Donated Doctoral Robes Connect Generations of HDS Alumni
by Barbara Sutton
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Efforts to make the world ever more sustainable and less wasteful have been an operations priority at Harvard Divinity School for several years now, but the 2008–09 academic year saw the first application of this green philosophy as it relates to the symbolic draping of academic tradition. With two very thoughtful donations of doctoral robes to graduating ThD students, "renewable energy" has taken on a new meaning.
Independent of each other, Elisabeth MacCormick and Anne Hommes, the spouses of deceased HDS alumni Chalmers MacCormick, PhD '59, and Tjaard G. Hommes, ThD '67, wished to pass along the robes that their husbands kept and cared for throughout their academic careers.
With the aid of keen-eyed staff in the HDS Office of Academic Administration, the Office of Development and External Relations was able to match up the doctoral robes of MacCormick and Hommes with their grateful recipients.
"Doctoral students do not live extravagantly," points out Kathryn Kunkel, ThD program administrator. "They work hard at their studies and as teaching fellows because they love what they do, not because it makes them rich. Their transition into the professional life of academia is marked by the need to acquire regalia that costs between $600 and $800. Not only is the passing on of the gown, tam, and hood a significant gift because it is a symbol of the previous owner's active intellectual and spiritual life, but it is extremely helpful for our students on a practical level."
Christian C. Rice, currently a lecturer in philosophy and religion at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, received a ThD with a concentration in ethics this June. He inherited the robe of Chalmers MacCormick, who served his entire career as a professor of the history and philosophy of religion at Wells College in Aurora, New York.
Piotr Malysz, a native of Poland who expects to receive a ThD with a concentration in systemic theology in June 2010, became heir to the robe of Tjaard Hommes, a native of the Netherlands and professor of theology who served congregations in Maine and abroad as a United Church of Christ minister. Hommes also served as director of the field education program at HDS and as executive secretary of the Boston Theological Institute.
"Thank you for your matchmaking in regard to my late husband's gowns," writes Anne Hommes, who was pleased to have such an appropriate student benefit from the donation. She indicates that Malysz is the perfect fit, especially considering his size, European background, and ThD concentration.
Anne Hommes also donated her husband's preaching robe, which Laura Tuach, assistant director of field education in the Office of Ministry Studies, was more than happy to accept.
"The staff of OMS is so grateful to have received Tjaard Hommes's robe," she says. "It hangs in our office and is available for use by students and faculty who need it. We were especially delighted to learn that he was the director of field education at HDS from 1967 to 1970. What a great fit for HDS and his family."
Physical fit is an important consideration in this circle of sustainability, but Kunkel has every faith that if a robe has been well preserved and cared for, her office will be able to find a grateful recipient.
"It is wonderful," Kunkel says, "when a newly minted ThD student receives a robe that comes with a distinguished provenance, and that the robe continues to be worn during academic celebrations."
Alumni or spouses of alumni wishing to donate doctoral robes to graduating HDS students should contact the Office of Development and External Relations at 617.495.1778.
