Georgetown University: Meet the Chaplains

Get to know the chaplains even better on .

Sister Dorinda Young, SSJ , a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Erie, PA, has been a Roman Catholic Chaplain at Georgetown University since 1982. In 1989, while remaining at the School of Nursing , she was asked to become a part time Roman Catholic Chaplain at the Law Center; when she moved into the Gewirz Student Residence as Chaplain-In-Residence in 1993, she began a full-time ministry at GULC. Her particular interests are facilitating the on-campus "Prayer-in-Daily-Life" retreats, prayer and spirituality, women's issues, marriage preparation and personal and faith counseling. She serves on GULC's Committee on Public Interest and Community Service. Sister Dorinda Young has her B.S. degree from her community's college, Villa Maria in Erie, PA. and her M.A. in Religious Education from Fordham University, with a concentration on Campus Ministry.

Father Alexei Anthony Michalenko , from Adams, Massachusetts, has lived in the DC Metropolitan area since 1961. A graduate from The Catholic University of America, he earned his BA in Philosophy in 1965 and his MA in Theology in 1969. Ordained to the priesthood according to the Byzantine-Slav Rite in 1968, he subsequently studied in Rome , Italy , earning a post-graduate degree in Eastern Church Studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute while residing at the Russian College .

In 1984, Alexei completed an MS in Psychology, specializing in Pastoral Counseling at Baltimore 's Loyola College (Columbia Campus) and the post of full-time chaplain at Georgetown University Law Center , where he did his counseling internship. A priest of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Van Nuys, California, he ministers in both the Byzantine Catholic and Roman Catholic traditions.

Alexei celebrates Mass on Sundays and from Monday through Friday in St. Thomas More Chapel at the Law Center. He is available at the Law Center for counseling, spiritual direction, sacrament of reconciliation and marriage preparation. He is also a director/guide for the Prayer In Daily Life Retreats at the Law Center . Current law students, faculty, and staff who are planning weddings in the University chapels can make arrangements through him.

Michael Goldman, a Georgetown University Law Center graduate and a lawyer in a previous career, has been the Jewish Chaplain for the Law and Medical Centers since August 2002. He has been a student of Judaism for most his adult life and has taught numerous courses on Judaica, including courses at Georgetown. Michael is enthusiastic about his career change to Jewish Chaplain and enjoys sharing his enthusiasm with students, staff and faculty.

Imam Yahya Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University , the first American University to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. Imam Hendi is also the Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick, and is the Muslim Chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda , MD. He also serves as a member and the spokesperson of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of North America. He serves as adjunct faculty member at McDaniel College in Westminster , MD. Mr. Hendi holds a Master's degree in Comparative Religions from Hartford Seminary, Hartford, CT. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Comparative Religion.

He has written numerous publications on many topics, including women in Islam, women and gender relations in Islam, the coming of the Messiah, and religion and Islam in the United States . A sought-after speaker, Imam Hendi has presented a multitude of interfaith and general lectures in the USA , Asia , Europe , central Asia , Eastern Europe and the Middle East over the past eight years. Mr. Hendi was one of the Muslim leaders who met with the President of the United States in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy. Imam Hendi also met the President of the United States many times after September 11th. Imam Hendi often visits and lectures at churches and synagogues hoping to create a new positive relationship between the followers of the three Abrahamic religions.

Imam Hendi appeared on many national and international television and Radio shows as an expert on Islam.

Mr. Hendi serves on the national and the international interfaith councils. In May 2002, Imam Hendi was chosen by Hartford Seminary to receive its annual "James Gettemy Significant Ministry Award" for his dedication to his Ministry and for his work to promote peace building between people of different religions.

Imam Hendi offers inter-religious and Muslim retreats. He leads Qiyamul-lail prayer and Jum'ah (Friday Services). He also counsels students on their Academic, Professional and Social issues. Imam Yahya Hendi believes that only with love and education can the world be a better place to live in.

Rev. Ridgeway Addison, a native North Carolinian and ordained Baptist minister, has worked with students, staff, and faculty from a variety of denominational backgrounds and theological perspectives as a preacher, chaplain, musician, retreat leader and professor since arriving in Washington, DC in 1999. Both Protestant Chaplain at the University’s Law and Medical Schools and concurrently a Doctoral Candidate in Religious Studies with a concentration in Spirituality at the Catholic University of America (CUA) and dissertation project on the Protestant pastoral theologian and public intellectual Howard Thurman (1900-1981), he previously served the Main Campus as a part-time Protestant Chaplain, Coordinator of the School of Continuing Studies’ Summer Programs for High School Students and Chaplain-in-Residence.

Some of Ridgeway’s other past endeavors have included serving as the faculty and staff advisor for the Jewish-Christian Understanding Floor in Copley Residence Hall, filling a number of adjunct teaching posts at area universities, moonlighting as a music director and piano and guitar instructor and working as Senior Teaching Fellow in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at CUA.  An avid musician and composer, long-distance runner, tennis player and ultimate Frisbee enthusiast, Rev. Addison also enjoys writing poetry, multimedia projects and regularly mixing coffee and pastry with good conversation. If you are into any of these things (and even if you're not) he looks forward to seeing you around campus.