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Meadville Lombard and Starr King Continue Exploration of Collaboration

On July 1, Lee Barker, President of Meadville Lombard Theological School, and Rebecca Parker, President of Starr King School for the Ministry issued the following joint statement regarding the ongoing exploration of collaboration between the two Unitarian Universalist theological schools.  The notice reads as follows:

Dear Starr King and Meadville Lombard students, graduates, faculty, staff, trustees, and supporters:

As we promised in our latest email, we are writing you with an update on the conversations that are taking place between our two schools, Meadville Lombard Theological School and Starr King School for the Ministry.

The most recent conversation took place in Texas on June 28th.  The primary purpose was to identify potential models of collaboration between our two schools and to surface the strategic issues that are inherent in each of those models. The meeting was attended by Donna Dutton (chair of ML's trustees), Daniel Kanter (chair of SKSM trustees), Bill Sinkford (president of the Unitarian Universalist Association), Robert Cooley (consultant to the two schools) and, of course, ourselves.

There were a number of commonly held understandings that were voiced by all who were in attendance.  First, any collaborative efforts will be decided independently by the Trustees of our two schools. This is linked to the understanding that there are many important partners and stakeholders, all of whom must be consulted before any new initiative, no matter how modest, is decided upon.  Second, there are a number of study themes that will need our attention throughout this continuing conversation and, in order to explore those themes fully, there is much data that must be gathered.  And third, it will be very important to create a Leadership Group that includes faculty representation from each school.

The Leadership Group will guide our study process and plan ways to be in consultation with various stakeholders and partners.   Along with ourselves, the group will include Donna Dutton, Daniel Kanter, Bill Sinkford , Patti Lawrence (SKSM acting academic dean while Ibrahim Farajaje is on sabbatical), Susann Pangerl (ML academic dean) and Robert Cooley (consultant to the two schools). With these understandings in mind, we have called a Leadership Group meeting to take place in Berkeley, CA on August 29th.  To prepare for the meeting the schools will gather data that will allow us to have as fruitful a conversation as possible.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions to offer, please do not hesitate to be in touch with either one of us via email.

Allow us to reiterate that these conversations are motivated by an intention to provide our students with the finest preparation for ministry and religious leadership within the tradition of our cherished Unitarian Universalism.  It was apparent at our UUA General Assembly in Forth Worth that this is a shared goal among Unitarian Universalists.   Once again we thank you for your support and encouragement.

Sincerely,

Lee Barker,               
President                  
Meadville Lombard Theological School

Rebecca Parker,
President
Starr King School for the Ministry
 

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Contact:
Tina Porter tporter@meadville.edu
(773) 256-3000 ext. 236