Charles Nailen/The Hoya University President John J. DeGioia discussed Georgetown’s future at a conference with campus media Friday.

Balancing Georgetown’s immediate needs and long-term interests will be an important focus of his administration in upcoming years, University President John J. DeGioia said in an interview with student media on Friday.

“We want to ensure that the experience that you all have is the best possible experience that we can provide,” DeGioia said, “And at the same time, ensure the enduring capacity of the university.”

He cited some of the university’s ongoing and future projects as ways in which Georgetown is improving its long-term infrastructure: the Southwest Quadrangle project, the renovation of the Ryan Administration Building into a performing arts center, a new science building and a new “home” for the McDonough School of Business.

Critical to the success of these long-range plans is the size of Georgetown’s endowment, DeGioia said. “Right now we’re in a campaign to raise the most money in our history: $1 billion,” he said, referring to Georgetown’s Third Century Campaign, which has raised more than $800 million so far. “The environment is a little more challenging these days because of the economy, but we’re optimistic.”

DeGioia acknowledged that fundraising for the school takes up much of his time as university president, but that one of his favorite aspects of working at Georgetown involves the more “immediate” side of college life: teaching classes.

This year, DeGioia is teaching a fall proseminar for School of Foreign Service freshmen, called “Ways of Knowing.”I love it. It’s what got me into this business in the first place,” DeGioia said. “The reason I got into this work is the immediacy of the year.”

One of the long-term issues DeGioia said he plans to tackle is campus safety. Over the summer, Georgetown enlisted retired Gen. Don Jones to evaluate and refine its emergency response plans. After his review, Georgetown developed support teams to handle critical functions during emergency situations and enhanced its already existing plans to address the needs of students and staff during such situations. The university also consolidated its Department of Public Safety, Emergency Management Program and operations within the Office of Transportation Management, Risk anagement and Environmental Protection under a new position of vice president for university safety. These changes, among others, DeGioia noted as part of the reason “we have a pretty strong emergency response capacity at Georgetown.” He added that the additional safety initiatives planned or undertaken should not result in any “noticeable change from the student or staff perspective” in terms of their daily routines.

If the increased emphasis on campus security can be partly attributed to the Sept. 11 attacks that struck particularly close to home, DeGioia said he also believes that the events – and Georgetown’s proximity to the federal government – help point out the institution’s potentially unique role in world affairs. “We have an exceptional strength in things international,” he said.

When Afghanistan’s then-Interim Authority Chairman Hamid Karzai came to speak at Georgetown last winter, he asked DeGioia if his delegation could meet with U.S. officials at a later date to discuss the future of the Afghan state. DeGioia readily accepted; the groundbreaking Afghan-American summit, attended by several top-level Afghan and American government officials, was held July 25 on Georgetown’s campus.

DeGioia related the story of how, one day during the summit, Georgetown piled several Afghan ministers into two vehicles and drove them to the White House for a meeting and a photo shoot with the president. It then escorted them back to campus for continued talks, all in under an hour’s time.

“What other institutions could have done that?” DeGioia said. “You could be on your two hands counting institutions that could have convened that meeting and gotten those results.” He added about the summit: “We are looking for these opportunities because that’s how I think we can fulfill our promise as an institution . we need to be a force for justice in the world.”

He also noted Georgetown’s long tradition of religious dialogue and faith as part of its distinctive identity and significance on the world level.

With top schools competing for top students, distinguishing Georgetown from other peer institutions has become increasingly important. Last year, the university remained 23rd in U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings and recently changed its admissions policy to allow Early Action candidates to apply to other schools’ Early Decision programs. The move would put a student applying as Early Action only to Georgetown at a potential disadvantage, since students applying to Georgetown in addition to schools with binding Early Decision policies might not be able to accept Georgetown’s offer of admission if they got into another school, thus taking away opportunities for the dedicated Georgetown-only applicant.

DeGioia defended Georgetown’s policy, saying there was “no evidence it is affecting selectivity.” Georgetown’s Early Action program was instituted so that high school students could have more time to choose which college they wanted to attend, instead of being tied to one school in the fall of their senior year, he said. “You shouldn’t have to make a decision any sooner than is absolutely necessary. We do [early application] for moral reasons . other schools do it for competitive reasons.”

DeGioia also dismissed the notion that Georgetown might increase enrollment to boost its comparatively small endowment. “That’s not part of our strategy,” he said. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that peer universities had a “significant head start” in raising funds – Georgetown started fundraising seriously only in the 1970s – and that similar institutions have endowments five times the size of Georgetown’s.

What is encouraging, he said, was to see most of Georgetown’s current funds being contributed by alumni who graduated many years ago, demonstrating a commitment to a school that has changed dramatically since they attended Georgetown.

DeGioia added that, in many respects, “the potential of the next generation is really unlimited.”