While the Georgetown University Class of 2013 revels in their upcoming graduation with Senior Week, recent employment numbers may put a damper on their celebrations. Frighteningly high unemployment numbers for young college grads from the month of April indicate a need for more federal assistance to students. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has responded with a  reexamination of student loans and debt.

The current job market for college grads is unsurprisingly terrible. The April employment data show that, while unemployment for 18-29 year-olds is officially 11.1 percent, adjusting for young workers who have given up on looking for jobs raises this number to 16.1 percent.

“It is a rough time to be a young person in America,” President of Generation Opportunity Evan Feinberg said. “The effective youth unemployment rate is 16.1 percent, and with about 2 million college students graduating this month, there is no sign of an economic recovery for my generation. Half of all graduating seniors aren’t going to find meaningful work in the coming months.”

The bleak prospects for grads prompted the CFPB to launch a “Request for Information Regarding an Initiative to Promote Student Loan Affordability.” The results of their outreach, released last week, conclude that the biggest stumbling block for students is debt from private loans, which do not provide nearly the same benefits of federally-granted student loans.

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DeGioia is pleased by the cardinals’ selection

Campus media has been invited to interview University President Jack DeGioia this Thursday as he returns from his trip to Rome to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Francis. The topic of the interview is the first Jesuit pontiff and DeGioia’s trip to Rome as part of the US presidential delegation. Yours truly will have the opportunity to ask a few questions, but Vox wants to know: What would you ask DeGioia about Catholicism or his trip to Rome?

Photo: Left, Huffington Post UK. Right, Courtesy Georgetown University

Georgetown’s Vice President of Housing and Facilities, Karen Frank, is set to retire at the end of August. President John J. DeGioia announced that the search for her successor will commence shortly, in an email to members of the Georgetown community this afternoon.

Frank has held the position for over two decades and participated in several important initiatives to improve housing and construction projects throughout campus. “From the building for our School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar, to the ongoing work to complete the Calcagnini Contemplative Center in Bluemont, Virginia, Karen has ensured the ongoing safety, integrity, value and sustainability of Georgetown’s facilities,” DeGioia wrote in the email. “She has made a lasting imprint on Georgetown University both on the Hilltop and beyond.”

For now, Frank will be replaced by Interim Vice President for Facilities and Student Housing Frank Tiscone, who formerly held positions in the Department of Defense and with the Architect of the Capitol. She will also continue to serve as a senior advisor to Chief Operating Officer Chris Augostini during the search process for a new Housing vice president.

According to DeGioia, Frank has been instrumental in adding at least ten new buildings to Georgetown’s campus, “totaling more than 1.5 million square feet of new space.

Full email after the jump!

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This photo was blurred to protect the Voice staffers involved from facing President DeGioia’s wrath.

On Monday, November 7, members of the Georgetown University Student Association met with University President Jack DeGioia, Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, and other University administrators to discuss issues of student space on campus. During this meeting, the administrators officially reported that the plan for Healy Pub, after taking a few hits hits from the University in recent months, is no longer on the table.

According to a GUSA press release, this decision came after a “lengthy feasibility study” conducted by the University revealed that a Healy Pub is not in line with Georgetown’s goals for student space allocation. Efforts moving forward will focus heavily on the New South Student Center, and a redesign of Dahlgren Quadrangle that will include more student space in Healy.

Earlier today, University President Jack DeGioia sent out an email addressed to “Friends,” asking them (well, us) for support on the much-disputed Georgetown Campus Plan.

After reminding his readers that the Campus Plan’s final hearing is on November 17, and that a ruling by the Zoning Commission will soon follow (Editor’s Note: What are we going to post about after that?!), so now is the time to take action in the Plan’s support. He also cites the measures that the University has taken to address neighbors’s complaints, like the trash pick-ups and extra Metro Police Department officers, and that we even have the Washington Post on our side.

The email includes a link where supporters can sign a petition in favor of the Plan, which is described as “a modest plan to address strategic priorities that meet our mission and allow us to strengthen our position as a world class university.” Supporting it means supporting four main aspects of the University, including its economic contributions to the District of Columbia and the off-campus work of Georgetown students, faculty, and staff.

Read DeGioia’s full email after the jump!

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Yesterday evening, President Jack DeGioia and Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson sat down with campus media to answer any questions they have at the start of the 2011-2012 academic year. We would like to thank all of our commenters who responded to our call for suggestions. Be forewarned, they had a lot to say:

DeGioia: Let me say some key things that shape the way I think about things at the start of this year. First it’s [been] an extraordinary opening to this year. Just a week ago the walls were shaking here in Healy Hall, which was a first experience [for me]. My immediate reaction was, “Who was rehearsing upstairs in Gaston?” We recognize that we experienced something unprecedented. Then we anticipated the arrival of Hurricane Irene, and I felt so pleased with the way in which our whole university responded—from our emergency response team to the residence hall staff to the families who were all affected in one way or another. As you know we had to move our convocation from Sunday to Tuesday and make other adjustments along the way. But it was inspiring to watch the way in which everybody responded.

I have the chance to teach an Ignatius seminar in the College this fall, and had a chance to start this morning. I think we’re fully launched for the start of the year.

I’m welcoming a bunch of new leaders to the university at this time. I had a chance yesterday at the Mass of the Holy Spirit to welcome four of them. There’s Fr. Kevin O’Brien, who has served at the university for the last three years. He took over as Vice President for Mission and Ministry and I’m really pleased about that. Kevin’s an alum of ours. He came here during his undergraduate days so I feel we’re in very good hands in Campus Ministry with Kevin’s leadership. Fr. Joe Lingan joined us as the new head of the Georgetown Jesuit Community, and he came to us this past year from a high school from right across town where he was the principal. Fr. Lingan is a wonderful addition to our Georgetown community. Rachel Gartner joins us as our new rabbi, and she just came to campus in the last two weeks. And then there’s somebody who has been with us for a while but took on a new role as head of our Protestant ministry and that’s Rev. Bryant Oskvig.

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At the beginning of every academic year, University President Jack DeGioia holds a bi-annual meeting in which he invites campus media to his office to interview him. And for the upcoming meeting for the 2011-2012 year, which takes place the evening of tomorrow, August 31, you’re invited!

Well, sort of. Last year, the Voice grilled DeGioia about the campus plan, college rankings, and his “management style.” But this year, we want some suggestions from our beloved Vox commenters. So in the comments on this post, let us know what questions you think we should ask, and we’ll try our best to make sure the Prez hears them tomorrow night.

Here are the Voice‘s suggestions to get your started:

• What do you think started the basketball brawl?
• Given the heightened tension between students, neighbors, and the University since last year, do you have any suggestions for the attitude that students should take up when interacting with the neighbors?
• How do you think the University’s administration will change once Provost Jim O’Donnell steps down?

Dino Jack cartoon by Chris Heller.

When anyone at Georgetown thinks “personal assistant,” the first person to jump to mind is Charlie Cooper, the then-sophomore who in fall 2009 became the man behind the Student Employment Office posting heard ’round the world.

This time around, though, someone a little closer to the top is seeking a personal assistant to help him out with his everyday duties and transportation needs (and not his laundry): University President Jack DeGioia.

After apparently failing to find a sufficient candidate on Craigslist, a recent job posting on Georgetown’s Human Resources website finds the University seeking a “Special Assistant to the President” (sounds official, no?) to work “with discretion and flexibility” for President DeGioia.The duties are listed in a way that is both vague and enjoyably alliterative, as it calls for someone capable of “assembling, assimilating, and analyzing briefing materials.”

No word as to whether rejected or unworthy applicants will face the wrath of Dino Jack, but we really hope so.

h/t Funny or Die