The public phase of the campaign began March 22, 2010 with a gala event that included a performance by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, an prayer led by Board member Rev. Kim Smith, a speech by GTU student Rev. Danté Quick, a keynote speech by NPR Religion Correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty, and a tribute to GTU friend and campaign donor John Weiser. At the end of the gala, GTU President Jim Donahue put forth a challenge to support the campaign and sponsor a GTU student for a day, month, semester, or year.
For nearly 50 years, GTU has been at the forefront of religious and interfaith education. Located in Berkley, California, GTU trains future religious leaders with attention to pluralism, issues that arise in the public square, and the globalization of religious experience. Not only is GTU the largest partnership of seminaries and graduate schools in the United States, but also one of its most innovative theological institutions. GTU offers students a classic theological foundation as well as interdisciplinary study of many of the world’s great religions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
GTU is comprised of 12 affiliate academic centers and programs, which offer students the opportunity to take an interdisciplinary approach to religious thought, study, and practice. The 12 affiliate centers and programs are as follows (descriptions are taken from GTU’s website):
The Asia Project
“The Asia Project seeks to transform theological education by addressing Asian theologies and contexts. It furthers GTU’s mission to educate students for teaching, research, ministry, and service – preparing future global leaders with knowledge of Asian theologies.”
The Black Church/Africana Religious Studies Program (BC/ARS)
“BC/ARS is an initiative to investigate African American religion within the framework of the African Diaspora. This program is especially attuned to the need for Womanist studies. A certificate is available for graduate students at GTU and its member schools.”
The Center for the Arts, Religion, and Education (CARE)
“CARE focuses on the link between art and theological studies. Providing a fresh lens with which to see the world, the GTU affiliate offers dozens of courses for students from all member schools as well as art galleries and a media center.”
The Center for Islamic Studies (CIS)
CIS provides graduate courses in Islamic history, theology, philosophy, culture, arts, and religious practice. Founded in 2007, CIS serves to foster dialogue and interaction among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars and provides resources to local Muslim communities.
The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies (CJS)
“CJS offers graduate programs for Jewish students planning careers in Jewish studies or Jewish education and provides for mutual exploration and exchange between Jewish and Christian scholars.”
The Center for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC)
“Founded in 1969, CSRC serves as a collaborative base of critical and creative scholarship for faculty from the both the GTU and the University of California, Berkeley, a world-class institution of higher learning just a block away.”
The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS)
“CTNS, a GTU affiliate, is a global leader in facilitating and promoting the crucial dialogue between religion and science. Incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1982, CTNS finds the GTU’s diverse, engaged community to be the perfect setting to bridge divides.”
The Instiute for Buddhist Studies (IBS)
“IBS has been affiliated with the GTU since 1985. Also associated with the Buddhist Churches of America, the seminary and graduate school practices interreligious collaboration through its Master of Arts degree and lectures and programs open to all.”
New College Berkeley (NCB)
“NCB provides resources for Christians to connect their faith with daily life. In 1992, NCB added its unique voice to the GTU as the only U.S. evangelical school in the United States connected to both a theological consortium and a major public university.”
The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI)
“PAOI sponsors the Master of Arts with a specialization in Orthodox Christian Studies at the GTU. The Institute regularly offers lectures and other educational programs throughout the year. It is a "patriarchal institute" under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.”
The School of Applied Theology (SAT)
“SAT became an affiliated GTU institution in 1968. SAT designs individual sabbatical programs that integrate theology, ministry, spirituality, and psychology. Since 1960, SAT has been making tangible difference in the personal and professional lives of midlife lay and ordained ministers and religious.”
Women’s Studies in Religion (WSR)
“WSR is an initiative aimed at sustaining, promoting, and advancing the study of women in theology and religion in full recognition of race, sexual and gender orientation, ethnicity, class, culture, nationality and religious orientation. WSR offers a Women's Studies in Religion Certificate for graduate students at GTU and its member schools.”
Donations towards GTU’s Religion Meets the World interfaith education campaign can be made through their website. Donations can be made towards student scholarships, the Asia Project, the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for Islamic Studies, the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, or the unrestricted endowment.
Website: www.gtu.edu
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