Welcome
We all have a calling.
Callings from above and within inspire and guide us in service to our communities and world. Our callings vary, but our purpose is shared.
We pursue our callings for humanity. Wherever we find ourselves and whatever we are called to, the Yale Divinity School community rises to the challenge and the opportunity to serve. To care. To sustain. To uplift.
Now, when our good work matters more than ever, we seek to extend our reach and impact.
Annual gifts, endowment gifts, capital gifts, and planned gifts—gifts of all sizes—are welcome as we work to fulfill our mission in a rapidly changing time.
for 200 years and for tomorrow
Since our beginning two centuries ago, Yale Divinity School has been driven by a dedication to the church and world. Today, as a vital part of one of the world’s premier academic institutions, we pursue our work from a solid foundation. Generations of donors and a strong home institution are the cornerstones of our success.
Thanks to philanthropic support, we have made great progress in implementing our most recent strategic plan. Over the past decade, donors have made it possible for YDS to meet the needs of students, foster transformative leadership, forge a more diverse learning community, and plan for a new residential complex that honors our commitment to living in balance with the natural world.
But we have further to go. And to address the world’s pressing challenges, we have more that we must do.
Commemorating our Bicentennial, we are launching a global campaign to advance our mission to prepare thoughtful leaders who bring forward knowledge and love of God in service of a better world. Our fundraising efforts are part of the larger Yale campaign, “For Humanity,” launched in fall 2021.
for God and Humanity:
FROM DEAN STERLING
FROM DEAN STERLING
We Are Called focuses on four critical goals. By bolstering YDS’s already considerable strengths in the following areas, we will ensure we are the brightest beacon of hope and progress:
- Student Support
- Academic Programs
- Justice Initiatives
- The Living Village: A Sustainable Living-Learning Community
Our good work begins with our students as they pursue their essential callings—the kind that only rarely provide generous remuneration. Our graduates move on to serve humanity with academic, moral, and religious leadership that ripples across geography and through time. So we must ensure they have the funding they need to fully commit to YDS and their vocations.
We need more leaders trained for a new reality, leaders who will bridge faith and sustainability, leaders who will bring communities together in the face of instability and injustice. We must do more to support our faculty and students as they research, teach, learn, and influence the communities they lead and serve.
YDS is both a literal and figurative home. We must do more to forge community and to promote stewardship and an equitable world for all. Our innovative Living Village project will enhance campus social and educational life, ease students’ housing costs, and make an important eco-theological statement that will resonate well beyond the Yale community.
We are now in the phase of our fundraising campaign where we shout from the rooftops and widen the circle of philanthropy.
I invite you to learn more about our plans. If they resonate with you, please join us in creating a flourishing future for all.
With my gratitude,
Gregory E. Sterling
The Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean
Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament
By the Numbers: Goals for Success
TOTAL FUNDRAISING GOAL$140 million
RAISED TO DATE$120 million
PRIORITIES
Student Support$35 million
YDS Annual Fund for Student Support $5M
Endowed Student Support Funds $30M
Academic Programs$12 million
New Testament and Early Christianity Professorship: $3M (funded)
Asian Christianity Professorship: $6M (funded)>
Latinx Christianity Professorship: $6M
Environmental Ethics Professorship: $3M (funded)
Justice Initiatives$8 million
Black Church Studies Program: $3M
Native American Programs: $350,000 (funded)
Social Justice Internship Funds (2): $500,000
Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference Travel Fund: $150,000
Prison Ministry Program: $3M
Inclusion and Belonging Community Impact Fund: $500,000
The Living Village:
A Sustainable Living-Learning Community$85 million
By the Numbers:
Goals for Success
Student Support$35 million
Academic Programs$12 million
Justice Initiatives$8 million
The Living Village: A Sustainable Living-Learning Community$85 million
Total Fundraising Goal$140 Million
Raised to Date$121 Million
Academic Programs
New Testament and Early Christianity Professorship: $3M (funded)
Asian Christianity Professorship: $6M
Latine Christianity Professorship: $6M
Environmental Ethics Professorship: $3M (funded)
Justice Initiatives
Black Church Studies Program: $3M
Native American Programs: $350,000 (funded)
Social Justice Internship Funds (2): $500,000
CAMPAIGN PRIORITY
Student Support
Fully funding student financial need is critical to the Divinity School’s capacity to train students for leadership in the academy, church, and society. Major gifts, along with ongoing giving to the Annual Fund, have made it possible for YDS to begin covering the full cost of tuition for students with financial need, beginning in the 2022-23 academic year.
However, tuition is only 56 percent of the cost of attending YDS. Our campaign aims to raise the funds necessary to meet more of students’ living costs and other expenses.
Financial aid represents our commitment to an inclusive community of leaders and scholars. We must ensure that our students have the funding they need to commit fully to study and service, to set their paths on the basis of calling, not financial constraints. Scholarships and stipends provide vital support to tomorrow’s leaders for church and world.
Scholarship Recipients In Their Own Words
Donors step up to make Nancy Taylor Challenge a success for scholarships
Rev. Nancy S. Taylor ’81 M.Div.
Blake Long, photographed at Lee University / photo by James Mansen
Blake Long was a senior at Lee University in Tennessee in the spring of 2024 who was trying to decide whether and where to pursue graduate studies in theology. He took a “Facebook break” while working on a paper and there he discovered that YDS was promoting the Nancy Taylor Challenge to raise funds for scholarships.
Long was so impressed by Rev. Taylor’s generosity in offering a $200,000 matching grant that he tracked down her email address and sent her a message.
“I am writing to express my sincere thanks for your investment in the next generation of theological leaders,” Long said in his email to Taylor ’81 M.Div., a retired UCC minister and cochair of the We Are Called campaign for YDS. “As a Pentecostal, I want to stay open to the moving and inspiration of the Spirit. Tonight, I felt moved to reach out and extend my appreciation for your ministry as you work to create accessible education for those like me.”
Long matriculated at the Divinity School with a full-tuition scholarship and additional funding to help cover living expenses.
He is not the only one who responded enthusiastically to the Taylor Challenge. With gifts from many donors, the YDS community successfully raised nearly $420,000 for the initiative, surpassing the $400,000 necessary to activate her matching grant and adding about $620,000 to the Divinity School’s endowed scholarship funds.
Rev. Taylor expresses deep appreciation for the people who gave during the newly completed challenge program.
“For me, a gift to YDS is a commitment to, and a vote for, a world filled with bright, theologically informed, biblically astute pastors with a heart for the church—pastors who will touch and change people’s lives, who are versed in hope and made courageous by the Gospel,” Taylor said.
New scholarship honors retired professor Peter Hawkins
Stephen Henderson (left) with Peter Hawkins and James LaForce at the Sept. 22 event where the scholarship was announced / photo by Ian Christmann
A scholarship named in honor of retired professor Peter Hawkins will support YDS students interested in studying religion and literature.
The scholarship is funded by a gift from Stephen Henderson ’87 M.A.R. and his husband, James LaForce, in recognition of Hawkins’ impact on the field of literature and religion and on Henderson’s own life and faith.
Hawkins, Professor of Religion and Literature Emeritus, is a Dante scholar who spent 43 years in the classroom, primarily at YDS, before his retirement in 2019. Hawkins is credited with helping turn the study of literature and theology into an international academic discipline.
Henderson, a New York City resident, is a public relations professional and journalist and the author of the book The 24-Hour Soup Kitchen: Soul-Stirring Lessons in Gastrophilanthropy. James LaForce is a philanthropist and CEO of the PR firm LaForce.
“It is a cliche, of course, to say that something was a ‘life-changing experience,’ but attending YDS was exactly that,” Henderson said. “The professors I studied with expanded my mind, heart, and soul. I was able to shake off my fear of God, and perhaps for the first time, have a sense of God’s love and acceptance of me, just as I am.”
Students singing in Marquand Chapel
CAMPAIGN PRIORITY
Academic Programs
We trace the birth of our school to the establishment of a professorship in theology and a new theological department—at the behest of Yale students. Two hundred years later, recruiting and retaining faculty leaders is no less critical to our success. Faculty strength and scholarship are at the core of the YDS experience. Our faculty pursue transformative research and induct new scholars into the theological disciplines. Our professors are at the top of their fields and in high demand.
Endowed professorships attract and retain renowned scholars, teachers, and mentors, just as they draw the most promising students to our campus. The establishment of named chairs demonstrates a steadfast commitment to our academic program.
Currently, 16 of our faculty members hold endowed professorships. Our goal is to add three more chairs, in key areas of scholarship: Latinx Christianity, Asian Christianity, and Environmental Ethics.
Willie James Jennings, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies
YDS establishes endowed professorship in environmental ethics
YDS professor launches young adult ministry project with Lilly Endowment grant
$3 Million Gift Supports the Creation of an Endowed Professorship
With the support of an anonymous $3 million gift, Yale Divinity School has established an endowed professorship in environmental ethics.
Its first holder is Ryan Darr ’19 Ph.D., who began his YDS career at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year as Assistant Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Environment. Professor Darr concentrates his research and teaching on multi-species justice and structural injustice, among other areas.
A burgeoning field, environmental ethics pursues critical reflection and action to ensure the well-being of the planet and its ecosystems.
“One of the greatest challenges confronting all of us is the climate crisis,” Dean Greg Sterling said. “This is not only a scientific and technological issue. It is a moral issue.” The new professorship, the Dean said, enables YDS to offer students “a moral and ethical window” to understanding the causes and ethical implications of climate change—and justice-oriented solutions to the crisis—from a religious and ethical perspective.
The philanthropic gift establishing the professorship was made by a Yale College alumnus as part of his estate planning.
YDS currently offers an M.A.R. in religion and ecology concentration and a joint-degree program with the Yale School of the Environment.
“To treat the rich and diverse lives of other species as if they are just an expendable resource is to live unjustly”—Read an interview with Ryan Darr at YaleNews.
Supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., Professor Almeda Wright has launched the Young Adult Ministry Innovation Hub at YDS, a project aimed at connecting congregations with emerging adults who are spiritual but unchurched.
“Many young people are thinking about ways of cultivating relationships with God, the Spirit, and each other that may or may not be as institutionally tethered as these kinds of undertakings have been in the past,” says Wright, Associate Professor of Religious Education and an expert on the spiritual life of young Black people.
During the five-year grant, young adult coaches and leadership teams from Christian congregations will work together to study the relationship between churches and young adults and to design, implement, and assess new ways of doing ministry.
“Our hope is that young adults and congregations can learn together how to build better communities around shared experiences of worship and working towards justice, with attention to the complexities and diversity in our lives together,” Wright says.
With donor support, Yale Divinity School has established the McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity. Teresa Morgan, who joins YDS from the University of Oxford, is the inaugural holder of the new chair.
“This gift from the McDonald Agape Foundation promises to have a catalytic effect on our work to fulfill our mission of service to church and world,” said Dean Greg Sterling, who also holds the title of Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament. “The McDonald family, as well as the Foundation’s trustees, have our deepest gratitude.”
The gift, which supplements an existing faculty budget line, recognizes and helps sustain “the faculty excellence that has long distinguished Yale Divinity School,” said Sterling.
Renowned for her work in New Testament and Early Christian Studies, Teresa Morgan has made major contributions to a deeper understanding of faith in the ancient world, as well as literate education in Hellenistic and Greek culture. The recipient of a fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, she is currently working on the second and third books of a trilogy on the nature of Christian faith.
CAMPAIGN PRIORITY
Justice Initiatives
Attendees at the campus All School Conference
The next generation of leaders faces a daunting future. YDS is committed to preparing students to meet challenges head on—whether the issue is racial injustice, economic inequality, warfare, pandemic, or environmental crisis.
Through social justice initiatives ranging from scholarships to research grants to prison ministry, we seek to lift up the voices of people who have been excluded and bring justice to those for whom it has been too long denied.
As we address with urgency the many issues of justice and equality, we recognize the disparate impact the world’s challenges have on people of color and the most disadvantaged.
We accept the important responsibility of preparing leaders who know how to attend to the needs of diverse communities with care and understand how to navigate an era of social divisiveness.
New Social Justice Scholarship Honors Leading Woman
Rena Karefa-Smart
Funded by an anonymous donor, a new scholarship honors Rena Karefa-Smart ’45 B.D., a leader in the international ecumenical movement and the first Black woman to graduate from YDS.
“The new social justice scholarship in Rena Karefa-Smart’s name will infuse students’ work with fresh ideas and an unwavering commitment to access, equity, and influencing a more just world,” says Lynn Sullivan-Harmon, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“As someone who spent her entire life and career brilliantly diagnosing the ills of white supremacy and organizing faith and education communities in the fight for human dignity and liberation, Rena would be humbled and joyful to know that this scholarship will extend her legacy,” says her granddaughter Rena-Therese Karefa-Johnson ’09 B.A.
“Thank you for paving the way for future generations of social justice leaders from marginalized backgrounds to carry the mantle of her transformative work at the institution she so loved.”
Family Gift Supports New Scholarships
Jean Wood ’64 M.A.R. and her son Chris Wood ’90 B.A. pledged $250,000 to launch 10 annual social justice scholarships at YDS. Their gift will help cover tuition and living expenses for deserving students.
I’m hoping for a just society. That’s going to take leadership from Yale Divinity School students. —Jean Wood
Inspired and equipped by her YDS education, Jean has pursued a career in Christian service, social justice, and education. Among her many achievements, Jean worked with five other women from Church Women United to create, after the Attica Uprising in 1971, an organization that pushed for fair treatment of Black defendants.
“My dad was a blue-collar worker; my mother never worked,” Jean says. “A full-tuition scholarship made it possible for me to go to Yale Divinity School.
“I hope for generations of YDS students to have a transformational experience like I did.”
Blair Nelsen ’19 M.A.R. at work on Divinity Farm
Rendering of the Living Village, to be constructed adjacent to the existing YDS Quad
In this time of climate crisis, YDS is building a regenerative student residential complex. Giving back to the environment more than it takes, the zero-waste Living Village dares to answer one of the most profound theological challenges of our time and sets new standards for sustainability. The Divinity School’s Living Village will be the largest living-building residential complex on a university campus. Designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the most aggressive standard for sustainable buildings today, it will serve as a key component of Yale’s Planetary Solutions initiative.
As mortal creatures we are searching and longing for a connection with something bigger than we are.
More than a building, the Living Village advances multiple goals. It fosters students’ ethical and spiritual formation in community. It strengthens our ability to train students to form and strengthen communities in their careers after YDS, whether those are congregations, schools and universities, nonprofit organizations, or communities of other types.
…this good fortune is not uniquely ours. It is a trust to be stewarded toward the common good.
The Village will serve as a learning destination, widening our own community to include all of Yale and New Haven. Through a design that connects to the existing Quad, it unites residential and academic space seamlessly in a holistic living-and-learning environment. And through a design that respects the planet while maximizing connection and welcome, it advances a vision of the future in which all can flourish.
The Living Village at YDS, designed to meet the rigorous standards set by the Living Building Challenge, serves as a distinct acknowledgment of Yale’s commitment to sustainability.
The complex of more than 100,000-square-feet and more than 100 residential units will be completed in phases as funding is secured. Phase-one construction began in October 2023.
Learn more and see the most current construction updates at the Living Village website.
Dean Greg Sterling with students
Volunteer and Campaign Leadership
Yale Divinity School benefits from active volunteers–YDS alumni, Yale alumni, and friends–who support, serve, and advance our mission. Composed of diverse members, including national and international faith leaders, as well as luminaries from the business, professional, academic and non-governmental sectors, the following leadership groups are vital to our success.
Campaign Leadership
Elijah Heyward III
’07 M.A.R., Co-Chair
Nancy Taylor
’81 M.Div., Co-Chair
George Bauer
Honorary Co-Chair
Carol Bauer
Honorary Co-Chair
Sam Croll
’75 M.A.R., Co-Chair, Dean’s Advisory Council
Beth Johnson
’84 M.Div., Co-Chair, Dean’s Advisory Council
Dean’s Advisory Council
The Dean’s Advisory Council of Yale Divinity School supports the development of YDS as the world’s foremost center of excellence for preparing responsible Christian leaders for churches, the academy, and the world. It promotes Yale University as a global forum for research and debate on the role of religion and human well-being.
Membership
The Rev. Dr. Dwight D. Andrews, ‘77 M.Div., ‘83 M.Phil., ‘93 Ph.D.
Emily P. Bakemeier, Ex-Officio
Rev. Ademuyiwa Temitope Bamiduro, ‘13 M.Div.
George Bauer
The Rev. Dr. Stephen P. Bauman, ‘79 M.Div.
Rev. William R. Bell, Jr., ‘07 M.Div.
Rev. Jeffrey D. Braun, ‘04 M.Div.
Lee Burrows
Warren S. Carter, III, ‘13 M.A.R.
Timothy C. Collins, ‘82 M.B.A.
Samuel W. Croll III, ‘75 M.A.R., Co-Chair
Dr. Gabby E. Cudjoe Wilkes, ‘18 M.Div., Ex-Officio
James L. Elrod, Jr., ‘17 M.A.R., Ex-Officio
Isabelle R. Erb, ‘15 M.A.R.
The Rev. Ronald T. Evans, ‘70 B.D.
Nora Gallagher
Peter Gerry
Roberto S. Goizueta, ‘76 B.A.
Erik Carl Graham-Smith, ‘09 M.Div.
Dr. Neichelle R. Guidry, ‘10 M.Div.
The Rev. Jeffrey Haggray, ‘88 M.Div., Ex-Officio
Jerry W. Henry, ‘80 M.Div.
Dr. Elijah Heyward, III, ‘07 M.A.R.
Mateo C. Jaramillo, ‘04 M.A.R.
The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth B. Johnson, ‘84 M.Div., Co-Chair
Dr. Dale T. Knobel, Ph.D., ‘71 B.A.
Rev. Linda L. Lader, ‘08 M.Div.
Rev. Kathryn Laird, ‘97 M.Div.
Dr. Susan Liautaud
Debra L. McLeod, ‘09 M.Div.
Christopher Glenn Sawyer, ‘75 M.Div., Chair Emeritus
Jake B. Schrum, ‘73 M.Div.
The Rev. Dr. Rick E. Spalding, ‘76 B.A., ‘81 M.Div.
Anne E. Stanback, ‘85 M.A.R.
The Reverend Dr. Nancy S. Taylor,’81 M.Div.
Clyde Cebron Tuggle, ‘88 M.Div.
Alumni Board
The Yale Divinity School Alumni Board celebrates and promotes a community of active alumni to support, serve, and advance the mission of YDS.
Membership
Philippe E. C. Andal, ‘16 M.Div.
Jessica L. Anschutz, ‘07 M.Div.
James “Jimmy” H. Canton, ‘93 M.A.R.
Gabby E. Cudjoe Wilkes, ‘18 M.Div. - President
Danielle Ayana James, ’02 M. Div.
Cece L. Jones-Davis, ‘05 M.Div. - Vice President
Nicholas A. Lewis, ’13 M.Div.
Barbara Lundblad, ‘79 M.Div.
Melissa Matthes, ’09 M.Div.
Elizabeth Marie Melchionna, ‘06 M.Div.
Kurt Nelson, ’07 M.Div.
Chan Sok Park, ‘06 M.Div., ‘07 S.T.M.
Wilma J. Reichard, ‘77 M.A.R., ‘79 M.Div.
Craig T. Robinson, ‘11 M.Div.
Barbara R. Rossing, ‘81 M.Div.
Janet Smith-Rushton, ‘78 M.Div.
Scott C. Williamson, ‘90 M.Div.
Class Agents
Class agents support Yale Divinity School and our students through their commitment to the health of the YDS Annual Fund and personal outreach to classmates to encourage their contributions each year. The Annual Fund is the primary vehicle through which alums, friends, and churches donate to support YDS students.
How You Can Help
Gifts large and small will serve the students of today and strengthen the Divinity School’s capacity to serve.
To learn more about YDS initiatives and structuring your philanthropic gift to make the greatest difference, please contact:
Barbara Sabia
Senior Director of Alumni Engagement and Development
barbara.sabia@yale.edu
203-432-5363
Rod Lowe
Senior Associate Director of Major Gifts
203-432-8127
Or visit divinity.yale.edu/giving
