Philodemic Room Project Overview

The Philodemic Room in Healy Hall is a historic space on Georgetown’s main campus, and home to weekly debates of the Philodemic Society, one of the oldest student debating societies in the United States and the oldest secular student organization at Georgetown. The room also hosts Georgetown community members and visitors daily for meetings and special events.

Following a 2019 report by the Philodemic Society’s Committee on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, examining the room and history of their undergraduate debate organization, the university partnered with the Society in engagement processes to envision an updated framework for this physical space and ensure it is welcoming for its many users and visitors. Processes to engage our community in careful consideration of the built environment and memorialization, including spaces like the Philodemic Room, are part of the university’s ongoing commitments in slavery, memory, and reconciliation.

Resources throughout this webpage help document the room’s history and the engagement processes to develop a new interpretive framework – within the context of its historic character – that honors our community’s values.

The Philodemic Society is an undergraduate debating organization established at Georgetown University in 1830. In 2018, members of the Philodemic Society formed their Committee for Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to research and document the historical connections of the Society to racism and discrimination and how those connections manifested in the Philodemic Room, the longstanding home for the Society’s debates. The Committee launched an ongoing effort within the Philodemic Society to acknowledge and address the history of their Society and to reconcile with it. The Committee’s work culminated in a 2019 report with research on individuals memorialized within the Philodemic Room and recommendations for historical acknowledgement and reconciliation. The report was discussed and voted on by the Society’s membership, and shared with the university.

Read more about the Philodemic Society Committee for Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation.

The Philodemic Room is one of many historic spaces within Healy Hall, and is adjacent to the Office of the President. Original blueprints of Healy Hall indicate the space was originally planned as a debating room and it has continued to serve this function through use by the Philodemic Society.

The room was built during the construction of Healy Hall, 1877-1879, but the decorative finishes were not fully added until 1900. Brother Francis Schroen, S.J., painted the space in his signature style that provided a deep enhancement of the room decor. The rostrum was centered on the north wall of the Philodemic Room and elevated above the finished floor. Thirty-four photos were hung around the perimeter of the room and set within the decoratively painted wainscot. Eleven paintings were hung above the wainscot. The names of twelve historical debaters and speakers in the United States were included within the painted work of the ceiling.

Historical photos indicate changes to the room’s decor over time, including lighting, furniture, wall paint schemes, floor and wall coverings, a drop ceiling and architectural elements of the rostrum.

The Philodemic Society and Georgetown worked collaboratively to identify an architectural partner to provide design services and to facilitate a process to engage members of our community to reimagine the Philodemic Room. SmithGroup brought deep experience in historical preservation and cultural resources to ensure the historical character of the room was maintained while the interpretive framework and elements of memorialization were carefully considered. The overall project goal was to create a welcoming and functional space in a redesign of the Philodemic Room that can adequately support meetings, events, and other functions by the Philodemic Society and the university community that is reflective of the values of these communities.

The process to reimagine this space was grounded in engagement, with opportunities for community members to provide feedback. SmithGroup facilitated engagement through discussion sessions with university community members, community forum webinars, and online surveys to gather feedback that helped to inform the project.

Resources to learn more about the room’s history, design process, and engagement opportunities included project briefings prepared by SmithGroup, and community webinars in December 2021 and April 2022, which included project updates and an overview of design ideas that were developed with input from the university community. Following the April 2022 community webinar, university community members were invited to provide their perspectives on the ideas presented for the room’s future interpretive design through a post-webinar survey. The Philodemic Society also hosted a public event in March 2023 on “Memorialization in Our Physical Spaces: Confronting Legacies of Slavery.” The moderated panel discussion with Georgetown faculty members explored questions about the legacies of enslavement, how they may manifest in our physical spaces, and considerations for re-imagining our built environment.

Engagement processes indicated strong support for design elements that emphasize Philodemic Society and Georgetown values, and honor the room’s historic character. This guided the design direction.

Philodemic Society and Georgetown seals were fabricated for display on the wall behind the rostrum. The Philodemic Society motto of “eloquence in defense of liberty” also inspired a new painting displayed on the wall across from the rostrum, featuring Frederick Douglass delivering his famous “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech in Rochester, NY, 1852.

The Philodemic Society and Georgetown developed a framework to select individuals that are commemorated in the room. Several of the original photos and paintings were selected for reinstallation, and some individuals formerly represented in the room were not selected for reinstallation, including those who defended and perpetuated enslavement of people of African descent. As part of a Philodemic Society nomination and voting process, new individuals are also being added and commemorated in photographic portraits in the room, who reflect our community’s values and “eloquence in the defense of liberty.”

In addition, four names on the ceiling were identified for retention, and were evenly spaced around the room’s ceiling perimeter. The remaining eight ceiling nameplates now display decorative motifs in the style of Brother Schroen’s original artwork.

Work in the room has also incorporated a retractable ramp for rostrum accessibility, a mobile cart for video conferencing and presentation capabilities, functional improvements to lighting and furniture, and historic and new decorative enhancements.

Renovation of the room began in 2024, with final finishes and decorative elements installed in 2025.

How did university community members engage with the project and provide feedback?

This website provides a range of information about the project–including a timeline of the decor in the room, the report of the Philodemic Society, and project engagement processes.

Additional information was provided in a webinar from December 2021, and an online survey was available for university community members to provide reflections on topics explored during engagement sessions.

In April 2022, the project hosted a second community webinar to share project updates and an overview of design ideas that were developed with input from the university community. After the April 2022 community webinar, university community members were invited to provide their perspectives on the ideas presented for the room’s future interpretive design through a post-webinar survey.

A recording of the Philodemic Society’s March 2023 public event on “Memorialization in Our Physical Spaces: Confronting Legacies of Slavery” is also available.

How does this project relate to Georgetown’s work in Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation

Since the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation completed their charge and issued their Report, the University has worked to implement the recommendations and continues to develop new initiatives focused on Descendant engagement, academic and research initiatives, and public history and memorialization.

The reimagination of the Philodemic Room is an important initiative within this broad context of truth-telling and memorialization at Georgetown to ensure that the built environment and physical spaces reflect the community’s values and an acknowledgment of historical context. Other sites at Georgetown require this important work of acknowledgement and contextualization as well, and the process of redesigning the Philodemic Room can help to shape those future efforts.

Who regularly uses the room, and will that change?

The Philodemic Society hosts their weekly debates in the Philodemic Room on Thursday evenings. The room is also used by other university community members daily for meetings and special events. The room will continue to be used by all these members of the university community.

The Philodemic Room, and Healy Hall, are historic spaces. What did that mean for the project?

Georgetown engaged a firm with deep experience in historical preservation, as well as design, in order to retain the historical character of the room. The project scope included assessing and restoring decorative finishes such as plaster, paint, and millwork. Updates to the room’s design and functionality (e.g., technology and furniture improvements) were made while also retaining the historical character of the space.

How is the Philodemic Society reflected in the updated design?

Georgetown worked in partnership with the Philodemic Society, and the updated interpretive design continues to reflect the character and values of the Philodemic Society. The Philodemic Society motto, “Eloquence in the Defense of Liberty,” was a foundational value in the project.

What decisions were made for the room?

Information is available in the “Design and Implementation” section. Photos are also available on the main project webpage.