Georgetown Law Alumni Magazine - Res Ipsa Loquitur
Spring/Summer 2009 - Online Volume 1
Lectures and Events
On Point @ Georgetown
CNN has “The Situation Room,” CSPAN has “Washington Journal” — and now, the Law Center has “On Point @ Georgetown Law,” a series of Web-based interviews with some of the most prominent personalities of our time. While they’re not live, the interviews provide a thoughtful and engaging look at issues being explored at the Law Center and around the world.
In October, Dean Alex Aleinikoff sat down with retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Stephen Breyer to glean their thoughts on judicial independence. A day earlier, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, spoke with Professor Larry Gostin about global and national health issues.
On November 11, less than a week after
the 2008 presidential election, former Senate
majority leader George Mitchell (L’61)
came back to his alma mater to discuss the
new presidential administration, the use
of performance enhancing substances in
sports, peace in the Middle East and more.
It was a timely and prophetic conversation,
as Mitchell would be named special envoy
to the region by President Obama less than
three months later.
Read the Story
“This is bigger than when I used to do the ‘Today Show,’” Mitchell remarked, as he walked into the official “On Point” studios in the Law Center’s Hotung Building — which serves as a conference room for most of the academic year.
Actually, filming the “On Point” interviews is no small affair. There are three television cameras run by a professional crew, plenty of extra lighting, miles of cable on the floor, and even stage makeup should the occasion require. Two students, Malcolm Wilkerson (L’10) and Mark Aziz (L’09), assist the dean with research on the relevant topics, coming up with questions appropriate to the interviewee.
“Obviously, it’s still growing and developing, but [we saw it as an opportunity] to ask very interesting people interesting questions,” says Aziz, who, within 24 hours, met Fauci, O’Connor and Breyer. Besides assisting with the administrative aspects of the project, Aziz also helps to determine who else might be invited to participate in an “On Point @ Georgetown Law” interview.
“In an ideal world, Obama,” Aziz said,
adding that the general counsel of MTV
might be good, too. One name he didn’t
mention was John Grisham, but that writer
of legal thrillers stopped by the studio on his
way to a talk at the Law Center last winter
as part of Criminal Justice Reform Month.
Watch Grisham’s interviews here.
