The School of Foreign Service

One of Georgetown's most prized academic institutions is the School of Foreign Service. Founded in 1919 in response to World War I, the SFS aimed to train students to become experts in international affairs in order to represent the United States well in diplomacy and business on the world stage. Father Edmund Walsh was recruited to run the SFS which was eventually named in his honor.

The SFS was headquartered in downtown DC until it was moved to Healy Hall in the early 1930s with the expectation that it would shut down and be merged into the College. However, World War II reinvigorated enthusiasm surrounding the school's purpose. In 1947, the government provided two annexes - similar to those of Poulton Hall - and placed them on the lawn you are currently standing on. The SFS found its new home in these two structures until the construction of the Walsh Building in 1958, which you will see on the next stop. While the annexes continued to house classes, they did not last long. In 1963, nearly 1,000 students took to the streets in protest against a number of the university's policies and burned down one of the two annexes. The other annex was razed in 1971.

The brick complex surrounding you is the Alumni Square apartment building. It was constructed in the early 1980s and was intentionally designed to match the look of townhouses as Georgetown's stretched its campus into the residential neighborhood. The School of Foreign Service is now housed in the Intercultural Center (ICC) which you will see later in the tour.

GEORGETOWN TODAY

Learn more about the School of Foreign Service here.

Learn more about the Office of Global Education here.