Message of Thanks

Dear friends,  

As you will read throughout this report, Harvard Divinity School continues its long tradition of being multifaith and multifaceted. The members of our pluralistic academic community hold many different convictions and personal realities, bringing together a range of perspectives from individual and universal experiences in the world. Within this context, HDS nurtures and prepares people who seek to discern ethical pathways and choices in life, while also advancing knowledge and understanding.  

Our community strives to bridge religious and cultural divides in service of a just world at peace as we grapple with ethical and moral questions affecting our world today. I deeply value this pursuit, and I appreciate hearing from alumni and friends who reach out to share their thoughts. Our community and work are more vibrant thanks to the many alumni and friends who embrace the beauty and strength of pluralism—and who encourage meaningful dialogue across differences, as well as within shared beliefs.  

As I reflect on this past year, I am grateful for the many ways we were able to connect. It was wonderful to hear Dean Marla Frederick’s hopes for the future of HDS at community tea events in New York, Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Cambridge. Some of you were also able to connect with each other and emeriti faculty members Stephanie Paulsell and William Graham over great works of literature through our virtual alumni reading groups. If we missed you this time, I hope we can gather soon enough at another event regionally, on campus, or online.  

I am also grateful for our alumni and friends who have invested their time and resources into our work here at HDS, including two individuals highlighted in this report. Special thanks go to Mario Cader-Frech, MRPL ’24, for his generous and joyful gift to name the Cader Room in honor of the School’s commitment to the intersection of religion, media, and entertainment. A bequest from Connie Buchanan, formative director of the Women’s Studies in Religion Program, also lifted us up this year. After establishing the foundations of the program with her remarkable vision and leadership, she has now helped the program come closer to its goals for sustaining generations of research about the study of religion and gender.  

I am especially grateful for all the members of our giving circles, who inspire us with their leadership, loyalty, and legacy gifts to HDS. Our HDS Leadership Society creates opportunities for exploration and innovation within the academic community through unrestricted gifts of $1,000 or more. Our Emerson Circle members offer their steadfast support with longtime consecutive gifts. And our James Luther Adams Society members find long-term ways to ensure the strength of HDS through financial planning, bolstering the School’s mission for generations to come.  

Each of you, through your different perspectives, presences, and financial investments, help our community to be resilient and to become more expansive. We are grateful for you.  

With thanks and appreciation,  
 

Lori Stevens  
Associate Dean for Development and External Relations  
Harvard Divinity School