A New Phase Ahead
Dear Alums and Supporters,
Late in the Spring semester, Dean Jennifer Davidson decided to step down and pursue other interests. I entered this office as Interim Dean on July 1, 2024, grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a school I have loved for 33 years as a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty. I am deeply thankful for the work of Dean Davidson, an academic leader deeply appreciated by many, including me. She has made this sudden transition easy.
I am star-struck by all those who have served in the Dean’s office, whom I have had the privilege of knowing in one way or another over the years. I am star-struck by you, our alums. You cross the entire landscape of higher education, spiritual leadership, and service careers. You have changed the contours of religious and theological knowledge and experience in our time. The GTU is so privileged to have been a part of your formation. We are so proud of the friends who enable us to help form people like you. I am thrilled to be a part of the GTU.
For over 60 years, we have aggressively built an interfaith community of scholars, reaching deeply into a Christian-ecumenical heritage and beyond to include Jewish, Buddhist, secular-humanist, Muslim, Dharma, naturalistic, and scientific traditions and worldviews as equal partners in the production of religious and theological knowledge. Human knowledge is dialogical – theological knowledge no less than any other – produced in a conversation arguably more vibrant, deliberate, and intense at the GTU than in any other academic setting on earth.
In this upcoming academic year, President Kim and the trustees, taking input from the entire spectrum of the GTU community, will be exploring ways to best secure the legacy of our first sixty years for the next sixty. It is – you will know – an interesting moment in higher education. You’ll be hearing more about this in the months to come. I want you to know that as these explorations move forward, my mind is full of you, your achievements, your places in the world.
Christopher Ocker
Interim Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs