Sr. Sandra Schneiders to Speak at Jesuit School of Theology Commencement May 19
BERKELEY, Calif., May 11, 2018—Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Sandra Schneiders will be the featured commencement speaker for the 2018 graduating class of the Jesuit School of Theology (JST) of Santa Clara University.
The event will be held May 19 at 3 p.m. at All Souls Church, 2220 Cedar Street in Berkeley, Calif., and will be livestreamed online.
JST’s 2018 graduating class consists of 61 students who have earned 75 advanced theological degrees including master’s of divinity; master’s of theological studies; or licentiates or doctorates of sacred theology. The graduates come from the U.S. and 16 other countries: Cameroon, Chile, China, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Korea, Ukraine, Uganda, and Vietnam.
JST’s professor emerita of New Testament studies and Christian spirituality, Sr. Schneiders was one of the first two nuns to receive a theology doctorate from a pontifical university after Vatican II, and went on to become the first non-Jesuit female professor to be tenured at JST. She is a pioneering, and often-cited theologian of St. John’s Gospel and in the field of “hermeneutics,” or how to interpret texts. She helped establish the country’s first doctoral program in Christian spirituality, at the Graduate Theological Union, and is a highly regarded and sought-after expert in Biblical studies and the modern-day theology and spirituality of women religious.
Her extraordinary life and work were featured last year in a gallery exhibit at Santa Clara University’s Learning Commons, and her professional papers have been donated to Santa Clara University’s official archives—the first collection of its kind at SCU.
“We are honored and delighted to have Sr. Schneiders addressing our graduating class this year,” said JST Dean Kevin O’Brien, S.J. “She is admired as a scholar and loved as a teacher here. She embodies our school’s commitment to depth of thought and imagination and a faith that does justice.”
She will receive an honorary doctor of divinity degree at the event.
About the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, located in Berkeley, California, is a preeminent international center for the culturally contextualized study of theology. JST educates scholars and ministers to serve the Church and society by enlivening faith, promoting reconciliation, laboring for justice, and participating in God’s mercy. JST brings theology into dialogue with communities, with their particular histories and cultures, serving people and learning from them in a spirit of solidarity. Rooted in Ignatian spirituality, JST educates and trains Jesuits, religious, ordained, and lay students from across the United States and from 40 other countries for lives dedicated to ministry and scholarship.
Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121