Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise nine undergraduate and graduate schools, among which are the School of Foreign Service, School of Business, Medical School, and Law School. Located on a hill above the Potomac River, the school's main campus is identifiable by its flagship Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark. Georgetown offers degree programs in forty-eight disciplines, enrolling an average of 7,500 undergraduate and 10,000 post-graduate students from more than 130 countries.
Thomas F. Mulledy
With the steady increase in the number of students during his presidency, Mulledy oversaw construction of a new building in 1831, which came to contain a refectory, chapel, study hall, and dormitories. Erection of this building was enabled by a loan of $7,000 from the widow of Stephen Decatur. During Mulledy's presidency, "the Walks," which were a serious of scenic paths through the backwoods of the campus, were created. They were the result of Joseph West, a Jesuit brother's, purchase of the land for the College. Following Congress' grant of land to Columbian College in 1832, Georgetown requested similar benefits. The legislature eventually awarded Georgetown lots across the city worth $25,000, title of which was transferred to the college on February 20, 1837.
Mulledy had a reputation for being relatively lax in enforcing discipline at the college. In 1833, a rebellion was staged whereby a group of several plotted to ambush and assault the prefect of studies. This was in response to the prefect's reporting of a student who imbibed to the point of intoxication at taverns when the class took a trip to the Capitol. This plot was discovered and thwarted, and Mulledy responded by expelling several students. In March 1833, Pope Gregory XVI chartered Georgetown College as an ecclesiastical university, the first such institution in the United States. This authorized it to grant canonical degrees in philosophy and theology. The college narrowly escaped destruction by fire on December 10, 1836, when a carpenter's shed near the Walks became engulfed in flames. All the students and faculty worked to contain the fire and prevented it from spreading to the nearby dormitory.