its president, jim towey, who worked for the bush administration as director of its faith-based and community initiatives office, also served as legal advisor for the late mother teresa. ave maria is determined to stay a course from which its president says other catholic institutions have strayed. >> in an age where modernity has attacked the whole idea of objective truth and the whole relativism that you see that's pervasive in our culture, i guess this university's not going to be here to be popular. it's not here to try to please everyone. it's here to try to be true to itself and its own catholic identity. >> georgetown university, renowned for its academic excellence, has a different view of its catholic identity. all students, though only half of the 7,000 undergraduates are catholic, are required to take two theology and two philosophy courses. >> lord, you are the giver of all good gifts. lord, have mercy. >> though students are not required to go to mass, there are many to choose from, and catholic priests live in each dorm acting as mentors and friends. but georgetown, which boasts