— Holy Land Councillor News
Ghassan Goes to Washington
August 22, 2026
A Bethlehem University student spent a month at Georgetown University, and it changed how he sees the world.
Dear Members,
The Bethlehem University Foundation shares a story from this summer that captures exactly why the McGuckin Program exists. We are grateful for their contribution and invite you to read Ghassan’s full account below.
This June, a Bethlehem University accounting student landed at Dulles International Airport and did what most first-time visitors don’t. He went straight for the metro. Bus routes had been rerouted for Washington’s 250th Independence Day celebrations, adding an extra hour to his trip into Georgetown. He was grateful for it.
Ghassan Johnny Altawil spent July at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies as part of the Sir John McGuckin Internship Program, established by EOHSJ in 2010 to give Bethlehem University students real-world professional experience abroad. Outside the office, the city kept surprising him: a World Cup match near the Washington Mall with a fellow BU alumna now pursuing her MA at Georgetown, and on his birthday, new friends who surprised him with dinner and cake in a country where he’d never celebrated one before.
“[Americans] know that if you don’t speak out against something, it will never change…I want to start applying that in my own life.”
He flew back to Bethlehem carrying friendships, unforgettable conversations, and a lesson about speaking out that he intends to carry forward. The McGuckin Program honors the legacy of Sir John McGuckin, former Lieutenant of the Order’s Northwestern Lieutenancy, whose commitment to young people in the Holy Land continues through each student it serves.
