President: 1918-1924
Fr. John Creeden, S.J., served as Georgetown's 37th president from 1918-1924. Fr. Creeden played a significant role in establishing and developing Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.
Early Academic Career
Fr. John Creeden joined the Society of Jesus in 1890 and spent eight years at the novitiate in Frederick before joining the University faculty as a Jesuit scholastic. He served as dean of the College from 1909-1918. In May 1918, Fr. Creeden replaced Fr. Donlon and became the University’s thirty-seventh president.1
Georgetown Prep
One of Fr. Creeden’s first tasks was continuing his predecessor’s work and overseeing the formal opening of the New Georgetown Preparatory School in Garrett Park, Maryland. The University had planned to open the school for the 1917-1918 academic year, but the building’s construction was delayed by labor and material shortages caused by World War I. In September of 1919, Georgetown Preparatory School opened its doors to thirty-one freshmen. 2By the fall of 1921, enrollment had risen to ninety students.3
Founding of the School of Foreign Service
Fr. Creeden also worked to establish the School of Foreign Service (SFS), another of Fr. Donlon’s aspirations. In May of 1918, Fr. Creeden met with Constantine McGuire who, in serving as assistant secretary to the Inter-American High Commission in the Treasury Department, had discovered a need for a preparatory institution for individuals in the foreign service. After his proposals were rebuffed by Harvard and Columbia, a Jesuit introduced McGuire to Fr. Creeden.4 Fr. Creeden approved of McGuire’s proposal on two conditions: that sufficient funds had to be raised prior to launching the school and distinguished faculty had to be recruited. McGuire began soliciting funds to open the school and Fr. Creeden selected Fr. Edmund Walsh to head the school. Fr. Walsh had succeeded Fr. Creeden’s position as dean of the College in 1918 but left a few months later to serve as a regional inspector of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC). In just six months, Fr. Walsh secured the half-million dollars necessary to open the school.
The SFS opened for a four month term in the spring of 1919. From an applicant pool of more than 350, seventy students ages twenty-five to forty-five, many former army and navy officers, were selected. The school’s formal two-year program began the following November with an enrollment of approximately 300 students. The original curriculum prioritized commerce and trade, economics, history, political sciences, and languages including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. The SFS drew most of its faculty from the U.S. Shipping Board, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Trade Commission.5
In December 1920, in recognition of his work to found the SFS, Fr. Creeden received the medal of public instruction by decree of the President of Venezuela, the highest educational honor Venezuela can confer upon a citizen of a foreign country. 6That spring, eighteen students received the University’s first bachelors degrees in Foreign Service. At the start of the 1923-1924 term, the SFS curriculum was expanded to include ethics, logic, English, public speaking, economics, accounting, political science, and applied geography. The National Geographic Society partnered with the University to teach the applied geography course, the first course of its kind offered in the United States. 7In February 1923, Fr. Creeden granted a charter to the SFS’s Pan-American Students’ Association and announced that twenty scholarships would be made available for students from South American countries. 8By the start of the 1924-1925 term, enrollment had grown to 500 with students from almost every state and twenty-one foreign countries.
Law school Reforms
Meanwhile the Law School continued to receive a “B” rating from the Association of American Law Schools prompting a series of reforms. Fr. Creeden brought the Law School more firmly under the University’s control, appointed a Jesuit regent, and established an executive faculty. In 1920, Fr. Creeden proposed stricter entrance requirements and the adoption of morning classes which began in the fall of 1921. The Law School began to require two years of college education for admission, and the program for evening students was extended from three years to four. By 1924, the Law School had advanced to an “A” rating.9
Greater Georgetown Initiative
During this time, the University faced rising enrollment in all of its schools. In 1919, the College enrolled 326 students, but by 1921 that number had grown to 500. The Law School enrollment increased to 1,153, the Medical School to 172, and the Dental School doubled its students from eighty to 163.10 With increasingly limited facilities, Fr. Creeden reinstated Fr. Richards’ old practice of purchasing any property available between 35th, P, N, and 37th Streets. However, with the University’s investments totaling a meager $150,000, Fr. Creeden realized the need for an endowment to make possible the necessary expansion. In 1922, he formed the Georgetown Endowment Association, the University’s first formally organized fundraising operation, with the goal of raising $5 million for “Greater Georgetown.” The plans for “Greater Georgetown” included the Edward Douglas White Quadrangle to the North of Healy Hall which would comprise a student dormitory to the north, flanked by a science building and classroom building. The Medical and Dental Schools would be moved to new buildings next to the hospital, and an athletic stadium with a capacity of 20,000 was planned for the northwestern edge of campus.
The University permitted donors to direct their donations to various components of the “Greater Georgetown” plan. Endowing a suite in the new dormitory building required a $6,000 donation, but the suite would be known by the name of donor and adorned with either the donor’s name or crest. Similarly, rooms, halls, or buildings endowed by states, cities, or societies would be named accordingly and reserved for affiliated students. 11Within a year, the Georgetown Endowment Association had collected $225,000, and donors had pledged an additional $700,000. By 1925, the University’s endowment approached nearly $3 million. However, the endowment never reached the desired $5 million, and the aspirations of the “Greater Georgetown” plan began to fade before the end of Fr. Creeden’s presidency.
On October 9, 1924, Fr. Creeden’s term ended, and he was replaced by Fr. Charles Lyons. Fr. Creeden was incredibly well-liked by students, and they lamented his departure: “Fr. Creeden was one of the most popular presidents the University has had and his loss will be keenly felt.”12 Fr. Creeden later returned to serve as regent of the Law School from 1929-1939.
- 1“Fr. Creeden Dies; Former GU President.” The Washington Post. 27 Feb. 1948.
- 2Emmett Curran, Robert. “Toward a Greater Georgetown, 1889–1928.” 2010, pp.87-88.
- 3“Prep School Starts 3D Year.” The Hoya. 6 Oct. 1921, p.4.
- 4“Toward a Greater Georgetown, 1889–1928.” p.90.
- 5Id. at p.92.
- 6“Dr. Creeden Gets Medal: Georgetown University President Honored by Venezuela.” The Washington Post. 19 Dec. 1920.
- 7“New Courses in F.S. School.” The Hoya. 4 Oct. 1923, p.1.
- 8“Charter for Pan-American Union.” The Hoya. 1 Feb. 1923, p.1.
- 9“Law Department Advanced In Rank.” The Hoya. 12 Apr. 1924, p.1.
- 10“Toward a Greater Georgetown, 1889–1928.” p.95.
- 11“Georgetown University Endowment Fund Meeting With Much Success.” The Hoya. 5 Oct. 1922, p.1.
- 12“Rev. C. W. Lyons New President Final Change in Faculty Made” The Hoya. 9 Oct. 1924, p.2.
