# David Hillhouse Buel (priest)

By [Bowen Bradley](https://paragraph.com/@03899) · 2022-07-03

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**David Hillhouse Buel Jr.** (July 19, 1862 – May 23, 1923) was an American priest who served as the [president of Georgetown University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Georgetown_University). A [Catholic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church) priest and [Jesuit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus) for much of his life, he later left the Jesuit order to marry, and subsequently left the Catholic Church to become an [Episcopal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Church_\(United_States\)) priest. Born at [Watervliet, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watervliet,_New_York), he was the son of [David Hillhouse Buel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hillhouse_Buel_\(soldier\)), a distinguished [Union Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Army) officer, and descended from numerous prominent [New England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England) families. While studying at [Yale University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University), he formed an acquaintance with priest [Michael J. McGivney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._McGivney), resulting in his conversion to Catholicism and joining the [Society of Jesus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus) after graduation.

In 1901, Buel became a professor at Georgetown University. He took charge of the university in 1905, after the sudden removal of the president. In this role, he promoted [intramural sports](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intramural_sports), oversaw construction of Ryan Gymnasium, and reformed the curriculum and university governance. He also instituted strict discipline and curtailed [intercollegiate athletics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_athletics_in_the_United_States), stoking fierce opposition from the student body and their parents, which resulted in his removal by the Jesuit superiors in 1908. Buel then performed pastoral work and taught for several years, before resigning from the Jesuit order in 1912 and secretly marrying in [Connecticut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut). When word reached [Washington, D.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.), his former Jesuit colleagues publicly condemned him, and the media claimed his actions resulted in his [excommunication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excommunication_\(Catholic_Church\)) [_latae sententiae_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latae_sententiae).

Buel resumed teaching in a secular capacity in New England, but after his marriage, he lived at times in poverty despite his wife's considerable inheritance. He formally left the Catholic Church in 1922 to be ordained an Episcopal priest, but never took up rectorship of a church. He spent his last years in [New York City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City).

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*Originally published on [Bowen Bradley](https://paragraph.com/@03899/david-hillhouse-buel-priest)*