School Notes: Yale Divinity School
January/February 2012

New attractions at convocation

Over 300 alumni and spouses, faculty, staff, and others took part in Convocation and Reunions 2011 in October. The events featured several dynamic new elements, including reunions for “interest groups” like the a cappella ensemble Sacramental Winers and the Ultimate Divinity Frisbee team; special lectures by YDS faculty; and reunion gatherings for recently graduated alumni. Combined with ever-popular fare such as the Beecher, Kavanagh and Pitt lectures; inspirational preaching; and alumni award celebrations; these new elements helped ensure the gathering had something for everyone.

Capital campaign concludes

The Divinity Tomorrow capital campaign, a joint effort of Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, concluded in 2011 with a final tally of gifts and pledges totaling $37.4 million. Of that amount, YDS alumni contributed $10.8 million, and another $12 million came from alumni of the university’s other schools, including Yale College. Funds raised through the campaign, said Dean Harold Attridge, will provide “critical support for the future of YDS in several key areas, including scholarship aid, endowments for faculty chairs, and programs.”

Pastoral theologian appointed to named chair

Mary Clark Moschella, professor of pastoral care and counseling, has been appointed to the Roger J. Squire Chair in Pastoral Counseling, an endowed chair that was elevated from junior to senior faculty status in 1999. A pastoral theologian accomplished in academe and experienced as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, Moschella joined the YDS faculty in 2010–11. She is the author of two books and the coeditor of a third. She holds a BS from Southern Connecticut State University, an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, and in 2001 received a PhD from the Claremont School of Theology.