Title:Called to be…a Hoya historian

Paul O’Neill (C’86, G’96)

Paul O’Neill served as senior advisor to President Emeritus John J. DeGioia and as chief operations officer for the Office of Advancement. Today, he chairs the Advisory Board of the Carroll Forum, interviews for the Alumni Admissions Program, and is an external advisor for the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union.

Learn what led O’Neill to write a book on Georgetown history.

What was your path to Georgetown?

I came to Georgetown as a high school sophomore to attend debate camp. I grew up in the conservative Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and life was like watching black and white TV. When I got to Georgetown, the Jesuits, they were broadcasting life in Technicolor. I knew Georgetown was the place that I wanted to be, but I didn’t take a straight path to get there—I went to Villanova my first year.

When I started at Georgetown, I landed a three-year internship at the White House. I worked in the Presidential Advance Office, which organizes the president’s activities outside the White House. I answered the telephone, delivered documents, and typed the president’s trip schedule. Over time, I learned the ropes, and when I graduated, the White House Advance Office became my first full-time job. None of that would have happened if I didn’t go to school two miles up the road at Georgetown.

What led you to write about Georgetown’s history?

Georgetown has an incredible history, but not a lot of people know the story. I started writing the Georgetown history book, Georgetown University, in 2002. Emmet Curran had written the definitive history of Georgetown’s first 200 years, but I wanted to create something more visual and accessible. I knew the archives had incredible historical photographs and documents; the problem was that in 2002, almost nothing had been digitized. So, I went to BestBuy and I bought a desktop computer and a scanner. Then I went up to the fifth floor of Lauinger and spent the summer creating a digital archive of hundreds and hundreds of photos. From that digital archive, I created a top-line narrative of Georgetown’s first 200 years, and I put it into a book. I updated and expanded the book in 2020 with my classmate, Bennie Smith.

What do you like about your work with the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union?

 The Credit Union is a unique Georgetown story. It’s the largest student-run financial institution in the world, and it started because students were tired of paying usurious rates to the on-campus Riggs bank. So, they created a student credit union, and it’s been in operation for 45 years.

 The credit union set up an external advisory committee 12 years ago. We meet a couple of times a year with the student leadership to review the credit union’s health and discuss what new leadership will take on over the next year.

 What’s great about the opportunity to work with today’s student leaders is watching them tackle a set of challenges that students from my era never contemplated. After all, branch banking is dead. But year after year, students reshape and reinvent the credit union to focus on what today’s students need from a bank. That’s their mission: to serve students.

 What about Georgetown’s future?

 The fact that Georgetown has persisted for over 250 years is remarkable; and Georgetown persists because it stays focused on its evergreen mission. I’m with Professor John Glavin who says, “Georgetown, by all accounts, should have vanished years ago, but it didn’t because Georgetown is a place that America needs. It’s a place that America requires.” I think that’s true now more than ever.

 In recognition of his achievements and service, O’Neill received the John Carroll Award in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 5, 2025. The John Carroll Award is named for Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in North America and founder of Georgetown University. Established in 1951, this award is conferred upon alumni whose achievements and record of service exemplify the ideals and traditions of Georgetown and its founder.