Archdiocese of Washington, Catholic University, Others Sue Obama Administration

Robert Devaney • May 29, 2012

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Protests echo after graduation weekend at Georgetown University, and charges that religious freedom is under attack have entered a wider arena. These new protests may have an effect on the 2012 presidential campaign.

The criticism of Georgetown University’s invitation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at its Public Policy Institute drew media attention and a small crowd of protesters at 37th and O Streets as well as a heckler during Sebelius’s speech May 18. The Archdiocese of Washington’s argument that the HHS secretary posed a threat to religious freedom was followed by a report that William Peter Blatty, author of “The Exorcist” and a 1950 Georgetown graduate, planned to sue the university in Catholic court for not adhering to Catholic dogma. The university had cited academic freedom in defending the selection of Sebelius as a commencement speaker.

Blatty, according to Religion News Service, “says that Georgetown has violated church teaching for decades by inviting speakers who support abortion rights and refusing to obey instructions the late Pope John Paul II issued in 1990 to church-affiliated colleges and universities. Georgetown should amend its ways or stop calling itself a Catholic or Jesuit institution, Blatty said.”

On Monday, it was announced that the Obama administration is being sued by the Archdioceses of New York and Washington, D.C., Catholic University, the University of Notre Dame and other Catholic dioceses and groups that are “filing 12 different lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country,” according to CNSNews.com.

A special website of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. — PreserveReligiousFreedom.org — explained the decision: “This lawsuit is about an unprecedented attack by the federal government on one of America’s most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice one’s religion without government interference. It is not about whether people have access to certain services; it is about whether the government may force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and fund services which violate their religious beliefs.”

The lawsuits, according to CNSNews.com, “focus on the regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last August and finalized in January that requires virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives, including those that can cause abortions.” [gallery ids="100817,125074" nav="thumbs"]

America Marks Vietnam War’s 50th Anniversary

Robert Devaney •

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While Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer, beach traffic and the Indianapolis 500, the federal holiday began as a commemoration of those killed in the Civil War. Today, Memorial Day honors all in the military who have fallen in the service of the United States. Remember that as you fire up the grill, and take time to honor them in your own way.

Friday May 25th 2012

9 p.m. Candlelight Vigil – Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Saturday May 26th 2012

9 a.m. Thunder Alley Opens-the official vendor site for Rolling Thunder is located at 22nd Street and Constitution Avenue across from The Wall. It will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and will be selling the official Rolling Thunder T-shirt, patches, pins, food, leather, and many other interesting goods. (For more information see Thunder Alley page)

11:45 a.m.-8:00 p.m. C.A.M.M.O. Presents a Tribute to Rolling Thunder XXV Musical guests and special guest speakers appearing on stage at the Henry Bacon ball field include: Ray Manzo-founder of Rolling Thunder Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band Other special guests to be announced

Also on stage: Unveiling of the Rolling Thunder XXV Tribute Bikes Custom-built in honor of each branch of the United States Armed Forces

Sunday May 27th 2012

6 a.m. Reveille – Wake up call for riders taking place in the Rolling Thunder XXV First Amendment Demonstration Run. Bikes begin rallying in the North and South Pentagon parking lots at 7 a.m. for a noon departure.

12 noon Rolling Thunder First Amendment Demonstration Run After the Run, riders are directed to West Potomac Park where they will convene in the Mall area to pay tribute to their fallen brothers and sisters

Monday May 28th 2012 Memorial Day

11 a.m. Wreath Laying Ceremony -Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery

2 p.m. Annual Memorial Day Observance at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial To the fallen service men and women of the Vietnam War. This year’s service by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will include a special Commencement Ceremony marking the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.

2 p.m. National Memorial Day Parade

3 p.m. National Moment of Remembrance – one minute of silence in honor of those who have given their life for our country

The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration National Announcement & Proclamation Ceremony

(01:00 PM – 03:30 PM)

May 28, 2012

01:00 PM – 03:30 PM

The Memorial Day 2012 ceremony beginning at 1 p.m. at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will begin the national commemoration of the Vietnam War’s 50th anniversary. The Department of Defense’s Office of Commemorations is working with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and National Park Service for a special and inspiring ceremony to thank and honor America’s Vietnam Veterans and their families for their service, valor and sacrifice.

Commencement Schedules and Speakers for Georgetown and George Washington University

Robert Devaney • May 21, 2012

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This weekend sees the commencement weekend for both Georgetown University and George Washington University. There is controversy for Georgetown, which invited HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at its Public Policy Institute. The Archdiocese of Washington as well as the Cardinal Newman Society has criticized the university for allowing Sebelius to speak at a Catholic institution, viewing the Obama Administration’s healthcare directives as hostile to religious liberty. Georgetown University has defended its selection of Sebelius as a speaker in terms of academic freedom. Meanwhile, George Washington University will enjoy its main graduation speech at the National Mall with Brian Williams of NBC News, who studied at GWU.

The following information is from the website of the two neighborhood universities

From Georgetown University:

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS AND HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS

Helen Neville

Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Friday, May 18, Healy Lawn, 9 a.m.

Neville’s contributions to neuroscience have made her a leading figure in understanding the brain. She holds the Robert and Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair at the University of Oregon and is a professor of psychology and neuroscience as well as director of both the Brain Development Laboratory and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Her major research interests involve the biological constraints and the role of experience on development in humans. She is particularly interested in the way that the human brain develops and its capacity to change in reaction to experience.

Barry Salzberg

Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

McDonough School of Business, MBA Program

Friday, May 18, Healy Lawn, 12:30 p.m.

Salzberg is the global chief executive officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). As CEO, he leads and manages the law firm and sets the strategic direction of the Deloitte global network. The network comprises 48 member firms operating in 150 countries, with approximately 182,000 people worldwide. Prior to his current position, Salzberg served as CEO of Deloitte LLP (United States) and as the U.S. managing partner. Salzberg has served in a variety of leadership roles since joining Deloitte in 1977.

Scott Case

School of Continuing Studies

Friday, May 18, Healy Lawn, 3:30 p.m.

Case is an entrepreneur and inventor who has put his talents to work pushing progress and innovation in both the private and nonprofit sectors. As the founding chief technology officer of Priceline, the “Name Your Own Price” company, he was responsible for building the technology that enabled Priceline’s rapid growth. Case is a named inventor on dozens of U.S. patents, including the underlying portfolio for Priceline. Case also co-founded Precision Training Software, a software company that developed the world’s first PC-based simulated flight instructor and photo-realistic flight simulator. Most recently, Case was named CEO of the Startup America Partnership, where he works to drive American entrepreneurship to create jobs and sustain our nation’s global leadership. Before joining the Startup America Partnership, Case was CEO of Malaria No More, where he worked to inspire individuals and institutions in the private sector to end deaths caused by malaria. Case also serves as chair of Network for Good, a national nonprofit that has distributed more than $475 million to 60,000 nonprofits and provides online fundraising and communications services to more than 5,000 nonprofit organizations.

David Simon

Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

Georgetown College

Saturday, May 19, Healy Lawn, 9 a.m.

A former crime reporter at The Baltimore Sun, Simon is best known for his creation of the critically acclaimed television dramas “The Wire” and “Treme,” which explore the societal repercussions of the drug trade upon inner city Baltimore and a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. At The Baltimore Sun, Simon reported and wrote two works of narrative nonfiction, Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. The former is an account of a year spent with the city’s homicide squad and the latter represents a year he spent on a West Baltimore drug corner. Homicide became the basis for an NBC drama that aired from 1993 to 1999 and for which Simon became a writer and producer after leaving the newspaper in 1995. The Corner became an HBO miniseries and won three Emmy Awards in 2000. Simon also served as a writer and executive producer of HBO’s “Generation Kill,” a miniseries depicting U.S. Marines in the early days of the Iraq conflict. He is currently at work on the third season of “Treme.” Simon also writes for The New Yorker, Esquire and The Washington Post, among other publications.

Mark Green
Doctor of Science, honoris causa

School of Nursing & Health Studies

Saturday, May 19, Healy Lawn, 12 p.m.

Senior director of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Green is also a former ambassador to Tanzania and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin. While in Congress, Green helped craft a variety of foreign policy initiatives focused on issues of health, including the Global Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Awareness and Treatment Act of 2001 and the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act. Since March, Green has been a member of the Executive Council on Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. At the Center, he is exploring ways in which the federal government and the private sector can both independently and in partnership help alleviate poverty by fostering economic growth. The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition is a broad-based network of 400 businesses and NGOs, national security and foreign policy experts, and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders in all 50 states.

Ela R. Bhatt

Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

Walsh School of Foreign Service

Saturday, May 19, Healy Lawn, 3 p.m.

Bhatt has defended the rights of poor and marginal women for more than 60 years. Through her early work with the Women’s Wing of the Textile Labor Association, Bhatt encountered firsthand the dire condition in her native India of self-employed women, who comprised 90 percent of the total labor force. These women had none of the legal protections extended to workers in the organized sector. To combat this injustice, Bhatt, in 1972, established the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), the largest union in India. SEWA formed a women’s cooperative bank, created a highly successful literacy program, offers child care centers and promotes low-cost housing and microfinance. Bhatt has also been a long-time consultant to UNICEF, and has served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and received numerous awards.

Tim O’Shaughnessy (B’04)

McDonough School of Business

Saturday, May 19, Healy Lawn, 6 p.m.

O’Shaughnessy is the CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial, an online retailer of discounts to local businesses. He sets and communicates LivingSocial’s core strategy and oversees growth of the online business. Before LivingSocial, he led the consumer products team at Revolution Health and managed product launches at AOL. In 2010, O’Shaughnessy was named to Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and Inc.com’s 30 Under 30 list. LivingSocial earned the Hottest Venture Capital Deal award at the 2010 Northern Virginia Technology Council’s NVTC Hot Tickets Awards.

Dr. Michael Zasloff

Doctor of Science, honoris causa

Dr. Ross Fletcher

Doctor of Science, honoris causa (degree only)

School of Medicine

Sunday, May 20, Warner Theater, 11 a.m.

Zasloff is an internationally recognized immunologist and member of the editorial board of several scientific journals. Since 2004, he has been actively engaged in studies of innate immunity within the Surgical Immunology Transplant Institute at Georgetown’s department of surgery. He was named dean of Research and Translational Science at Georgetown in 2002, tasked with integrating basic science with the clinical environment of the Medical Center. Zasloff was chief of the human genetics branch at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development in the 1980s. In 1988, he founded Magainin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a publicly traded biotechnology company. In July 1992, he joined Magainin on a full-time basis, serving as executive vice president and president of the Magainin Research Institute, a basic research division of the company. From July 1996 through November 2000, Zasloff was vice chairman of the board of Magainin Pharmaceuticals.

Fletcher created for the Veterans’ Administration the first successful, system-wide, paper free medical record, serving American service members across the nation and around the world. This electronic system now generates data available to both patient and physician in an integrated platform that has improved care with a rate of success unmatched in any other system. The Wall Street Journal credits Fletcher with leading the development of the most advanced medical record system in the nation. Since 2000, Fletcher has served as chief of staff at Washington DC VA Medical Center. He completed his M.D., medical house staff training and first-year fellowship at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He served two years with the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., and received his cardiology fellowship training at Georgetown. Since 1972, he has been chief of cardiology at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. He has served on the faculty at Georgetown’s medical school since 1969 and is now a professor of medicine. Fletcher also directs the nationwide Veterans Affairs registry for the Pacemaker and Defibrillator Surveillance Center and the Core Holter Lab for cooperative studies in antiarrhythmic therapy in congestive heart failure and sudden death.

Arthur J. Gajarsa (L’67)

Doctor of Law, honoris causa (degree only)

Gay J. McDougall

Speaking and accepting Doctor of Law, honoris causa for her late husband, John A. Payton

Law Center

Sunday, May 20, Healy Lawn, 2 p.m.

Gajarsa has served as a judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since 1997. During law school at Georgetown, he worked as a patent advisor and later clerked for Judge Joseph McGarraghy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After that position, he served as special counsel and assistant to the commissioner at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of Interior. Prior to private practice, Gajarsa worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Defense. Gajarsa’s work in private practice spanned three decades with firms specializing in litigation of water rights, intellectual property, securities and international corporate matters. He received his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in economics from Catholic University.

Payton, who died this past March, served as president and director-counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. While attending Harvard Law School, he served on its Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review and assisted with high-profile civil rights cases. These cases included the defense of a 1960s NAACP-led boycott of segregationist merchants in Mississippi. After graduating from law school, Payton served as a law clerk to Judge Cecil F. Poole of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco before joining the Washington, D.C., firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale). He chose the firm in order to continue working on NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, the Mississippi boycott case that Wilmer lawyers argued successfully before the Supreme Court. He went on to lead the firm’s litigation department, simultaneously handling commercial matters and some of the most important civil rights cases of our time.

McDougall, formerly a United Nations Independent Expert on minorities, will accept an honorary degree on behalf of her late husband, John A. Payton. She is serving as the Robert Drinan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at the Law Center this academic year. McDougall was executive director of the international NGO Global Rights from 1994 through 2006. She has also served as an Independent Expert on the U.N. entity that oversees compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. During her time in that position, she negotiated the adoption of General Recommendation XXV on the Gender Dimensions of Racial Discrimination.

SPEAKERS AT OTHER EVENTS

James J. O’Donnell, provost

School of Foreign Service in Qatar Commencement

Saturday, May 12, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Doha, Qatar

O’Donnell has served as Georgetown’s provost since 2002. A distinguished scholar and recognized educational innovator, he has been recognized by his peers with election to the presidency of the American Philological Association and has been a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America since 2003. His scholarly work ranges widely in the cultural history of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the later Roman and early medieval periods. He is the author of seven books, including a three-volume edition of Augustine: Confessions, and a 2005 biography of Augustine. HarperCollins published his latest book, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, in 2008. In 1990, O’Donnell co-founded the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, the second online scholarly journal ever created in the humanities. He is secretary of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies and chairs the board of directors of ResearchChannel. He also served two terms on the Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center.

Helen O’Reilly (F’03)

Senior Convocation

Thursday, May 17, McDonough Arena, 2 p.m.

After graduating magna cum laude from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in 2003, O’Reilly spent three years at Advocates for Children of New York as an education advocate for detained and incarcerated youth with learning disabilities. In 2006, she was selected as a Luce Scholar and spent the next two years in the Philippines and Hong Kong working with local NGOs to advocate for fair working conditions for migrant domestic workers. She returned from Asia to start law school in 2008 and simultaneously served as a member of the Immigration and Legal Services Clinic and the Workers Rights Advocacy Clinic. She graduated from Yale Law School in 2011 and is currently working as a judicial clerk for Judge Barrington D. Parker on the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Next year, she will be working for Judge John Gleeson in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

Louis J. Freeh

ROTC Commissioning Ceremony

Friday, May 18, Gaston Hall, 7:30 a.m.

Before serving as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1993-2001, Freeh was the lead prosecutor in the so-called “Pizza Connection” case, the largest and most complex investigation undertaken at the time by the federal government. The case involved a drug-trafficking operation by organized crime members who used pizza joints as fronts. Freeh served as the federal government’s principal courtroom attorney in the 14-month trial of the criminals and won the conviction of 16 of 17 co-defendants in the case. He subsequently held positions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as chief of the Organized Crime Unit, and as deputy and later associate U.S. attorney. He went on to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of New York before being nominated as FBI director by President Clinton. Following his many years of public service, Freeh accepted a position with MBNA America Bank, N.A., as vice chair, general counsel and ethics officer. In 2007, he founded the Freeh Group International Solutions, LLC, an independent global risk management firm.

Kathleen Sebelius

Georgetown Public Policy Institute Tropaia

Friday, May 18, Leavey Center Ballroom, 11 a.m.

Sebelius was sworn in as the 21st secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2009. Since taking office, she has led efforts to improve America’s health and enhance the delivery of human services to some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, including young children, those with disabilities and the elderly. As part of the historic Affordable Care Act, she is implementing reforms she says have ended many of the insurance industry’s most discriminatory practices and will help 34 million uninsured Americans get health coverage. She is also working with doctors, nurses, hospital leaders, employers and patients to implement policies aimed at slowing the growth of health care costs. Sebelius served as governor of Kansas from 2003 until her cabinet appointment and was named one of America’s Top Five Governors by Time magazine.

Sri Mulyani Indrawat

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (G’93)

Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) Tropaia

Friday, May 18, Gaston Hall, 7:45 p.m.

Indrawat, an Indonesian economist, served as the country’s finance minister from 2005 to 2010 and is credited with strengthening Indonesia’s economy and directing it through crises between 2007 and 2010. Indrawat also is said to have increased Indonesian investments, addressed issues of tax corruption by implementing financial reforms and decreased the country’s overall public debt. During her term as finance minister Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $50 billion.

Lambsdorff (G’93) is a German politician and member of the European Parliament with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. This transnational alliance includes two European political parties, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. Lambsdorff sits on the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, which manages the promotion and protection of consumer economic interests. He is also a member of the delegation for relations with the United States.

From George Washington University:

‘NBC Nightly News’ Anchor Brian Williams to Headline Weekend Celebration

“NBC Nightly News” anchor, members of Congress and the District’s deputy mayor of education will be among the speakers addressing graduates at George Washington University Commencement ceremonies May 18-20.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” and host of “Rock Center,” will deliver the keynote address to nearly 25,000 George Washington University graduates and guests and will receive an honorary doctorate degree, Sunday, May 20, on the National Mall. International businessman and philanthropic leader Carlos Slim, and internationally renowned artist Clarice Smith also will receive honorary degrees from the university.

At the Commencement ceremony, the Class of 2012 will be represented by graduating senior Noreen Kassam. Ms. Kassam was chosen to deliver a short speech during the ceremony by a panel of judges at the student speaker competition held Friday, April 18. She competed against 11 other students for the honor of addressing her fellow graduates. Ms. Kassam is expected to graduate from the Elliott School of International Affairs with a major in international affairs and political science.

Mr. Williams, one of the nation’s foremost television journalists, began his broadcasting career in 1981 at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kan. He worked at several local stations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City before joining NBC News in 1993. Mr. Williams served as NBC’s chief White House correspondent and later assumed the role of anchor and managing editor of “The News With Brian Williams” on MSNBC and CNBC. Since taking over as anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” in 2004, he has strengthened the broadcast’s position as the most-watched television newscast and has become the most highly decorated evening news anchor of the modern era. In 2007, “TIME” named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2011, NBC News launched “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” the network’s first new primetime newsmagazine in nearly two decades.

Mr. Williams attended GW for the fall semester of 1980.

Business leader and humanitarian Carlos Slim has made significant contributions to business and community development in Mexico and Latin America, and his extensive philanthropic work through his foundations has led to improvements and investments in education, health and the fine arts. Mr. Slim also was awarded the George Washington University President’s Medal in 2009.

Clarice Smith is a native of Washington, D.C., and a two-time George Washington alumna. Ms. Smith was also a member of GW’s art department faculty from 1980-1987. She has been painting professionally for 35 years and has had numerous solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad. Ms. Smith presently serves on the Board of Commissioners at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
George Washington University’s Commencement activities will take place Sunday, May 8 – Sunday, May 15. The university-wide Commencement will be held the morning of Sunday, May 15, on the National Mall. A schedule of school and college celebrations, including keynote speakers, is below.

Friday, May 18

Edward “Skip” Gnehm, Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan and GW alumnus, will speak to graduates at the Elliott School of International Affairs’ celebration at 11:30 a.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Linda Rabbitt, founder, CEO and chairman of Rand Construction, and GW Board of Trustees member, will address graduates at the School of Business celebration at 3:30 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Ron Ross, a fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will address graduates at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at 7:30 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Saturday, May 19

De’Shawn Wright, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education, will address graduates at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development celebration at 8 a.m. in the Charles E. Smith Center.

Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will address graduates at the university’s Interfaith Baccalaureate service at 9:30 a.m. at Western Presbyterian Church.

David Rain, GW professor of geography, will address graduates at the noon Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Celebration at the Charles E. Smith Center

Diane Rehm, host of National Public Radio’s “The Diane Rehm Show,” will speak to graduates of the School of Public Health and Health Services at noon in Lisner Auditorium.

Heidi Bardot, GW professor of art therapy, will address graduates at the 3:30 p.m. Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Celebration at the Charles E. Smith Center.

GW students Maggie Richards and Mong Tuyen Tran will address health sciences graduates of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at 4 p.m. in Lisner Auditorium.

Congressman Rush Holt (D-N.J.) will address graduates of the College of Professional Studies at 7:30 p.m. in Lisner Auditorium.

Sunday, May 20

“NBC Nightly News” Anchor Brian Williams and GW student Noreen Kassam will deliver remarks during the university-wide Commencement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on the National Mall.

Carmen M. Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, J.D. ’81, will speak at the Law School Celebration at 2:30 p.m. in the Charles E. Smith Center.

Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen, M.D. ’70, will address M.D. graduates of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at 2:30 p.m. in Lisner Auditorium.

Benched C&O Canal Barge Reveals More Problems

Robert Devaney • May 17, 2012

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The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park faces more problems besides its decommissioned mule-pulled barge, The Georgetown, up and dry on timbers in the canal between 31st and Thomas Jefferson Streets. There will be a smaller motorize boat for the canal, but it is not seen as a long-term solution.

According to Charles Pekow, writing in the Washington Examiner, “the already cash-strapped budget for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park may face a sequestration of nine or 10 percent next January. To avoid that, Congress will have to come to a budget resolution. If not, the backlog for upkeep and maintenance of the historic structures along the 184.5-mile linear park between Georgetown, D.C., and Cumberland, Md., would only worsen and the already barebone number of interpretive programs would shrink even further. So warned Park Superintendent Kevin Brandt, at the annual meeting of the C&O Canal Association in Williamsport, Md.”

“The barge in Georgetown no longer gives rides,” Pekow wrote. “The National Park Service (NPS) is trying to figure out what to do with the boat, including possibly moving it to Williamsport. The list of structural problems in the historic park continues to mount and the cash-strapped park service can only do so much. For instance, structural damage was recently found on the Arizona Avenue Bridge because a truck hit it. It would cost $400,000 to patch it together and $1 million to repair it completely, Brandt said. But neither NPS nor the District Department of Transportation contains the money in budget at the moment. The only vehicles allowed to use the bridge are emergency, law enforcement and NPS maintenance vehicles. It’s mainly used by trail users.”

Pekow, who is a member of the C&O Canal Association, also reported that the gate at locks 4 (near Thomas Jefferson Street) and others along the canal need to be replaced.

Space Shuttle Discovery Retires to Air & Space Museum

Robert Devaney •

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The Space Shuttle Discovery was officially received by the Smithsonian Institution April 19 and placed on permanent display, replacing the shuttle Enterprise at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, next to Dulles Airport. The two crafts met nose-to-nose at a sunlit ceremony that celebrated the space program’s achievements with calls for greater education and for most space exploration.

With music by the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and Marine Corps Color Guard, the “Star-Spangled Banner” was sung by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. Participants included 14 of Discovery’s 31 living commanders. Speakers included NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough, National Air and Space Museum Director J.R. “Jack” Dailey, former astronaut and Senator John Glenn and chair of the Smithsonian board of regents France Córdova.

Discovery moves into the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar, and the Enterprise will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on the Hudson River in New York City. [gallery ids="100751,122274,122266,122245,122260,122254" nav="thumbs"]

John Edwards: Far From Georgetown Today

Robert Devaney •

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For John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina and John Kerry’s vice presidential candidate, and for Georgetown, eight years ago was a heady time. That summer’s campaign saw not one but two Georgetowners running for national office against President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Kerry, who still lives on the 3300 block of O Street with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, had found a running mate exactly one block north on P Street.

Here’s how a September 2004 article in the Los Angeles Times put it:

“For the first time in American history, both members of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket live in Georgetown — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in the 3300 block of O Street in a $4.7-million home owned in the 19th century by the minister to the Russian czar; North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in the 3300 block of P Street in a $3.8-mansion with a 20th century pedigree for the society entertaining that characterized the Kennedy era.

‘This promises to be 1960 all over again,’ cooed the Georgetowner, a must-read throwaway for area residents, in an editorial after presidential hopeful Kerry named Edwards as his running mate. ‘And if the dynamic duo should happen to win, well, if you were waiting for real-estate prices to come down in Georgetown, forgeddaboutit.’ ”

Well, the president got re-elected, and Edwards began preparations for his 2008 campaign to seek the presidency a second time. A star in his party, he seemed blessed with people skills, good looks, an easy-going speaking style and a common touch. He sold his P Street house — bought in 2002 for $3.8 million — in December 2006 for $5.2 million and left Georgetown and D.C.

That stately P Street home has its tales to tell: a 19th-century home to a relative of Francis Scott Key, John J. Key of Kentucky, it is best known for its parties and events by Polly Fritchey, a major arts patroness and influencer along with her friends Katharine Graham, Lorraine Cooper, Pamela Harriman, Evangeline Bruce, Polly Kraft and Susan Mary Alsop. Fritchey died ten years ago.

That was then, and today John Edwards is on trial in Greensboro, N.C., for alleged illegal campaign contributions. Almost one million dollars were supposedly used to cover up his affair and support his mistress and illegitimate child, while his wife suffered (and later died) from cancer.

The state capital’s Raleigh News & Observer views the story of its former senator from North Carolina and trial lawyer known for his malpractice cases as a modern-day Greek tragedy:

“John Edwards, the former Democratic U.S. senator and presidential candidate whose descent from the heights of politics was faster and deeper than his quick ascent, is at the center of a criminal trial that will follow a story of sex, political conniving, vast wealth and personal betrayals.”

Edwards is being castigated for lying, philandering and worse; he is also being prosecuted under campaign-finance laws that some argue do not require a clear quid-pro-quo connection.

“It was hard to find the right buyer,” W. Ted Gossett, the Edwards’ real estate agent, told the Washington Post at the time of the P Street house sale in 2006. And it is hard to find that once promising candidate for those who supported Edwards betrayed by the false one today.

Edwards waved to well-wishers as he walked down the steps of his P Street home on a sunny, July day. While he and we did not know it, he was at his zenith as a man in the public eye. The summer of 2004 in Georgetown seems so long ago and far away.

D.C. Schools Celebrate the Henderson Effect

Robert Devaney •

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It has been a noteworthy week for D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. She outlined a comprehensive plan for public schools, received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Georgetown University, and had six of her schools chosen to receive $4.5 million dollars over three years from Target to improve literacy.

With Mayor Vincent Gray, Henderson announced on April 18 a five-year, five-point plan to make public schools better or, as they put it, “to rebuild the District’s traditional public schools into a high-quality, vibrant system that earns the confidence of the entire community.” It is “an effort to dramatically increase student achievement, graduation rates, enrollment and student satisfaction.”

“This plan will move us into the District’s next phase of school reform, building on our recent successes and capitalizing on the dramatic population and economic growth our city has seen in recent years,” Gray said. The initiatives are part of D.C. Public Schools’ Five-Year Strategic Plan. Called “A Capital Commitment,” the plan helps guide spending and programmatic decisions through 2017.

“These commitments support our goals for the next five years and the promises we have made to the District of Columbia, to our families and our students, and to all our stakeholders to provide the students of this city with a world-class education,” Henderson said. “Behind each of these goals are real, specific financial commitments that will help us build on the momentum we have seen over the past five years and move forward aggressively toward dramatic improvements.”

Over the next five years, D.C. Public Schools has committed to the following five goals:

— Increase District-wide math and reading proficiency to 70 percent, while doubling the number of students who score at advanced levels of proficiency;

— Improve the proficiency rates for our 40 lowest-performing schools by 40 percentage points;

— Increase our high school graduation rate from 52 percent to 75 percent;

— Ensure that 90 percent of DCPS students like the school they attend; and

— Increase overall DCPS enrollment.

At Georgetown University on April 23, Henderson, who graduated from its School of Foreign Service in 1992, was in Gaston Hall to get her Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, in front of some teachers from her elementary school as well as family and friends and those from DCPS, Georgetown, Teach For America and the New Teacher Project.

“I stand on this stage today only because of the people sitting here in this room,” she said. “Each and every one of you has directly or indirectly made an indelible impression on my life.”

“The piece of the world that Kaya has chosen to affect is fundamental to the strength, progress, prosperity of our city, country and our interconnected global society,” said John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University. “It’s nearly impossible to speak with Kaya about education without understanding that her work is motivated by a deep sense of personal purpose and a clear, poignant set of values.”

Last November, Forbes magazine named Henderson one of the “World’s 7 Most Powerful Educators.” [gallery ids="100755,122613" nav="thumbs"]