At the Intersection of Faith and Community, Blain Beyene Pays It Forward

Ten years ago, when Blain Beyene (C’25) was 12, she received a life-changing invitation: the chance to meet Pope Francis during his visit to DC.

Beyene joined a group of students from the Archdiocese of Washington at the Vatican Embassy, eagerly awaiting the leader of the Catholic Church. Shortly after she arrived, she heard whispers that the pope might be too tired to greet the crowd.

But eventually, as the sun was setting, Francis arrived – not in a popemobile, but a modest Fiat 500L. Beyene vividly remembers that he shook the hand of any child he could reach, including Beyene’s. At one point, Francis, who died on April 21, stopped to bless a child in a wheelchair. 

“His prioritization of young people is something you don’t always see,” said Beyene, who spoke at a recent Georgetown Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life panel about Francis’ leadership. “Pope Francis made us feel like we are really important and integral to the church.”

Experiencing the pope’s humility firsthand has shaped Beyene’s time at Georgetown, where she is majoring in government with minors in French and religion, ethics and world affairs (REWA). After graduation, Beyene, the only child of immigrants from Ethiopia, hopes to use her education to one day pursue humanitarian work in a French-speaking country in Africa. 

“I want to live my faith out in the world,” Beyene said.

Faith and Knowledge

Beyene is a first-generation college student from a large and close-knit, Ethiopian American Catholic family.

She was born and raised in the suburbs of Maryland and attended Georgetown Visitation, right down the street from Georgetown. Beyene could hear and see the Healy Hall bells from her high school. And even though her cousins attended other colleges in the area, the opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge drew Beyene to the Hilltop. 

“I wanted to go to a university that would challenge me both in the classroom but also personally foster the values of caring for our community and world,” Beyene said. “I knew Georgetown would leave me with both of those desires fulfilled.”

During her four years at Georgetown, Beyene has held several roles in Catholic Ministry. She has been a reader and Eucharistic minister for Masses at Dahlgren Chapel and a co-spiritual chair for Catholic Women at Georgetown with her roommate and best friend, Riley Talbot (C’25), where they have organized spiritual discussion dinners and Bible studies.

Beyene also served for two years as a Catholic retreats leader, guiding a small group through retreats focused on the key places and moments in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola at the Calcagnini Contemplative Center in Bluemont, Virginia. 

Outside of Catholic Ministry, Beyene has found fulfillment co-hosting G!rl Talk with Talbot, a radio show on WGTB that features songs by female artists and conversations with friends, roommates and professors.

“I have loved building a family-empowerment-centered community through our show,” Beyene said. 

In the summer of 2022, Beyene was one of 21 undergraduate students who embarked on a pilgrimage to Spain led by the Office of Mission and Ministry, where she visited the Sanctuary of Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius, and towns that influenced his life’s purpose and mission, like Montserrat and Manresa. The following spring, Beyene went to Rome as part of Magis Immersion Experiences and learned about pilgrimage across faiths, with a focus on Rome’s significance for Christians.

“Blain has lived what we hope our students achieve at a Jesuit, liberal arts institution by standing at the intersection of religion and world affairs,” said Vanessa Corcoran, an advising dean at the College of Arts & Sciences. “The combination of her academic studies and extracurricular activities is the living embodiment of what we hope our students pursue in the College of Arts & Sciences.”

Stretching Her Brain

In Beyene’s application to Georgetown, she wrote that she keeps her Ethiopian immigrant community in mind, and it has continued to guide her college experience.

As a junior, Beyene became a member of the Government Honors cohort, and for her senior thesis, she wrote nearly 100 pages on a paper titled, “A Tale of Two Countries: French and American Approaches to African Immigration.”

Beyene examined how the two countries define citizenship, how those definitions have evolved and how their histories with African populations continue to shape ongoing disparities for African immigrants. 

“Blain has that love of learning and curiosity that every teacher so appreciates,” said Lahra Smith, director of the African Studies Program and an associate professor in the Department of Government. “She cares about people and recognizes that all of our community at Georgetown has something to offer her and she has something to share with them.”

Georgetown has helped Beyene grow in ways she didn’t expect. Before coming to college, she had never read the Bible from an academic lens until taking the Divine Revelation course. 

“I just feel like Georgetown keeps stretching my brain in all different ways,” she said.

Even when Beyene is having dinner with friends, their conversations sometimes drift toward the different ways students can practice their faith on campus within the context of helping others. The environment, she said, brings it out of them. 

“One of the greatest gifts of my Georgetown education would be the responsibility to always ensure that my work or research is benefiting my wider community that is not typically represented in higher academic spaces,” Beyene said. “I love that Georgetown emphasizes the values of ‘People for Others’ in the work we do, and I hope to keep that humility in mind in my future career and advanced studies.”

–Kelyn Soong