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Though it might be a bit late to say this, I’m still going to: Welcome (back) to the Hilltop, Hoyas! Quite a bit has occurred during our summer absence, and as we enter into a brand new school year, it seems like the Hilltop is in flux. Many changes are underway, and Georgetown as we know it is continually growing and improving… just like it was in 1970.

Believe it or not, September 6, 1970 bears a lot of uncanny similarities to the occurrences that are happening on the Hilltop today. There was triumph, controversy and, perhaps most importantly, the beginnings of New Student Orientation (NSO)! Take a look below at the eerie resemblance between 1970 and today:

• This year’s Class of 2017 admissions proved to be one of Georgetown’s most selective years yet, accepting 16.6 percent of students. But it also proved to be Georgetown’s most diverse class ever, with 39 percent of students coming from minority backgrounds.
  Hoya headlines from 1970 show a similar trend (though still characteristic of a different era), accepting more women and minorities than previous years. Of the 1,122 incoming freshmen in ’70, 33 were black — a 300 percent increase from previous years!
• While controversy on the Hilltop today is usually focused on administrative transparency and the loss (and replacement) of our beloved bulldog, J.J., the September ’72 drama surrounded a strange Georgetown University Radical Union publication. The GURU letter claimed that Hoyas have “hidden behind the ivy-covered walls of the Hilltop since 1789” and also dispersed a “radical” required reading list that included 1984 by George Orwell (also, take a moment to consider that 1984 hadn’t happened yet) and Quotations by Mao Tse Tung.
• This year’s NSO was the first to feature educational content about sexual assaults on college campuses, but 1970’s NSO was the first to be, well… NSO. Orientation Chairman Jim Ould (SFS ’73) said that the fall orientation program would be geared at assimilating Hoyas to life on the Hilltop. And ironically, he expressed concern with administrators who didn’t keep in contact with student the Planning Board. (Sound similar to some events over the summer?)
• Last, but certainly not least, 1970 was a year of new gadgets. Forget iPads and Droids; 1970 boasted a spiffy Talking Notebook (on sale for only $29.95). And who needs Good Stuff Eatery or new macaroon joints? 1970 had a shoe cobbler on 35th street, which apparently had a “virtual monopoly on heel healing in the neighborhood and unlike other monopolies (e.g. the phone company), it [was] benign.”

Feeling a weird deja vu with 1970, yet? Tell us about it in the comments. In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of the year and stay tuned for our next installment of This Day In Hoya History.