page_title: Robert Plunkett
section_title: Georgetown College
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Plunkett / Georgetown College
caption_attribution_description: English: Early depiction of Georgetown University's campus. Caption: "College with Old North Building, From an Old Painting by Simpson."
context_page_description: Robert Plunkett was an English Catholic priest and Jesuit missionary to the United States who became the first president of Georgetown College. Born in England, he was educated at the Colleges of St Omer and Bruges, as well as at the English College at Douai. There, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1769, but left four years later, just before learning of the papal order suppressing the Society. Therefore, he was ordained a secular priest at the English College, and became the chaplain to a monastery of English Benedictine nuns in exile in Brussels.
  Plunkett petitioned to be sent to the United States as a missionary in 1789. Shortly after his arrival in 1790, Bishop John Carroll persuaded him to become the president of the newly established Georgetown College. Plunkett oversaw construction of the college's first building, the appointment of the first professor, and admission of the first student, William Gaston. However, he was more interested in pastoral work than education, and resigned the office two years later. Plunkett spent the remainder of his life ministering in rural Maryland, though continued to remain involved in the college's affairs.
context_section_description: Though Bishop Carroll was aware Plunkett had traveled to the United States seeking of pastoral, rather than educational work, he persuaded the reluctant Plunkett to become the first president of Georgetown College. Carroll concluded that the few other former Jesuits in the United States either could not be removed from important ministries or were not suited to teaching. He had initially sought to name a distinguished English ex-Jesuit as the head of the college, such as Charles Plowden or Robert Molyneux, but they were unwilling to assume the position.
  Construction of the college was nearly completed in late 1791. A French Sulpician seminarian, Jean-Edouard de Mondésir, became the first professor at the college in October of that year, while still learning English from Plunkett. As funds for the school were meager, Carroll preferred seminarians or Jesuit scholastics over full-time professors, as he was able to pay them only 75 Maryland pounds plus room and board, substantially below the average £150-200 salary for professors in the country.
  The first student, William Gaston, arrived at Georgetown from New Bern, North Carolina in early 1791, to find the college not yet open. He returned again in November, and lived at the City Tavern, as the college building was not complete. Eventually, Gaston began classes on January 2, 1792, along with Charles Philemon Wederstrandt, from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. During Plunkett's term, the number of students rose steadily, totaling 40 by July 1792, and hailing from as far away as New York City and the West Indies. As a result of Carroll's letters to Catholic families across the country, Georgetown had a significantly more geographically diverse student body than other American colleges at the time. To accommodate this increase, the college building was extended by 130 feet (40 m) and a third story was added. Plunkett oversaw the division of the school into three parts: elementary, preparatory, and college.
  Plunkett increasingly preferred the plantation life of the former Jesuits in rural Maryland, and became dissatisfied with administering the college. In December 1792, he submitted his resignation to Carroll, but agreed to remain until a replacement could be found. In June 1793, Carroll named Molyneux to succeed Plunkett as president.
caption: Early depiction of Old North (right) and Old South (left) at Georgetown College
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