The narrative that you are about to read references 40+ points over the past two academic years which are milestones in students experiences of racism at United Lutheran Seminary and its predecessor institutions. You may either click on each point for an in depth commentary or scroll through the document quickly to give you a sense of the weight of these experiences upon ULS students, and especially our peers of color who have continually looked to their seminary to honestly assess the racism present within itself. The closing statement at the end of the timeline offers readers an opportunity to engage with seven suggested policies for the Board of Trustees to consider. You may show your agreement or disagreement with each of the seven suggested policies with the ULS Policy Survey.
As you read these accounts, assembled by students and alumni from diverse racial backgrounds and diverse Christian traditions, we ask that you pray for us all, that our leaders may be emboldened to break from their public silence and commit to right public action. The despair of the students who have experienced these acts of racism is deep; our lament is true, and God is faithful. Even when our leaders fail us, God does not fail.
This is a partial and incomplete timeline. The few experiences diagrammed below are a fraction of the whole. Some students have shared their experiences privately with their peers and chosen to not have those experiences listed here; others may be remaining silent in disillusionment and fear. If you have experienced the effects of systemic institutionalized racism while at ULS, LTSG, or LTSP and would like to add to this timeline or simply share your experience privately you may do so at ULSracism@gmail.com. Your identity will be kept confidential.
United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) was formed with the 2017 merger of two historic Lutheran seminaries in Philadelphia (LTSP) and Gettysburg (LTSG). The following timeline has been placed here to show the real, perpetual, and damaging nature of racism present in ULS and its predecessor institutions. Over the last two academic years students have consistently called our faculty, staff, and administration to task in naming and dismantling the systemic racism present in the institution at this time. It is with profound sadness that the students who have experienced this institutionalized racism have lost confidence in our leaders, specifically the members of the board, faculty and staff who have been publicly silent in response to the racism perpetuated by their peers and the institution. This is our lived experience in 40+ statements…
Black Students Denied Chapel Leadership
August 2016 Urban Theological Institute (UTI)/Black students are denied chapel leadership roles when they request to lead one service each week as an expression of the Black Church diaspora. At this time in the seminary’s history, roughly half of the students attending Philadelphia are of African descent. The majority of…
Read moreMerger limits access to core classes
May-June 2017 As part of the merger many evening course offerings are eliminated. No core Bible classes are initially scheduled in the evenings time slots. This is an issue that impacts the students along racial lines because a majority of African descent students exclusively utilize the evening courses to complete their…
Read moreStaff and Students Meet with Dean Sebastian and President-Elect Latini
May 4, 2017 Staff and student government meet with Dean Sebastian to discuss issues of race in chapel and curriculum. May 22, 2017 Students meet with President-elect Latini and specifically say “the new curriculum for ULS is systemically racist”. In a follow up to the meeting Dr. Latini writes: “My…
Read moreCandidacy Committee Informed of ULS Racism
August 2017 An ELCA seminarian informs their candidacy committee of racism present in the ULS Philadelphia chapel. This announcement is part of the timeline of racism at United Lutheran Seminary
Read morePresentation to the Board Concerning ULS Racism
September 27, 2017 A presentation is made to the Board of Trustees concerning racism present at ULS Philadelphia – Bishop Jim Dunlop is present in the meeting; no action is taken. It is important to note that at least one of the many claims filed by students, substantiated by an independent HR…
Read moreBlack Voices Delayed
October 2017 In the fall of 2017 the Philadelphia campus had only the third African American sacristan in chapel history and first two were in the 2008-2010 academic years. The tradition at both campuses prior to the merger was that the Dean of Chapel chose two student assistants each year for…
Read moreConcerned Letter to the Dean of Chapel
December 2017 A concerned student letter is written to Dr. Krentz over the delay in approval for Black leadership in Black History Month worship services. Here is a portion of that letter: …I think both our Lutheran heritage and our ecumenical openness may be increased through seeing the chapel as…
Read moreRacism In The Classroom
Fall 2017 and J-term 2018 Dr. Krentz, Dean of Chapel in Philadelphia describes in class lectures at both Philadelphia and Gettysburg how he considers crossing the street when a Black person is approaching him. Dr. Krentz did write a letter of apology to these classes in the spring 2018 semester once…
Read moreRacism In The Philadelphia Chapel
Feb. 28, 2018 Dr. Krentz makes statement of unequal expectations for Black students. This statement made by Dr. Krentz is referenced in a meeting with acting-president Jim Dunlop on March 26, 2018. A formal complaint referencing this statement is made on April 1. Here is a portion of that official…
Read moreCandidacy Committee Informed of ULS Racism
March 2018 More ELCA seminarians inform their candidacy committees of racism and discriminatory practices present at ULS. This announcement is part of the timeline of racism at United Lutheran Seminary
Read moreBoard Notified Again of Racism at ULS
March 6, 2018 Urban Theological Institute students utilize their time in the Board of Trustees listening sessions to highlight how Dr. Latini is working with them to address racism at ULS. This is the second time that students of color have raised their concerns over ongoing issues of systemic ULS…
Read more“Mutiny Starts At The Bottom”
March 6-7, 2018 Upon leaving the Board of Trustees meeting on March 6 Dr. Krentz, Dean of the Philadelphia chapel makes the statement “mutiny starts at the bottom” to a female student of African descent. On March 7 this student files a complaint against Dr. Krentz for this micro-aggressive statement….
Read more“I am a racist”
March 13, 2018 Dr. Krentz admits in session with student, Dean and faculty to stating “I am a racist” in front of a class. Dr. Krentz did write a letter of apology to his students in the spring 2018 semester once he was spurred to act by this student led…
Read moreNaming ULS Racism
March 13, 2018 Part of the ongoing conversation concerning racism in the Philadelphia context is the white, eurocentric space of the chapel. On March 13 students in the Philadelphia Campus Council and peers scheduled a public forum to discuss the chapel space and more specifically the eurocentric art of the windows…
Read moreDr. Latini Fired, board member Bishop Dunlop becomes Acting-President
March 13, 2018 Dr. Latini, advocate for our students of color, is fired. There is no evidence that she was fired for her advocacy. The Board has issued no public statement concerning the specific reasoning behind her termination as president, but they have issued an apology. Either before or after…
Read moreRacism Narrative Sent to Student Executive Committee
March 23, 2018 A Philadelphia student sends the Student Executive Committee a narrative of racism at ULS/LTSP from the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2018. Here is a portion of that letter (with students names removed). I’ve included three of our Black peers in on this email so…
Read moreFaculty Acts of Racism Reported to Jim Dunlop
March 26, 2018 Two students meet with acting-president Dunlop and reference the racial statement made by Dr. Krentz on February 28, 2018. This is at least the third occasion in which students raise their concerns about discrimination and racism at ULS in face to face conversation with Bishop Dunlop. It…
Read moreJim Dunlop Infuses Racist Trope in Scripture
March 27, 2018 – Acting-President, Bishop Jim Dunlop refers to an upcoming meeting with Black students in a staff meeting as follows: “I feel like this [situation at the Seminary] is like the Israelite’s who wanted to return to Egypt because the watermelon is better.” Multiple official complaints are filed by…
Read moreRacism Narrative Sent to Jim Dunlop
March 28, 2018 Philly students send acting-president Bishop Dunlop the narrative of racism at ULS/LTSP. This is the same email narrative that was shared with the Student Executive Committee on March 23. An edited version of this narrative may be read here. It is important to note that at least…
Read moreAdditional Racist Act Reported to Candidacy Committee and Faculty
April 1, 2018 An additional complaint of racism is filed against Dr. Krentz with the Dean and the students faculty advisor. At this time more ELCA seminarians also inform their candidacy committees of racism present at ULS. It is important to note here that this complaint has been investigated and substantiated…
Read moreULS Student Statement Concerning Racism
April 5, 2018 ULS Student Statement Concerning Racism is released. It may be read and signed here: https://goo.gl/forms/Kw81WZVFGNFGCl6r1 Though this statement was written only with student signees in mind, one way to show support for ULS students is to sign this document even if you are not a current ULS…
Read moreKRENTZ AND DUNLOP CONFRONTED AND BOARD MEMBERS RECUSE THEMSELVES
April 5-6, 2018 A student, Dean and Dr. Krentz meet to discuss the complaint of racist words uttered by Dr. Krentz on February 28. A request for public confession and plan for right action is made. The plan for right action is received and shared with Black peers but no public…
Read moreDiversity Task Force and Faculty Support ULS Students
April 9, 2018 In an email to the ULS Diversity Task Force set up by former President, Dr. Latini, the Student Chair of the Philadelphia Campus Council sends an urgent request for intervention: Dear Members of the Diversity Task Force, The Students respectfully request that immediate action is taken in response…
Read moreRev. Davenport Addresses Jim Dunlop
April 11, 2018 Students meet with Rev. Pat Davenport (SEPA Synod Director of Evangelical Mission) to discuss racial micro-aggressions made by faculty and Bishop Dunlop. Later that day Rev. Pat Davenport meets with Bishop Dunlop to discuss the concerns of racial micro-aggressions made by him and faculty as reflected in the…
Read moreStudent Letters of Opposition
mid-April, 2018 At least five student peers send individual letters to faculty, board and acting-president Bishop Dunlop with known factual inaccuracies concerning the ULS Student Statement Concerning Racism. These peers chose to engage the faculty and board privately rather than having a public conversation with their peers. It is concerning…
Read moreFaulty Confession
April 13, 2018 Bishop Dunlop reflects upon racism in a public post but does not reference the statements he’s made for which he is being called to right confession. No proper confession has been made. His public statement may be found here: https://unitedlutheranseminary.edu/weekly-presidential-update-4-13/ As of July 2018 many complaints against…
Read moreRev. Davenport Addresses Bishop Eaton and the Domestic Mission Unit
April 17, 2018 Rev. Pat Davenport shares with Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in Chicago at the Domestic Mission Unit forum concern over the lack of attention to racial tension at ULS, specifically the unrest spurred by Bishop Dunlop and faculty member’s racist comments. Highlighting the “watermelon” comment and the racist…
Read moreStudents Meet with Trauma Specialist
April 19, 2018 ULS Administration contracts with trauma specialist Dr. Christine Kennedy to meet with students in April and May. Dr. Kennedy is an assistant professor in the Community and Trauma Counseling Program at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Kennedy is also a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania and an ordained…
Read moreSilence Is Violence
April 20, 2018 Bishop Dunlop continues to not address his own racial micro-aggressions and faculty micro-aggressions while promoting efforts to promote reconciliation in public post: https://unitedlutheranseminary.edu/weekly-presidential-update-4-20/ This timeline went through an extensive vetting from April of 2018 through the present to ensure that it is true, and it was shared…
Read moreLose References Micro-Aggressions by Dunlop
April 23, 2018 Rev. Dr. David Lose, former President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia makes a public post referencing the racial micro-aggressions made by Bishop Dunlop: http://www.davidlose.net/2018/04/an-open-letter-on-united-lutheran-seminary/ It is important to note here that the “watermelon” statement made by Jim Dunlop and the complaints that followed have been…
Read moreStudents Address Racism at Alumni Convocation
Facebook Twitter Digg reddit Blogger April 24, 2018 Students of color address concerns again in the Alumni Convocation Q & A with Bishop Dunlop and are again asked to wait. The administration has promised a video recording of the session will be made available soon. In the meantime, an audio…
Read moreSEPA letter to ULS Leadership Concerning Racism
April 26, 2016 SEPA Synod Candidacy Committee writes a letter to the ULS Leadership. In this letter they state, our SEPA Synod, as well as the former LTSP campus, have been among the most diverse in the ELCA. However, that surface level diversity belies ongoing systemic racism at the seminary….
Read moreFaculty Acknowledge Concern
April 30, 2018 The faculty officially release their statement. No mention is given to the racist words of their peers nor the racist words of the Acting-President. Here is the faculty statement in its entirety: At its meeting on April 9, 2018, the faculty adopted this motion: the faculty has…
Read moreStudent Claims of Racism Subverted
May 2018 Students realize that their unresolved official complaints concerning racism, which have been voiced in accordance with the Student Handbook, to Dean Sebastian and acting-president Dunlop and board-chair Williams have not been sent on to the second human resources firm hired by the Board of Trustees to investigate these…
Read moreRacism Substantiated
July 30, 2018 This is the sending date of some of the letters students received that confirmed their claims of racist words, actions, and policies perpetuated by ULS faculty, staff, and Acting-President Jim Dunlop. To be clear many claims of racism were made by students and staff. Many of these…
Read moreSilence from the Board as Staff and Faculty Resign
July/August 2018 At least one staff person and one faculty person resign and/or are removed from their positions due at least in part to substantiated claims of racism and/or discrimination based upon race. Both the Philadelphia and Gettysburg campus communities have new Deans of Chapel for the 2018/2019 academic year….
Read moreStudent Statements Redacted
August 2018 A student receives an email from the Board Chair Peter Boehringer. It states that the student letters coming to the Board in 2018 were being redacted by an unnamed person(s) prior to the Board seeing them. In the email he commits to no longer following the Boards unwritten…
Read moreConfederate Flag Displayed at United Lutheran Seminary
August 27, 2018 – All students and staff receive an email notification that the confederate flag was displayed earlier in the day within the ULS Gettysburg campus refectory. The email references the Student handbook which states: No symbols depicting imagery associated with hate groups or hate speech shall be permitted…
Read moreBOARD AND DR. LATINI ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT
August 29, 2018 The Board apologizes to Dr. Latini for “harm to her professional and personal reputation” and acknowledge the “vitriolic commentary and response Dr. Latini received [from both outside and inside the ULS community] was unwarranted.” The Board then further states that “such actions and commentary were neither supported…
Read moreNew Opportunities to Grow
September 9, 2018 In an email to all students additional meetings are announced with Dr. Christine Kennedy and Warren Young. Dr. Kennedy first met with the ULS community in the spring 2018 semester at the urging of student leaders and the invitation of the administration. In April and May of…
Read moreSTUDENT SHARES TIMELINE IN BOARD MEETING
September 25, 2018 – At the fall 2018 Board of Trustees meeting in Gettysburg one of the UTI (Urban Theological Institute) student representatives shares this timeline with a sub-committee of the Board and suggests that a formal apology be given for systemic racism at ULS. This announcement is part of the…
Read moreBOARD POSTS A PARTIAL APOLOGY
October 2, 2018 – Students are notified of a public apology made by the Board of Trustees. You may view the Boards statements here: https://unitedlutheranseminary.edu/a-statement-from-the-board-of-trustees-of-uls-10-2/ and here: https://unitedlutheranseminary.edu/board-update-10-2/ The Board of Trustees of United Lutheran Seminary acknowledges with sorrow that the patterns and structures of the Seminary, the ELCA and other…
Read moreBishop Dunlop Resigns from the ULS Board of Trustees
October 15, 2018 Here is an excerpt from Bishop Dunlop’s resignation letter. To the Board of Trustees and Bishops of Region 7 and 8, Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old, I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do…
Read moreChapel Welcome
November 9, 2018 The new ULS Deans of Chapel (Dr. Leonard and Dr. Largen) release a welcome statement. Welcome from the Deans of the ChapelsOur common life as United Lutheran Seminary is both discovered and expressed as we regularly gather on both campuses in our two chapels to celebrate the Word…
Read moreIn closing, the students and alumni who have been part of writing and editing this timeline of ULS racism wish to thank all who have kept students in their prayers and lifted students up in countless ways throughout the last two years. Your ongoing prayers for us and the ULS community are welcomed, needed and appreciated. This is intended to be a living document that may be expanded when additional issues and occurrences of racism are substantiated.
The opening lines of the ULS Student Statement Concerning Racism which was presented to all students in April of 2018 continues to be a true expression of the deep promise held within United Lutheran Seminary.
We are blessed in our diversity at United Lutheran Seminary. We are proud to be the most diverse seminary in the ELCA, in terms of race, sexuality, age, and denomination. We implore our administration and faculty to listen to each and all of these marginalized voices as together we build this new institution. ULS has every gift it needs to be an authentic, Spirit-filled and inclusive seminary. However, we the students witness significant and ongoing obstacles that prevent the fulfillment of this dream.
It is the sincere hope of the students and alumni who have created this timeline that it may bring substantive growth to the way the board and the whole institution operates. More transparency is needed. There are many new members on the Board of Trustees since almost half of the board resigned their positions either before or immediately after the Board decided to terminate Dr. Latini from her position as President, but new Board members and a new interim President are only part of the change required for substantive growth. Current policies are clearly not enough to keep the staff, faculty, board, and acting-president from enacting intense racial bias upon both the students and one another. Policy changes must be put in place to ensure that all students have equal access to core courses and chapel leadership in their own authentic religious expression regardless of their race, religious tradition or any other identification so long as these expressions do not limit the access of others to these shared spaces of chapel and classroom. Furthermore, the racism experienced by staff as perpetuated by their colleagues is deeply unacceptable. Racism training must be improved greatly as well as ULS community wide education on how to make human resources claims when a member of the community enacts racial prejudice upon another. Finally, it is clearly unacceptable that student claims of racism which were made in accordance with the Student Handbook were consistently mishandled and delayed so that these claims had to be filed multiple times and their outcomes took over five months to be realized. The open wounds of these delays which continue to this day and perpetuate a culture of unsafe experiences for people of color must stop! Here are seven suggested policy changes we request of the Board of Trustees. You may show your agreement or disagreement with each of the following suggested policies via the ULS Policy Survey.
1: A Bishop May Not Serve as ULS President.
Due to the ecclesial authority which Bishops hold, students are at an extreme disadvantage should a Bishop who is also a President of the seminary act in ways that are contrary to the Gospel or in violation of seminary policy. Due to the students experience of substantiated racism enacted by the seminary’s only simultaneous Bishop and President Jim Dunlop in 2018 the students, alumni and community respectfully request that the Board of Trustees make and place this policy into effect immediately.
2: The chapel must have an equity and inclusion policy in writing that is specific to its context.
The students and alumni have experienced persistent racism within the chapel. This racism is enabled by both a lack of policy and faculty who for many years justified their discriminatory actions as orthopraxis. The students, alumni, and community therefore respectfully request that a policy of equity and inclusion specific to the chapel be made so that no future community members be unduly excluded from chapel leadership. It is further expected that this policy be in place no later than the conclusion of the spring 2019 Board of Trustees meeting.
3: Core Courses in the Curriculum must be offered at times and locations that do not discriminate against any constituent group.
While this paradigm of curricular discrimination was avoided due to the work of students and ULS administration calling faculty Deans to account for the lack of night courses in the 2017/2018 academic calendar, the students, alumni, and community respectfully request that this paradigm of non-discrimination in the curriculum be written into ULS policy.
4: Anti-Racism training events will be held yearly, reviewed and approved by an outside authoritative agency agreed upon by the students.
Though anti-racism training has been part of ULS predecessor institutions, these events have not been effective and there has been no known effort to make improvements. The students, alumni, and community respectfully request that an outside agency not connected to ULS be given the funds and authority to enact growth in ULS anti-racism training.
5: The Board and all employees must attend Anti-Racism training with all incoming students.
Substantiated reports of racism marred the first ULS academic year in every level of seminary leadership: staff, faculty, board, and president. Therefore the students, alumni, and community respectfully request that all community members (board members, employees, and students) attend anti-racism training events that have been approved by an outside authoritative body.
6: All students and employees must receive training in how to file HR claims.
Since no other reliable discourse is available for students to receive justice for racism, prejudice, sexism, genderism, and all forms of discrimination the students, alumni, and community respectfully request that all students and employees receive training in how to effectively file Human Resources claims. Furthermore, this training will highlight the HR timelines already expressed in ULS handbooks due to the fact that these policies were not followed in 2018.
7: Elected student government leaders or a disciplinary committee which will include student representatives appointed by their peers will be notified immediately of all staff, faculty and Board members who receive HR claims that are substantiated concerning race, gender, sexuality or any form of discrimination. A second incident of this nature that results in a substantiated claim against an individual will result in an immediate meeting of the Board to decide upon disciplinary action and that individuals future within the community.
Due to the lack of transparency the Board and faculty have engaged in concerning substantiated acts of racism enacted in 2018, the students, alumni, and community respectfully request that student oversight be added to ensure that future faculty and boards may not engage in these acts to the duration and extent that the students have experienced and are still experiencing at ULS.
Again, a version of these suggested policies which anyone may sign is available as a Google Form at https://goo.gl/forms/7tXSpbAUHobYd1gI2 and you are encouraged to make your thoughts known within the ULS community in whichever way you deem most beneficial toward growth, equity, and inclusion.
Still, more questions remain.
Why did Board members recuse themselves when students brought legitimate claims of racism perpetuated by the Acting President who is also a Bishop in the ELCA? Why were Board members redacting student statements? Why were these Board members more interested in the pseudo-integrity of their colleagues than the learning environment of their institution? How can these same Board members who recused themselves be trusted to now act on the students behalf? Will the ELCA Domestic Mission Unit and Bishop Eaton respond publicly now that Jim Dunlop’s racist actions have been substantiated? Why have the Dean and faculty who met in August and November not made any public statement since these acts of racism were substantiated in July 2018?
Other decisions made by Acting-President Dunlop seem equally suspect such as his research and hiring (by the board) of a white male, retired police officer as the sole HR investigator put in charge of handling claims of racism at ULS. This was, quite obviously, a poor choice which was corrected by the hiring of a second human resources firm. These glaring lapses in judgement point toward a myriad of other failings which continue to hamper ULS. Why did Acting-President Dunlop remove COO Dennis Trotter from the role of Chief Advancement Officer and install in his place a less-experienced colleague and adjunct professor(Angela Zimmann) who made claims against Dennis Trotter that have been proven false? Why has all but one member of the Advancement team who filed HR claims against Jim Dunlop been removed from their roles or resigned in vocal frustration in the months since he made his now substantiated racist statements in that staff meeting? Can these actions on the part of Jim Dunlop and Angela Zimmann be framed as anything other than retributive in the light of the above analysis? These actions combined with the recent apology of the Board to Dr. Latini rightly add weight to the body of evidence that Jim Dunlop and others in the ULS community have embraced and perpetuated a culture of retribution.
This culture of retribution that Bishop Dunlop has brought to the Board throughout his tenure, including his short term as Acting-President, seems to have empowered others in racist and retributive acts. Other instances of this culture of retribution at ULS are evident and have continued to this day. On Monday, October 8 Interim President Green fired COO Dennis Trotter and VP of Student Services and Enrollment, Rev. Trina Johnsten with no plan for how to fulfill their duties within the seminary. The only reason given by Dr. Green for their dismissal is “going a different direction and restructuring” yet there has been no communication as to what this new structure will look like nor how their daily roles will be fulfilled.
We pray the Board, President Green, Dean Sebastian, and all Faculty will work with the students to rightly address the poor thinking and culture brought to ULS by those who have repeatedly sought to divide students and colleagues based on race, gender, identity, class, age, and location. It is our prayer that our new seminary will begin plotting a truly new course that more closely resembles the life and inclusive ministry of Jesus.
Please pray for our leaders, encourage them to publicly support their students as we address systemic racism in our community. Here is the contact information for ULS Leadership which is also publicly available at uls.edu:
All ULS Board Members both past and present:
Rev. Peter Boehringer (current board chair)
W (603) 623-3451 / C (603) 325-1745
Email: pastorboehringer@comcast.net
Rev. James Dunlop (resigned from the Board on Oct. 15, 2018)
W (717) 652-1852×106 / C (717) 357-2807
Email: jdunlop@lss-elca.org
Ms. Cheryl Williams
W (410)-230-2815 / C (443) 813-2534
Email: cghw1a@gmail.com
Mr. David A. Russell
W (215) 867-2330 / C (610) 730-7962
Email: drussell97@aol.com, drussell@ips-net.com
Rev. Canon Nancy Deming
W (215) 627-6434 x 191
Email: nancyd@diopa.org
Rev. Julia Fraser
C (724) 456-3153
Email: pr.julia.fraser@gmail.com
Kris Hansen-Kieffer
Email: khansen@messiah.edu
Dr. James Lakso
C (814) 644-1068
Email: lakso@juniata.edu
Chris Mondics
W (215) 854-5957 / C (215) 313 3022
Email: christophermondics@gmail.com
Fred Risser
C (315)254-0777
Email: fredrisser@yahoo.com
Dr. Tommie Robinson Jr.,
C (202)531-6854
Email: trobinso@childrensnational.org
Mr. Paul Wangerin
W (304) 262-4231 / C (540) 729-2107
Email: pula1945@hardynet.com
Karen Arnold (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
C 412-956-3316
Email: sanford475@yahoo.com
Bishop Tracie Bartholomew (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
Email: tbartholomew@njsynod.org
Rev. Tedd Cogar (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
Email: tcogar@iup.edu
Bishop R Guy Erwin (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
C: 805-907-6605
Email: erwin@socalsynod.org
Rev. Sara Lilja (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
W 609-586-6800 / C 609-440-8608
Email: slilja@leamnj.org
Rev. Craig Arthur Miller (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
Email: prcmiller@uss-elca.org
Rev. Constance Mentzer (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
W (717) 872-7392 / C (717) 666-9586
Email: revcmentzer@comcast.net
Dr. Mark K. Tyler (new board member, replacing someone who recently resigned)
Email: markkellytyler@gmail.com
Dr. Janet Montelaro (no longer on the board)
Email: jmontelaro@live.com
Rev. Audrey E. Moody (no longer on the board)
Email: amood@aol.com
Emma Porter (no longer on the board)
Email: emmaporter@msn.com
Rev. J. Elise Brown (former board chair – no longer on the board)
Email: jelisebrown@gmail.com
Rev. Claire S. Burkat (no longer on the board)
Email: cburkat@sepa.org
Phil Harrington (no longer on the board)
Email: harrington.phil@outlook.com
Robert King (no longer on the board)
Email: rk68@nmax.net
Rev. Lisa Leber (no longer on the board)
Email: pastor@firstlutherancarlisle.org
Rev. Cheryl Meinschein (no longer on the board)
Email: cheryl.meinschein@gmail.com
Rev. Charles Miller (no longer on the board)
Email: csmiller70@verizon.net
Faculty and Staff Advisors to the Board
Jayakiran Sebastian, Dean of the Seminary jsebastian@uls.edu
John Hoffmeyer, Faculty Representative jhoffmeyer@uls.edu
Angela Zimmann, Vice President of Advancement Services azimmann@uls.edu
Gil Waldkoenig, Faculty Representative gwaldkoenig@uls.edu
Storm Swain, Faculty Representative sswain@uls.edu
Dr. Richard Green, Interim President rgreen@uls.edu
Dennis Trotter, Chief Operating Officer – employment terminated on Oct. 8 without replacement
Rev. Trina Johnsten, Vice President for Student Services & Enrollment – employment terminated on Oct. 8 without replacement
Scott Ganley, CFO – employment terminated in Feb. 2019
Joseph Carlucci, Executive Asst. to the President – resigned
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