Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall was filled to capacity. The images of morality, faith and patriotism, of art, science and the alma mater looked out at the crowded horseshoe balcony and down on the stage, with its podium and single chair.

In the first row in front of the stage, edged with roses, gladiolas and Canterbury bells, pink, purple and white, sat professors and priests, authors and political philosophers. They were almost the only representatives in the hall of the elderly and the middle-aged. The bulk of the rest of the 700 seats was taken up by undergraduates and youngsters still in their 20s.