Following the retirement of Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95), Georgetown University named former Provost and Executive Vice President Robert M. Groves interim president Nov. 21 and Soyica Diggs Colbert (COL ’01) interim provost Nov. 26.
Groves, a statistician, served as Georgetown’s provost and executive vice president from 2012 until his promotion to interim president, while Colbert, a professor in the departments of performing arts and Black studies, previously served as interim dean of the Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences and has most recently served as vice president for interdisciplinary initiatives since 2023. DeGioia, who began his tenure as president in 2001, will become the university’s president emeritus, with Georgetown conducting a nationwide search for his permanent replacement to conclude by July 2026.
Groves spent much of his career teaching at the University of Michigan and served as the director of the U.S. Census Bureau from 2009 to 2012. He said his goal as interim president is to uphold DeGioia’s legacy.
“Our job, as the Board has directed, is to be energetic stewards of the institution at this moment of transition, to actively continue university initiatives, to facilitate the presidential search led by the Board, and to prepare the university for new leadership,” Groves wrote in an email to students Nov. 22. “We pledge to do so guided by the same values that President DeGioia has fostered over the years.”
Groves said he aims to work with the entire Georgetown community in his new role.
“There is work to be done, as President DeGioia would have wanted us to do,” Groves wrote. “We are confident that, with a focus on community and supporting each other, we can see the university through these times and emerge as an even stronger, more impactful institution.”
Colbert is an acclaimed scholar of Black theater, literature and performance who has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a U.S. government agency that supports humanities research; the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement; and the Mellon Foundation, an educational philanthropic organization. In 2023, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded her a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant for exceptional scholarship in the humanities.
Groves and Colbert worked together in their previous roles, continuing collaboration across fields of study that began with programs such as the Tech & Society Initiative, which examines technology, ethics and government, and the Emergent Ethics Network, a group of four centers addressing practical ethics.
Colbert said she plans to emphasize Georgetown’s shared values as interim provost.
“As Interim Provost, I am buoyed by the shared values that have and will guide our work,” Colbert wrote in an email sent to students Dec. 4. “I will support the ongoing work of our faculty, staff and students, and shepherd forth new initiatives with the aim of Georgetown being the best version of itself.”
Jazmin Pruitt (COL ’19), a program manager at Georgetown’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Affirmative Action, said Colbert, who served as a mentor for her, will be an effective interim provost because of her passion for uplifting students.
“Dr. Colbert saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself, and her unwavering belief sparked a transformation I didn’t know I needed,” Pruitt wrote to The Hoya. “She didn’t just teach — she empowered, leaving an imprint on my life that will guide me forever. Her appointment as provost is a testament to her vision and the lives she’s destined to change.”
LaMonda Horton-Stallings, the chair of the department of Black studies, said Colbert’s interdisciplinary experience speaks to her aptitude for being interim provost.
“Dr. Colbert is a caring and empathetic teacher revered by students in Black studies and theater and performance studies throughout her tenure at Georgetown,” Horton-Stallings wrote to The Hoya. “She is also a prominent scholar whose research has transformed multiple fields of study and she is respected by peers from across the nation. As a Hoya alumni, she has been an exemplary model of leadership and dynamic commitment to the university’s mission.”
Groves said he is excited to see Colbert’s further contributions to the Georgetown community as interim provost.
“Dr. Colbert is a terrific leader, faculty member and administrator and we look forward to the contributions she will make as Interim Provost,” Groves wrote in an email sent to students Nov. 26. “She has our gratitude for taking on this position at this time of significance for our University community.”