On Thursday night, students from the Diversity working groups commissioned by President John DeGioia’s office gathered for a town hall meeting in Copley Formal Lounge.  Although the meeting was sparsely attended, a number of prominent administrators were present, and a wide range of ideas on diversity were presented.

For a more thorough examination of the working group’s progress, see Lily Kaiser’s article in the print edition of the Voice.

Vice President for Strategic Development Dan Porterfield explained that the groups had been working hard over the summer to draft concrete recommendations for Provost James O’Donnell and DeGioia.

“[The working groups examined] how can we increase the number of underrepresented groups in the undergraduate population … [and] how can we ensure that all students who are applying to Georgetown hear a clear and compelling message about the standards of citizenship, civic engagement, and respect present,” Porterfield said.

When the meeting was opened up to members of the audience, the discussion became more heated with one individual shouting loudly at the assembled members of the working groups.  A faculty member (who did not give her name) also supported the statements of the irate audience member and argued passionately that Georgetown needed to pursue greater recruitment of minority Professors.

“We’re weaving and creating stronger connections among students … that, as much as possible, breaks down some of the walls and divisions that we experience at our life together at Georgetown,” Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson said.

Although the specific recommendations generated by the working groups remain to be seen, panelists spoke out strongly for programs geared toward recruiting minority students, the creation of minority studies programs, and stronger financial aid programs.

With Athletic Director Bernard Muir’s departing for the greener fields of the University of Delaware in about a month, Georgetown has appointed Dan Porterfield Interim AD, according to an article in Blue & Gray (in print only, not online yet). Porterfield is Senior Vice President for Strategic Development and an Assistant Professor of English.

Although lately the “Interim” label has come to mean something along the lines of, “Someone We’ll Call ‘Interim’ Until We Go Through The Trouble of Hiring Them Permanently” (see: Chester Gillis) it looks like Porterfield’s tenure as AD will be more traditionally transitional.

From the Blue & Gray article:

A search process will begin to find a new leader for Georgetown’s athletics department, which oversees 29 varsity teams.

“Upon Bernard’s departure, Dan will be responsible for overall leadership of the department,” said DeGioia. “He will work closely with me and other senior leaders, coaches, faculty and alumni in the recruitment of the new athletic director, a process that we will launch in a few weeks.”

Update: The article can now be found online at GUHoyas.com.