School Notes: Yale Divinity School
May/June 2017

YDS dean reappointed to second five-year term

President Salovey announced the reappointment of Greg Sterling to a second five-year term as dean of Yale Divinity School. Sterling, the Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament and professor of religious studies, will begin his second term on July 1 and serve through June 30, 2022. Citing comments from students, faculty, staff, and alumni who gave input during the dean’s review process, Salovey hailed Sterling as “an energetic leader working tirelessly to advance the Divinity School.”

During Sterling’s tenure, the Divinity School has restored financial stability; increased diversity; created a strategic plan and made robust progress on its implementation; and forged agreement on a phased affiliation with Andover Newton Theological School.

Stay hopeful and do ‘uncomfortable things’: Bryan Stevenson at YDS

Bryan Stevenson, a public-interest lawyer acclaimed for his work for the poor, incarcerated, and condemned, delivered the annual Parks-King Lecture at Yale Divinity School on February 1. Stevenson’s four-part summons to the YDS community: get proximate, change narratives, stay hopeful, and “do uncomfortable things.” Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, told a packed Marquand Chapel audience, “I don’t think we’re going to be free in this country until we challenge all the damage that has been done by our history of racial inequality.”

William Barber at YDS: Building a prophetic moral vision

Moral Mondays founder William Barber came to the Divinity School February 3 for a rousing conversation on building a prophetic movement for justice. Known for his electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention last summer, Barber brought the overflow crowd to its feet with his call for a “fusion politics” uniting people of different races and orientations in raising a moral voice on behalf of the poor and marginalized.