Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service

In his senior year of high school, Patrick DiPasquale (MSB ’20) visited his cousin at John Carroll University. While there, he joined his cousin for a visit to a local youth jail, where the older boy regularly played basketball as part of a school club. Patrick loved the experience: Everyone was his age, and it was easy to relate to them. When he got home, he started a similar club at his high school.

HoyaTHON nearly doubled its fundraising total at its second annual dance marathon Nov. 9, raising money for Washington, D.C.’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. HoyaTHON, Georgetown University’s chapter of the Miracle Network Dance Marathon, raised more than $73,584 overall, nearly double the $41,024 raised last year. The funds will all go to Children’s National, a hospital in Washington, D.C. Children’s National is one of 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals that provide health care to pediatric patients across the United States and Canada. The network supports fundraising and awareness campaigns, including dance marathons, for the hospitals.

Conveniently situated in Washington, D.C., Georgetown University provides students the privilege of accessing the endless resources the city has to offer, from internship opportunities to free Smithsonian Institution museums. Yet students often only access the District’s resources in their free time.

As we approach the end of Black History Month, I ask my fellow white colleagues as well as white students to consider how they are participating in the work of racial justice.