Title:Part reunion, part adventure

With summer in the rearview mirror, many of you may still be basking in the memories of a great family trip. If you are already planning the next one, let me offer an idea: come to John Carroll Weekend (JCW)! In truth, that is how I think of this event: time away each spring with my Georgetown family. I’ve attended most years since I graduated, and it’s always a trip worth making. Together with my fellow alumni, as well as Georgetown parents and friends, we get a chance to visit a new city while celebrating the best of our alma mater.

The roots of the weekend trace back to 1951, when the alumni association began to host an awards dinner that moved each year to a different U.S. city. The gathering honored a few alumni with the association’s highest service award, the John Carroll Award, and bestowed the Patrick Healy Award upon a friend of the university who has made dedicated, impactful service to Georgetown. Over time, the awards dinner grew into an entire weekend of events: faculty members joined us to lead tours and “hot topic” panels; attendees took a deep dive into the history, culture, and industry of each city; and the Georgetown community reunited at gatherings large and small throughout the three days.

Think tours of Boeing and Starbucks in Seattle; bird watching in Muir Woods; wine tasting at a Hoya-owned vineyard in Napa Valley; square dance lessons in Austin; moonshine tasting in Nashville; and Duck Boat tours on the Charles River in Boston. You can start your day attending a session on the impact of current Supreme Court decisions with Georgetown Law’s constitutional scholars, enjoy lunch during the annual Georgetown Entrepreneurship Alliance Pitch Competition, and wrap up your afternoon by being a part of the Provost’s reception, where you will learn about what’s happening on our campuses and in our classrooms today.

What started as smaller gatherings in a limited number of U.S. cities has grown into summits of more than 1,000 Hoyas in major metropolitan centers in the U.S. and abroad. In 1993, John Carroll Weekend got its first passport and headed to London. Since then, the weekend program has traveled internationally every few years, stopping in Paris, Madrid, London (for a second time!), and Rome. From candlelight dinners for over 600 people at the Guildhall in London—feeling very much like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts refectory—to a reception at the Palacio de Linares in Madrid with His Royal Highness King Felipe (G’95), to the John Carroll Awards Dinner in the heart of Vatican City, this weekend is designed to knock your socks off in a way only Georgetown can.

To capture the insider’s experience of each city, there is a host committee of local alumni, guiding the programming and opening doors to spectacular venues and private tours that provide exceptional access. John Carroll Weekends now include a choice of up to 75 different programs—something for every interest.

What I think I love the most about these family weekends here and abroad, though, is the people they draw. Members of our Hoya family gather for so many different reasons: to learn about a city from our faculty and alumni experts; to meet more Hoyas in the host city, where JCW might be visiting; to reunite with friends from all over, friends whom they see only once a year at this very weekend, or at reunion every five years. Whatever the motivation, JCW is for all alumni, whether you graduated over six decades ago or six months ago, for all parents (current or former!), and for all those who love and support Georgetown. It’s a come-one-come-all gathering.

The pandemic presented the first hiccup in the long and storied history of John Carroll Weekends—a two-year hiatus between 2019 (Boston) and 2022 (Nashville). When the weekend came back, so did the family. And they came in big numbers. Ready to hit the international road again, John Carroll Weekend goes to Dublin, Ireland in 2024— the event’s first-ever trip to the Emerald Isle. Hoyas from all over the globe will gather in April to celebrate the John Carroll and Patrick Healy awardees at an elegant dinner in the heart of the city, to discover Dublin through the eyes of its Georgetown locals, and to participate in conversations about the most pressing matters of the day, conversations guided by the expertise of Georgetown faculty members and alumni.

If learning to pour the perfect Guinness, strolling through St. Stephen’s Green, and visiting historic Irish castles sounds enticing, then mark your calendars for Dublin from April 18–21, 2024. The family can’t wait to see you.