A proposal made by School of Foreign Service Dean Joel Hellman, which would change the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) to the Madeline Albright School of Global Affairs (MASGA), has dominated campus dialogue in recent weeks.
Immediately following the announcement, a still unidentified professor circulated a petition against the name change, citing the university’s commitment to “values of social justice, equity and human rights.” The petition argued former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s name would associate the university with “gross human rights violations.”
Students later circulated a second petition to defend Fr. Walsh, and following the activism, Georgetown University’s Student Association Senate proposed and voted on a resolution urging the university to keep his namesake. The resolution’s contents highlighted Albright’s human rights violations in Iraq against Walsh’s efforts to increase education in the country.
Senator Julian Jimenez (CAS’24) and Senator John DiPierri (SFS’25) sponsored the petition, while Senators Manahal Fazal (SFS’24), George LeMieux (CAS‘25) and Meriam Ahmad (SFS’26) co-sponsored the resolution. The Senate broadly supported the resolution with a vote tally of 20 affirmative votes and one in opposition.
DiPierri has opposed the name change. In a co-authored opinion piece for The Georgetown Review, DiPierri argued the name change is another example of the university’s shift away from its Catholic and Jesuit roots.
Jimenez shared similar motivations with DiPierri in his opposition to the name change, specifically in preserving the Jesuit identity on campus. He was driven to speak on the proposal by noting the differences between Walsh and Albright in Iraq.
“Father Edmund A. Walsh, among his many accomplishments, served as the liaison between the Holy See and the Iraqi Government for the foundation of the Jesuit College in Baghdad,” Jimenez said. “Madeleine Albright supported devastating sanctions on Iraq’s population.”
This key fact was mentioned in an Instagram post from Senator Ahmad’s GUSA account, which received over 86 likes.
Drawing from his Catholic faith, Jimenez noted that upholding the name of the School of Foreign Service serves as a tangible means of safeguarding the Jesuit identity on campus–an element the school has declined over the last few decades.
“Having an academic school named after a highly-accomplished Jesuit is a good way to retain the Jesuit identity of the University,” Jimenez said.
Senator Max Massick (CAS’24) , the lone dissenting vote, firmly believes the decisions made by GUSA ought to align with the collective voice of the student body.
“During the summer, many members of the Georgetown community are away, and it is harder to read the opinion of the campus,” Massick noted. “There also aren’t as many viewpoints around, as there are less people, and there are less opportunities for the students that are here to debate and discuss controversial topics or to come to a consensus.”
During his first campaign, Massick pledged to oppose all resolutions, and he has only broken this vow once to pass a referendum on increasing the student activities fee up to vote this fall.
Senator Chijoke Achebe (SFS’25), who voted in favor of the resolution, contended there was nothing about Fr. Walsh’s career or his character that justified the immediate removal of his name from the school.
“It’s not as if some awful thing came out about Fr. Walsh that necessitated the immediate removal of his name from the school,” Achebe said. “If that were the case, then this would be a different conversation.”
In addition to his support of Walsh, Achebe also noted his concerns regarding Albright’s reputation.
“I also think that while Secretary Albright certainly was a trailblazer and made significant contributions to Georgetown, there are legitimate questions about her record all over the world,” Achebe commented.
Georgetown students have clearly opposed the renaming of the SFS. However, it remains to be seen whether Dean Hellman decides to act in agreement with the collective opinion of the Georgetown student body.
