In early November of 1833, Jesuit scholastic Charles Lancaster took a group of students to the Capitol to observe a session of Congress. During the return trip to Georgetown, one of the students, Virginus Newton, began stopping at saloons despite Lancaster’s repeated admonitions. Lancaster reported Newton’s misbehavior, and he was promptly expelled.
A group of students made plans to avenge Newton’s expulsion, but someone tipped off the college leadership. When the students tried to rush Lancaster that evening, he was defended by a group of Jesuit brothers. Their vengeance thwarted, the students rioted: throwing rocks, setting fires, yelling, and more. When Georgetown expelled thirteen students for their involvement, the protests continued. By late January of 1834, Georgetown had expelled more than thirty students for their participation in the riots.1
- 1Emmett Curran, Robert. “The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University, 1789–1889.” 1993, p.183.
