Higher education is increasingly a driver of social and economic inequity in our society. The growing economic divide threatens our society and demands action from us. The emergent challenge for colleges and universities is to better serve individuals, families and communities from educationally and economically disadvantaged segments of society in greater numbers. This moment is one in which the pressures of our society and of our own historical reckonings as privileged educational institutions demand decisive action.

Transforming and extending our educational responsibility will require new approaches that are evidence-based, bold in their vision, scalable in their design, and financially sustainable. These new approaches will require a mindset of innovation – of creative and rigorous research and design – that purposefully imagines and tests new models that advance the goal of equitable access and experience for all students. Thus, the work of The Hub is undertaken in close partnership with the Designing the Future(s) Initiative at Georgetown University.

Georgetown has a unique role to play in this work because of its reputation as an innovator in education and its moral responsibility as a Catholic and Jesuit institution. It captures our commitment to the civic imagination, and our weighty legacy of slavery and reconciliation gives an institutional specificity to a broader agenda of equity and justice.

Georgetown University seeks in numerous ways – both on our campus and through community engagement – to increase access and success for first generation, low and middle income students, and students from underrepresented groups. The long-term commitment to and success of this work has established Georgetown as a leader among our peer institutions.