Nonpriest to lead Georgetown: Wife of ground-breaking educator is Las Vegas native

Benjamin Grove

Monday, April 2, 2001 | 11:40 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Las Vegas native Theresa DeGioia has been an aide to former President Bush, a university fund-raiser and soon, a first-time mom. But beginning July 1, she'll play her oddest role yet -- the first First Lady of Georgetown University.

DeGioia's husband, John "Jack" DeGioia, recently made national headlines when he was appointed the first non-priest ever to lead a Jesuit university in America. That will make her the first wife of a Georgetown president.

"I'm kind of making it up as I go along," she said during a recent interview.

John DeGioia landed Georgetown's top job last month after Jesuit leaders searched for nearly a year for a new president. After fishing around the nation's increasingly smaller pool of Jesuit educators, they were drawn to DeGioia, a skilled budget trouble-shooter with deep roots at Georgetown.

"It's going to be an interesting image change, with a family at the helm, in a sense," said the Rev. Brian McDermott, rector of the school's Jesuit community. "That image is very different from the solitary Jesuit."

DeGioia, 44, has spent his professional career at the school, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English in 1979, which immediately led to a long series of administrative jobs. He has been dean of student affairs, chief administrative officer of the university's main campus, and most recently, senior vice president -- Georgetown's No. 2 administrator.

DeGioia got his doctorate in philosophy at Georgetown in 1995 and is a lecturer in the school's Philosophy Department.

And DeGioia offers a fresh new vantage point, he said.

"I bring to it the experience of husband and father, which provide me with slightly different perspectives," he said in an interview this week in his office in Healy Hall on campus.

DeGioia knows he is under the microscope as the first layman to lead one of the nation's 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. But he is outwardly -- and inwardly, he says -- relaxed. He doesn't mind the pressure.

He pledges to remain true to the Catholic mission of the university: to graduate future national leaders and public servants and to challenge students to "reflect on the questions of the meaning of a spiritual reality."

"The Jesuits have shared with me their spiritual and intellectual resources," DeGioia said. "This university is uniquely situated to become even better and better with each year. I'm thankful to have an opportunity to lead it."

DeGioia regularly mentions what he calls an "animating spirit," which guides the university -- and him. It's deeply rooted in Georgetown's rich Jesuit history, he said.

But Georgetown leaders also have grappled with modern-day changes and their responsibilities to both a Jesuit tradition and secular student body. About 45 percent of Georgetown's students are not Catholic.

"I'm a manifestation of that (struggle)," DeGioia said.

Some Jesuit leaders were clearly disappointed when the school announced its new leader.

"While many of us were hoping that a Jesuit priest might be found for the leadership of this important Jesuit institution, I welcome Dr. John DeGioia ... He is known and respected as a fine Catholic educator," Washington, D.C., archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said in a written statement released after Georgetown tapped DeGioia.

McDermott cautioned people from quick judgments. He said DeGioia was clearly the best man for the job. DeGioia is a model of what a Georgetown student should become, McDermott said.

"Because it's Jack DeGioia, it's a good thing" for a non-priest to run the school, McDermott said.

"I think people within the university and the alumni will be adjusting and getting used to a lay president," McDermott said. "I hope they allow Jack DeGioia to get into position and show his strengths, and work with him. Change is something people need to get used to."

Founded in 1789, Georgetown is the nation's oldest Roman Catholic University. Alums include former President Bill Clinton, former Surgeon General Antonia Novello, basketball star Patrick Ewing.

The school is now one of the nation's most competitive. About 15,000 students have applied for 2,300 freshman spots available this fall, despite Georgetown's pricetag: undergraduate tuition this year was $24,000, plus $9,000 room and board.

DeGioia inherits a number of challenges at the 12,000-student university. Georgetown, with its respected medical school, last year sold its university hospital to avoid financial losses. And the school is constructing a 780-bed dorm complex after years of criticism for not providing enough student housing on the urban Washington campus.

Georgetown also is in the middle of an ambitious $1 billion fund-raising campaign. DeGioia will be hitting up all sorts of contributors, from recent graduates to wealthy alumni.

"You don't get to a billion without a lot of big donors," DeGioia said. He added that he doesn't mind the role of fund-raiser, which has become an important part of any university president's job.

Theresa DeGioia said she will be ever-present at Georgetown, probably in a number of roles. She came to Georgetown in the mid-80s on a scholarship casino mogul Steve Wynn provided to area valedictorians. She met DeGioia when he was a dean of students and she a student.