Alumni took a break from the festivities of Convocation and Reunions 2012 to take care of business matters at the Annual General Meeting of Alumni and to hear the new dean, Gregory Sterling, deliver the annual “State of the School” address.
New members of the YDS Alumni Board were elected and welcomed, and departing members—including President Jerry Henry ‘80 M.Div.—thanked for their service, while Sterling touched on several big topics that he cited as important to him and to YDS, including: racial and denominational diversity on campus, mainline church renewal, and construction of a new “green village” to replace YDS’s aging dormitories.
Sterling expresssed hope that YDS can become a platform for “discussion on how can we renew and revitalize mainline Protestant denominations,” and he described the “green village” as “a place in which community is built and is fostered … a place where we miror our values … and restore a sense of community that I know meant so much to many of you who lived within the Quad.”
During a question-and-answer period following his presentation, Sterling responded to questions about campus diversity, observing, “It is our duty as a school to be open to all Christians where all feel like they can come and be a part of us. There will be serious disagreements, but that’s the world in which we live.”
In introducing Sterling to alumni present at the meeting, and vice versa, newly elected board President Jeffrey Oak ‘85 M.Div., ‘86 S.T.M., ‘93 M.A., ‘96 Ph.D., described the great variety of work done by YDS alums.
Said Oak, “We labor in a broad array of venues, in churches and religious communities, large and small; in classrooms, libraries and lecture halls; in non-profits and community organizations … [We] labor with those who are poor, in prison, and on the margins … The alumni of this school are in all of these places and more.”
Elected as officers of the board along with Oak, who is senior vice president for Bon Secours Health System, Inc., an integrated, not-for-profit, Catholic health system, were:
- Vice president—Kristin Foster ‘77 M.Div., pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Mountain Iron. MN.
- Secretary—Kenneth Kuntz ‘59 B.D., a retired faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa.
New membes of the Board include:
- Althea Marshall Brooks ‘01 M.Div, former president and CEO of Empower New Haven, an economic development organization dedicated to job creation, workforce development, and improved quality of life. Currently she works for the mayor of New Haven on new initiatives.
- Regina Mooney ‘79 M.Div., ‘83 S.T.M, former chief development officer at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, MA. Currently she is the director of advancement at the Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.
- Donald Saliers ‘62 B.D., ‘67 Ph.D., The William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship Emeritus and director of the master of sacred music program at Emory University. He is currently writing on liturgy and theological aesthetics.
- Danielle Tumminio ‘03 B.A., ‘06 M.Div., ‘08 S.T.M., an author, life and professional coach, lecturer at Yale University, and priest associate at Christ Church in Quincy, MA.
Stepping down from the board, in addition to outgoing President Jerry Henry, were Arthur Latimer ‘98 M.Div., Jennie Ott ‘06 M.Div., and Alice de V. Perry ‘80 M.Div.
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