Mornings in the Yale Divinity School Common Room are quiet affairs. Small groups of students filter in to drink coffee and catch up on reading, awaiting the arrival of other friends and the start of classes. But on Friday mornings this semester, lively conversation from a corner table interrupted the usual calm, as student organizers of the “Seeking Justice, Healing, and Transformation” symposium met weekly to plan a two-day, student-led conference on the issue of sexual violence on U.S. college and university campuses.
Allyson McKinney ’15 M.Div. said that the idea for a formal conference grew out of a conversation she had this fall with her YDS Women’s Center co-coordinator, Megan Bergert ’15 M.Div., and other student group leaders about the Title IX complaint against Yale, its resolution, and the semi-annual sexual misconduct reports.
 Keynote lecture by Marie Fortune ‘76 M.Div. |
The YDS Women’s Center was invited by Jennifer Herdt, the associate dean of academic affairs, to submit a proposal for a program that would further the goals of the Sex and the Seminary report published by the Religious Institute for Sexual Morality, Justice, & Healing. The YDS Women’s Center, in conversation with the Women’s Pre-Doc group, Yale Women Seminarians, and Seminarians for Reproductive Justice developed the idea for the symposium and the groups eventually formed a coalition to discuss and develop ideas for implementing the proposal.
“We pitched the idea of doing a conference to educate people about this form of injustice to raise awareness and educate our community about the fact that [sexual violence] is taking place and how common it is,” said McKinney. “Coming out of a divinity school context, we were thinking in particular about what we can do as future faith leaders and members of faith communities to be a part of a response. We feel it’s important for ministers to have awareness about issues of sexual injustice and to know what Christian resources are available to help them respond pastorally.”
With the support of Herdt, associate dean of student affairs Dale Peterson, and Dean Gregory E. Sterling, the six members of the planning committee continued meeting regularly to determine how best to bring the leading scholars and pastors in the area of sexual violence activism to the YDS community. Maeba Jonas ‘14 M.Div., Claire Dietrich Ranna ‘14 M.Div., Elizabeth Gleich ‘15 M.Div., and Holly Kreiner ‘14 M.A.R. joined McKinney and Bergert at the Friday morning discussions.
Throughout the six months of planning, organizers drafted session descriptions, invited speakers, secured sponsors—including sponsorship by Yale Divinity School, and encouraged involvement from other members of the Yale community. When publicity about the symposium began to appear on campus, their hard work was evident, as the program included notable theologians, prophetic pastors, Yale administrators and, perhaps most importantly, the voices of sexual violence victim-survivors.
The symposium began on the evening of Thursday, April 10. McKinney stood at the podium of a crowded classroom to welcome the students, faculty members, and presenters on hand for the event’s first session: “Confronting the Problem: Sexual Violence on Campus.” As she addressed her own commitment to confronting sexual violence, she invited attendees to join organizers in envisioning a healed and transformed community, setting a theme of personal empowerment that ran throughout each session.
“We’re seeking to understand something more about the truth and challenges of sexual violence on campus and to learn what is at stake in terms of real human lives,” McKinney said.
The night’s line-up included a brief overview of national studies on sexual violence from Yale Women Seminarians, as well as student responses to Yale’s campus climate. Several participants noted the value in beginning with student voices, especially at a symposium that was inspired, in part, by student discussions around the language employed in the sexual misconduct reports.
As presenter Alexandra Brodsky explained, discussions of sexual violence on campus need to acknowledge the institutional betrayal often experienced by victim-survivors who feel universities are more concerned about their reputations than their students. Brodsky, who graduated from Yale College in 2012, was one of the students behind the Title IX complaint, which was resolved in 2012. Brodsky now attends Yale Law School.
The Thursday night session included opportunities for audience members to ask questions, and inquiries often drew responses from both presenters and other participants. Representatives from Yale’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education (SHARE) Center and Yale administrators were in attendance, and described the support systems in place for Yale students.
The night wrapped up with a reminder that a support team was available to anyone struggling with the painful and sensitive nature of the topic.
Friday’s full day of programming led many new faces to the organizers’ longtime meeting spot. The Common Room was brought to life by 9:00 a.m. for the morning panel on Yale University’s response to sexual violence. Dr. Melanie Boyd, Yale College’s assistant dean of student affairs; Dr. Stephanie Spangler, the university’s Title IX coordinator; Dr. Michael Della Rocca, chair of the university-wide committee on sexual misconduct; and Dr. Carole Goldberg, director of the SHARE Center, addressed recent campus initiatives to ensure student safety. The panel discussed new communications efforts, such as the semi-annual sexual misconduct reports.
Candice Provey, Yale’s associate chaplain, said she was really encouraged by the tone of the morning’s discussion. “I’ve only been here for two years, but I’ve been impressed by the collaborative efforts to care for particularly the undergraduate community,” she said.
Spangler acknowledged that there is work yet to be done, but highlighted the successful implementation of programs like Title IX steering committees with student members. She said, “We’re on a journey; we haven’t reached a destination.”
After time for questions, audience members were welcomed to a special Marquand Chapel service, planned to complement the symposium’s focus on faithfully responding to sexual violence on campuses. The symposium’s keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune ’76 M.Div., delivered a sermon on the persistent widow of Luke 18, asking students and chapel guests to consider how to preach on the Bible’s difficult passages, verses that complicate the Church’s message to women.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you flinch before it sets you free,” she said.
Fortune’s keynote address, entitled “What’s Wrong with Rape? Personal and Institutional Reflections,” followed a catered lunch. The YDS graduate issued a call to action to a room full of current and future pastors, as well as longtime and aspiring professors, using her work as the founder of the FaithTrust Institute to illustrate the sexual violence-related injustices that have gone on for far too long. Her message shifted the day’s focus from the role of sexual violence in campus culture to the everyday work that can be done by committed Christians to build a better world.
The symposium’s final session, a panel conversation on responses in the pastoral context, brought together three women with diverse career paths who have all incorporated sexual justice work into their ministries. The Rev. Dr. Sharon Ellis Davis is an adjunct faculty member and director for African American ministries and Black Church studies at McCormick Theological Seminary. She became passionate about addressing sexual violence while serving as a Chicago police officer. The Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith is the Sedgwick Chaplain to the University and Senior Minister in the Memorial Church of Harvard University. The Rev. Dr. Kristen Leslie ’86 M.Div., who attended and then taught at Yale Divinity School, is a professor of pastoral theology and care at Eden Theology Seminary. Leslie also works with Marie Fortune to address sexual assault in the military.
Speaking from their separate contexts, the women explored the importance of having hard conversations about sexual violence with congregants, classmates, and friends. Each addressed the shortcomings of Christian responses to ongoing injustices, explaining that people, including pastors, are failing to learn how to build trusting, healthy relationships.
Posing for a picture after the session, the panelists, Fortune and the event’s planning committee stood together in front of the event schedule that detailed the difficult topics addressed by the two-day symposium. Spanning three generations, multiple career fields and varied academic interests, the group was united by a shared commitment to ending sexual violence on college and university campuses.
Just like six voices in an otherwise quiet Common Room, the women had worked together to break the silence, empowering participants to live into a safer and healthier campus life.