# The Power of Stories: Harvard Divinity School Recognizes Alumni with 2025 Gomes Distinguished Honors March 31, 2025 ![Gomes Honorees](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/HDS.DivDial.Gomes_.Web-Email-900x600.jpg?itok=VkNiLhiI) HDS will celebrate the 2025 Gomes Honorees on May 1. Each year, the [HDS Alumni/Alumnae Council](https://hds.harvard.edu/alumni-friends/alumni-alumnae-council) (AAC) recognizes exceptional graduates and one friend of the School with the Peter J. Gomes, STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honors. The award, given in memory of the late [Reverend Gomes](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/07/peter-j-gomes/), celebrates community members whose life, work, and service amplify the mission and vision of Harvard Divinity School. This year’s award theme, “Tell Me a Story,” was chosen by the Council. “Stories are places where we meet each other in our humanity,” said Martha Kay (MK) Nelson, MTS ’05, AAC Chair. “They wield the power to shape understanding—how we evolve, how we relate. They help us hold collective meaning, especially things too heavy for individuals to carry alone.” This year, the Council recognizes the following honorees for their remarkable use of storytelling to foster the understanding that we have more in common than what divides us. ## **Reverend John L. Jackson, MDiv ’74** ![John Jackson](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Photo-Jackson_500x625.jpg?itok=h_9YJgbj) Reverend John L. Jackson, MDiv '74Reverend Jackson is a professor emeritus of Black studies and religion and former Dean of the Chapel at Denison University in Ohio, where he taught courses on Black religion, new religious movements, and social justice movements. He co-authored Denison University’s power and justice general education requirement. Upon his retirement, Denison established an endowed social justice movements scholarship in his honor. Among his noteworthy articles is “Obama, Black Religion, and the Reverend Wright Controversy” (2011). He earned his undergraduate degree in social science, *magna cum laude,* from Miles College and his doctorate degree in sociology from The Ohio State University. HDS recognizes Reverend Jackson as a Gomes honoree for being a storyteller whose words and witness build bridges of faith, love, and justice. ## **Shenila Khoja-Moolji, MTS ’10** ![Shenila Khoja Moolji](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Photo-Khoja-Moolji.jpg?itok=8T_RVNVw) Shenila Khoja-Moolji, MTS '10Professor Khoja-Moolji holds the Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Endowed Chair of Muslim Societies at Georgetown University. Her latest book, *Rebuilding Community*, is a groundbreaking work that aims to integrate Shia Ismaili Muslim women into the broader historical narrative. Through a nuanced examination of how Ismaili women practice their faith in everyday life, Khoja-Moolji elevates and gives voice to this frequently overlooked and under-studied group within the Muslim community. She earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her doctorate degree from Columbia University. HDS recognizes Professor Shenila Khoja-Moolji as a Gomes honoree for being a visionary scholar and tending to the sacred stories that shape our shared humanity. ## **Alejandra Oliva, MTS ’19** ![Alejandra Oliva](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Photo-Olva_300x450.jpg?itok=7jhtVDtH) Alejandra Oliva, MTS '19Alejandra Oliva is an essayist, embroiderer, and translator. Her book, *Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration*, was published in 2023 and received a Whiting Nonfiction Grant. Oliva has writing in *The New York Times*, *Christian Century*, *Commonweal*, *The Nation*, and more. She teaches on the intersection between language work and human rights at New York University’s Masters in Translation and Interpretation program. She earned her undergraduate degrees in sociology and creative writing at Columbia University and was the 2022 Franke Visiting Fellow at the Yale Whitney Humanities Center. HDS recognizes Alejandra Oliva as a Gomes honoree for being a fearless witness to human rights—illuminating untold stories and amplifying the voices of others through words and action. ## **Reverend Elizabeth Walker, MDiv ’05** ![Elizabeth Walker](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Photo-Walker.jpg?itok=IF17CIDx) Reverend Elizabeth Walker, MDiv '05Reverend Elizabeth “Liz” Walker is the founding director of the CAN WE TALK… Network, a nationwide collective of spiritually inspired, community-based, clinically supported programs addressing America’s epidemic of post-traumatic stress and grief through the healing power of sharing personal stories. As the first Black woman to anchor the Boston-area evening news, she found herself in an industry that defined the neighborhood of Roxbury largely by violence. When she became an ordained minister, called to lead Roxbury Presbyterian Church, she learned a different story, meeting scores of families marked not only by trauma but by courage. Considered one of the nation’s most healing voices, Reverend Walker has written her first book, *No One Left Alone,* based on a simple truth: the wounded heal best together. She earned her undergraduate degree in communications from Olivet College and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. HDS recognizes Reverend Elizabeth Walker as a Gomes honoree for passionate leadership—within faith communities and throughout the communications field—in service of healing and connection through storytelling. --- As they have in years past, the AAC also honors a friend of the School, who is not an alum, for their extraordinary contributions as a part of the HDS community member. ![Stephanie Paulsell](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Photo-Paulsell.jpg?itok=8z5W8kUk) Stephanie Paulsell“We are delighted to recognize [Stephanie Paulsell](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/stephanie-paulsell), as the 2025 friend of the School,” said Chandra Mohammed, associate director for alumni relations. “As a cherished professor and a minister who tends to the community, Stephanie has inspired countless scholars by exploring religion through the works of notable writers, such as Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, and Thomas Merton. At Harvard, she has also shared her love of literature while serving in foundational leadership roles, including Interim Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church and Faculty Dean for Eliot House. Stephanie is being recognized as a Gomes Honoree for deepening the study of religion by exploring the spiritually formative dimensions of the practices of reading and writing.” The Alumni/Alumnae Council will celebrate the 2025 Gomes honorees during an event on Thursday, May 1. To learn more about the AAC and alumni news, please visit the [Alumni & Friends page](https://hds.harvard.edu/alumni-friends). *Please note that space is limited.* [*Complete the online RSVP form*](https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0lBU6OZ5eGcLz38) *by April 18 to register for this special celebration. Email with any event-related questions.* *—by Amie Montemurro, HDS senior communications officer* See also:- [ Alumni News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles) - [ Gomes Honors ](/topic-tags/gomes-honors)