DeGioia and O'Donnell Love Undergrads So Much They Plagiarize Themselves Again

Monday, June 23, 2008

The 2008 Heckler Summer Blog blogs on. We apologize for not yet "bringing the heat" on such sexy Georgetown news as revisions to local zoning laws.

The above photo is real, by the way. That's the dining hall's namesake sporting a genuine popped collar at a Class of 1956 Georgetown reunion. If you look hard enough, you can find some good photos of administrators, like this one that has become our stock photo of Todd Olson:


We write a lot of Todd Olson stuff, by the way.

Anyway, we here at the Heckler, despite our incapacitating laziness, have considered doing another parody this summer like our 2007 New Student Guide that so infamously left me with a threat from the CSP and the university counsel. One thing we considered was doing a whole new new student guide, but I checked today and the 2008 guide seems to be almost exactly the same as the 2007 guide.

That's predictable, of course, as much of the information is still relevant. However, two "personal" messages from President DeGioia and Provost O'Donnell to new students have also remained the same.

The letter from O'Donnell, who is not a muddle througher kind of person, seems to have only substituted one mandatory reading assignment for another, and despite past experiences, he still finishes it with a straight face, saying, "This will be one afternoon in your Georgetown life, but I can assure you it will be a memorable and rewarding one." The letter from DeGioia is exactly the same as his one from last year except the fancy watermark now dates the letter at "May 2008." Both appear to be the same as they were in the student guide I got the summer before my freshman year.

Somewhere the Honor Code is smiling.

We maybe could parody other parts of this sacred guide the administration is forced to protect from the Heckler, but the most enjoyable part is making fun of administrators, and we can't really do anything if they don't care about the student body enough to write a new message or, say, a new convocation speech once in awhile to give us some material. I guarantee you, by the way, we can run this letter from the editor again this September.

So we ask you: is there a stupid university publication or other Georgetown thing you think is ripe for parody? Let us know in the comments.