Chicago Theological Seminary to Participate in Commemorative March in Selma, AL on March 7, 2015

CHICAGO, IL – Chicago Theological Seminary is pleased to announce that our president, Rev. Dr. Alice Hunt, and Rabbi Dr. Rachel Mikva, Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, Director, Center for Jewish, Christian and Islamic Studies, will represent Chicago Theological Seminary during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the historic march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama on Saturday, March 7, 2015.

For 160 years, CTS has pushed at the growing boundaries of the church and the world in order to make our faith relevant and transform our society towards greater justice and mercy. Our faculty and students have been on the front lines of many progressive initiatives and social movements, including the American Civil Rights movement. In 1957, CTS became the first seminary in America to award the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree for his activism in the civil rights movement, and our support of the movement and its leaders continued to grow.  In April, CTS will convene a conference around the Selma Voting Rights March anniversary called “Selma at 50: Still Marching.” The 2-day event will trace a thread through the legacy of civil rights activism to current activist movements in Chicago and around the country using workshops and discussions to create solutions leading to direct action.

“CTS was part of the original Selma march in many ways. CTS students—including alums Rev. Jesse Jackson and Gary Massoni—left their classes against the expressed wishes of then President Howard Schomer, only to find President Schomer himself taking part in the march,” President Hunt said.

In 1965, President Schomer, the students, Dr. King, and several other march leaders also wore leis sent by prominent CTS alumnus Kahu Abraham Akaka (B.D. 1943), who served as pastor of the historic Kawaiaha’o Church (United Church of Christ) in Hawai’i from 1957 to 1984. The act of the march leaders wearing the lei is significant: in Hawaiian culture, white leis are not only adornment, but also symbols of peace among warring tribes.

Next week, Drs. Hunt and Mikva will stand in solidarity during the commemorative march in Selma, reinforcing CTS’s commitment to training leaders who honor cultural and racial diversity while decisively combating division and domination in a society fractured by racism.  “Our presence is important because, as was the case 50 years ago, Black Lives Matter,” President Hunt said. “We live in a land that was stolen from brown bodies, in a society that was built on the backs of black bodies. Instead of focusing our actions one what was done wrong, we are looking to find what harm was done, and then take action to restore wholeness as a community.”

Rev. Dr. Alice Hunt, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Theological Education, was ordained at the historic Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church, National Baptist Convention, in Nashville, Tennessee.  She holds dual standing with the United Church of Christ in the Chicago Metropolitan Association.  Involved in the broader issues of religious affairs and theological education, Hunt has chaired the American Academy of Religion Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession and the Social-Scientific Studies of the Second Temple Period Section for the Society of Biblical Literature. She served on the Board of Commissioners for the Association of Theological Schools and chaired
the Historical Books section for the Society of Biblical Literature’s international meeting.

Rabbi Dr. Rachel Mikva is currently the Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, and the Director of the Center for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Studies. She served as a congregational rabbi for thirteen years before returning to academia, where much of her work explores the intersections of exegesis, culture and ethics. She is currently engaged in various projects related to religious teaching about restorative justice and its importance in combatting systemic racism and structural violence.

About Chicago Theological Seminary
Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a seminary of the United Church of Christ that serves over twenty-five different Christian and non-Christian faith communities by preparing men and women for the next generation of religious leadership, whatever that may be. Founded in 1855, CTS promotes a progressive, forward-looking philosophy and is at the forefront of religious scholarship, interreligious dialogue and transformative leadership. CTS graduates, students, faculty and staff have been advocates for social justice and mercy since the days of the Underground Railroad.

Chicago Theological Seminary helps individuals discern and articulate an evolving faith for the future, whether in ministry, teaching, advocacy, activism, social work or social justice.