Georgetown University names controversial new president known for rejecting Church teaching

The oldest Catholic university in the United States has announced that Eduardo Peñalver will become its 49th president as of 1 July 2026.

Peñalver, who has previously served as president of Seattle University, will be only the second layperson to hold the post in the 236-year history of Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. His appointment to Georgetown has drawn attention and a degree of controversy within Catholic academic circles because of earlier comments he has made on moral and social questions.

In a 2014 essay for Commonweal magazine, Peñalver wrote that he rejects the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and described same-sex relationships as “morally valuable”.

He wrote: “I reject the Church’s teachings on homosexuality, so I would favour an even easier way out by treating committed gay relationships as morally valuable.”

He also criticised the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, with Peñalver expressing concern that the court's ruling would "harm low-income women, women of colour and LGBTQ individuals".

The decision on his appointment, made public on 15 October, follows a year-long search to identify a successor to interim president Robert Groves, who replaced long-time president John DeGioia, the first layperson to be president and who resigned following a stroke.

Peñalver's appointment has renewed discussion about the direction of Catholic higher education in the United States and the challenge of preserving a Catholic identity within modern academic culture.

Founded in 1789, Georgetown University has been regarded for generations as a flagship institution of Catholic higher education. Its leaders have traditionally been drawn from the Society of Jesus, but in recent years the university has increasingly turned to lay leadership to steer its academic and administrative direction.

The univeristy, while maintaining its Jesuit affiliation, has in recent years drawn criticism from Catholic groups over events and speakers viewed as inconsistent with Church teaching. The university has hosted drag performances and panel discussions on sexuality and gender, prompting questions about whether such activities align with the institution’s stated Catholic mission.

Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, told LifeSiteNews, regarding the appointment, “Every Catholic educator should vigorously oppose what this man embraced. Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, but Georgetown is leading lambs to the slaughter.”

Peñalver, 51, is a distinguished legal scholar with a background in property law and the intersection of law and religion. A graduate of Cornell University, as well as of Oriel College, Oxford, and of Yale Law School, he clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the US Supreme Court. He then joined the faculty at Cornell and later serving as dean of its law school. He became president of Seattle University, a Jesuit-founded institution, in 2021.

Photo: A protester waves a Palestinian flag during a protest on the Georgetown Univeristy campus, Washington, D.C., 23 March 2025 (Photo by ANDREW THOMAS/Middle Eeast Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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