Lessons from the Past, Hope for the Future

In her first Convocation address as HDS Dean, Marla F. Frederick examines shared grief and hope, while setting the stage for the following day's "Symposium on Religion and American Democracy."

On September 26, 2024, hundreds of Harvard Divinity School students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends gathered in Swartz Hall to celebrate the School’s 209th Convocation. The message of this year’s address was one that seems more important now than ever: hope.

David F. Holland, John A. Bartlett Professor of New England Church History, opened the ceremony by saying, “This celebration is particularly momentous as it marks the first Convocation of our new Dean, Marla Frederick, whose arrival has already brought its own surge of possibility and optimism.”

Marla F. Frederick became Dean of Harvard Divinity School on January 1, 2024. It was a historic appointment that made Frederick the eighteenth dean of HDS and the School’s first woman to hold the position.

After being greeted with a standing ovation, Frederick began her address by invoking the words of David N. Hempton, HDS Dean from 2012 to 2023: “Convocation is a time to reflect on the past and imagine a way forward.” For Frederick, this reflection is embodied in hope.

In her address, “And Yet, We Hope...,” Frederick cited the narratives of the Maafa, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, and the Nakba as “just a few, brief, incomplete examples of monumental historical events” known for invoking a sense of hopelessness.

Frederick noted a particular emphasis on the experience of descendants.

“Descendants generally don’t deny. They want others to hear and appreciate their stories…As an anthropologist, I know that stories matter. They are, in essence, the foundation of our lives—how we understand who we are.”

Acknowledging the role of education in understanding our history and how to move forward, Frederick said: “The mission and challenge of the university, especially one whose motto is Veritas, is to make room for these narratives, to excavate them, to weigh them, to critique them, and to be informed by them.”

She spoke empathetically about grief and catastrophes happening around the globe, asking poignant questions about how we might be able to collectively “reach beyond existential pain to possibility.” Frederick then reiterated the power of our great and common humanity, calling us “to manifest hope in the midst of despair” and reminding us that “history has shown us, time and time again, that humanity has the propensity to persist despite catastrophe.”

The moving address, which included personal accounts and examples from her ethnographic research, connected lessons from the past, current national and global issues, and aspirations for the future of Harvard Divinity School. In the Dean’s words, she hopes for “continued commitment to intellectual excellence, continued commitment to character, and continued commitment to beloved community.”

In closing, Frederick quoted fellow anthropologist and writer, Zora Neale Hurston, sharing: “We are all storytellers, weaving the threads of our experiences into the grand tapestry of life.”

The Dean then ended with a benediction: “May we listen to and truly hear one another’s stories. And may our commitments to intellectual excellence, character, and beloved community guide us now and always.”

Frederick also used her address to set the stage for the following day’s symposium at HDS on the intersections of religion and democracy in America. As a multi-religious divinity school, Frederick explained how HDS serves as a model for American democracy.

"The respect for pluralism within our community is intentional; it is intended to serve as a model for how to lead by example here at Harvard and beyond," she said. "People from every background, belief system, family structure, class, creed, and ability are part of our shared humanity, especially here in the U.S."

On September 27, HDS hosted the "Symposium on Religion and American Democracy." The first panel, “Is a Multireligious Democracy Possible?” featured three past presidents of the American Academy of Religion: 

Diana L. Eck, PhD '76, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Emerita; Fredric Wertham Research Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society, HDS and Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences;

Amir Hussain, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University; and 

Emilie M. Townes, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies, Boston University, Boston University School of Theology.

The panel was moderated by Mayra Rivera, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Religion and Latinx Studies. Rivera cited Frederick’s words from the day before, “And Yet, We Hope...” as “the frame and the challenge for our conversation today.”

When asked about democracy in America, Townes argued that democracies require hard work, saying: “You have to be educated about who’s around you. We have to expose ourselves to more than what we have immediately around us. We have to have a huge dose of humility and curiosity.”

The second panel, “The Importance of HBCUs in the Making of American Democracy,” elaborated on this idea of working toward democracy, specifically focusing on the impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The panel was moderated by Frederick and featured:

Jelani M. Favors, Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professor of History, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; 

Tony Frazier, Assistant Professor of History, The Pennsylvania State University; 

Crystal R. Sanders, Associate Professor of African American Studies, Emory University; and

John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., MTS ’81, EdM ’82, EdD ’85, managing director, Open Leadership Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 11th President of Morehouse College.

“Except where mandated by law, Black colleges have always been open to all,” Sanders explained, using the HBCU model as a representative of democratic ideals. “From their founding, they’ve offered us a vision of what a multiracial democracy could look like.”

The final session of the day was “Religion and Democracy at the Crossroads: A Conversation with Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, PhD.” Warnock, the first African American senator from Georgia and the first elected African American democratic senator from the South since Reconstruction, spoke with Frederick on his experience navigating life in the Senate and from behind the pulpit.

Warnock sees his work in the Senate as an extension of his ministry. When Frederick asked him what advice he would give students, he replied, “The seminary is the classroom; find yourself a laboratory, whatever that looks like to you. Don’t get lost in the theory.”

Warnock also stressed the importance of good friends who will both challenge and support each other.

“We had our most spirited debates in the hallway, not the classroom. We just got started in the classroom,” he said. “Always have some folks who know you, who will hold you accountable, who will love you, and when they say critical things, you know it is coming from the place of love and affirmation.”

Warnock concluded the conversation with a message of faith and hope for a democratic future.

“A vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and our children,” he said. “It is, for me, the recognition that all of us are created in the imago Dei, the image of God. If we are created in the image of God, we have value. If we have value, we have a voice, and that looks like a vote. We have to fight for it like it is a spiritual project.”

Convocation and the symposium confronted the problematic history of religion and democracy in America while casting a ray of hope for its future. The message from Dean Frederick and others was clear: Despite the past misuse of religion for harm, religion can be—and often is—a force for good in the world.

And yet, we hope...

—Scarlett Rose Ford, HDS news correspondent

Note: The full recording of Harvard Divinity School’s 209th Convocation and Dean Marla F. Frederick’s address can be found on the HDS YouTube channel. For more photos and videos, follow HDS on Instagram.