Georgetown Law Dean centers Jesuit values in courageous response to Attorney General

Photo via U.S. News & World Report

HANNAH GILHEANY – Despite continued pressure from the Trump administration, Georgetown continues to claim to stand by its mission to educate people for others. In particular, Georgetown’s Jesuit identity has endowed the institution a special niche in its responses to federal attacks, one it must use to continue strong resistance.

On March 6th, Dean Treanor of the law school released his response to correspondence from the US attorney general Edward R. Martin. Martin questioned the university’s DEI programs and unconstitutionally threatened to block Georgetown applicants from job opportunities in a March 3rd letter.

“It has come to my attention that Georgetown Law continues to teach and promote DEI. This is unacceptable,” Martin asserted in the letter originally dated February 17th. Martin stated that “no applicant for our fellows program, our summer internship, or employment in our office who is a student or affiliated with a law school or university that continues to teach and utilize DEI will be considered.”

Attorney General Martin, who is a devout Catholic, has previously criticized the University for what he viewed as anti-Trump behavior, including a law school center that includes former US officials who have critiqued Trump. In a post on X in March 2024, Martin claimed that “HOYAGATE is a bigger deal than anyone knows.” Hoyagate is a term coined by a right-wing newspaper who argued that Georgetown’s federal funding should be cut because the school is “viciously partisan.”

Martin’s threats reveal a desire to censor potential voices of dissent. In recent months, the Trump administration has cut off billions of dollars in funding for scientific and medical research and threatened further financial cuts from universities who don’t do his bidding. 

Dean Treanor quickly responded to Martin’s letter, claiming that “Georgetown was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding.” He called these conversations a “moral and ethical imperative” that “defines our mission as a Catholic and Jesuit University.”

Citing the First Amendment, Treanor boldly refused to comply with Martin’s wishes and asserted his expectation that “Georgetown-affiliated candidates for your office will receive full and fair consideration”. His message indicated a complete refusal to appease the federal government, a courageous stance in face of the Trump administration’s treatement of universities. 

Treanor’s citation of Jesuit values reflects a greater trend in the University’s handling of recent federal events. In a February 24 letter to the community, Interim President Groves quoted Georgetown’s mission statement and listed related practices like active participation in civil life and engagement with differing perspectives. In writing, Groves vowed to protect these practices. 

However, the University has not yet provided the community with a list of actionable steps they are implementing in response to these federal threats. In contrast to Treanor’s explicit and public refusal to obey Attorney Genral Martin, Groves’s message asks the public to trust that the University is taking appropriate action behind the scenes. 

The University’s religious identity allows it a unique angle in resistance of the Trump administration. Instead of having an alliance to the United States, Georgetown has an obligation to the global Jesuit values of generosity, openness to difference, and protection of the most vulnerable. Yet, as tensions heighten, it remains to be seen to what extent the citation of these values will lead to more explicit action. Acting President Groves and other administrators should take a page out of Treanor’s book and refuse to allow any obstruction interfere with this mission. 

Hannah Gilheany is a Staff Writer for On the Record. She is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences studying Government and American Studies.