Stories

The Religious Studies Department gathered in Adobe Lodge for the Annual Spring Reception on Thursday, May 23. It was an enjoyable opportunity to reflect on the academic year that was about to close and celebrate the achievements of our graduating majors and minors.

David Gray, serving as master of ceremonies, welcomed all the participants, and Diana Gibson provided a moving invocation. After enjoying a delicious Mexican-themed dinner, we welcomed the new members of Theta Alpha Kappa, presented awards, and honored our graduating majors and minors.

There were three highlights to the evening: Paul Crowley, S.J.’s talk, a new game, and our student speakers. Regarding the former, the theme of Paul Crowley, S.J.’s talk was mentors. In the talk, he talked about the four people who served as mentors for him when he was a student. These included his professor at Stanford, Robert McAfee Brown, his teacher at Union Theological Seminary,  Ileana Marcoulesco, his advisor at the Graduate Theological Union, Michael Buckley, S.J. and his friend, Joel Dorius.

The second highlight was a new game that we introduced this year, the “Guess Who Game,” in which photos of faculty when they were young were displayed, and the challenge was to correctly identify them. All of the images were successfully identified, although some were harder than others. Overall, it was an entertaining addition to the evening. The last and most important highlight was the reflections of the graduating majors and minors, who spoke of their experiences in the department. They thanked faculty who they found particularly inspiring and spoke of their intellectual and spiritual growth as they made the transition from new students to seniors on the verge of graduation.