<p>It's a Jesuit school...and that's probably a good thing for those who aren't Catholic. The Jesuits are educators and tend to be more liberal than their monastic counterparts. Unlike other major Catholic universities such as Notre Dame and Boston College, Georgetown is near another significant Catholic university (Catholic University) and its mission is less constrained by Catholic doctrine.</p>
<p>It's quite unlike going to a religious-affiliated high school. And its student body is not nearly as dominated by Catholics as the other universities I mentioned. It also has a worldwide reputation as an excellent university. Not an excellent Catholic university, but an excellent university. Many people don't realize its affiliated with the Jesuit order.</p>
<p>Still, changes in the Catholic church that have tilted it towards more conservative positions on a variety of issues, have resulted in a doctrine called Ex Corde Ecclesiae -- which, in very rough terms, places the Catholic oversight of all Catholic-based institutions under the authority of the local bishops. This is a big change and, being about 5 years old, is still being wrestled with. There are natural tensions between academic freedom and hewing to the accepted doctrine and credal teachings that a bishop might insist on. Catholic universities (the major ones) are working hard to develop "understandings" with their local bishops to ensure that academic freedom is preserved while avoiding "embarrassments" that might come from, say, professors espousing the virtues of planned parenthood and birth control (just for example). The National Conference of Bishops takes Ex Corde very seriously. And for many Catholic colleges that have historically been havens for the most devout, it works. But the framework fits less comfortably among the larger, nationally-recognized Catholic universities and whether Ex Corde will be an adjustment or a radical change for them remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Still, I don't think a non-Catholic should give the Jesuit affiliation of Georgetown a second thought -- which is not an observation I'd make with, say, Notre Dame or Boston College where there would be a cultural adjustment for the student.</p>
<p>Just my opinion.</p>