at both. He got into both but chose ND mainly because he wanted to be further from home, BUT, also he did not like the GT campus...very small and cramped compared to the gorgeous sprawling ND campus.

Georgetown physical facilities are abysmal. ND has some very nice new dorms and older ones with great traditions. South Bend is a bit rough though.

[Anonymous]

The only thing that Georgetown has over Notre Dame is location. That's it.