The 115th Annual Commencement of The Iliff School of Theology
June 4, 2020 10:00 a.m.
Opening of Commencement Dr. Pam Eisenbaum Faculty Marshal, Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins
Processional Composed and performed by Jenny LaJoye
Welcome Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe President and Chief Executive Officer Bishop Henry White Warren Professor of Leadership and Ministry Praxis
Hymn “Where Mountains Lift the Eye”
Responsive Prayer Matthew David Morris and Isabela Rosales Masters Students of the Year
Leader: O Source of every good and perfect gift, who has gathered us from many traditions and places, we remember all who, willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, have helped us make the journey to this time of celebration.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: Lover of all, who knows and remembers every single one, we remember all the ancestors and their descendants, whose land we now inhabit, we remember those who were dehumanized by forced labor to establish this state and nation, we join your eternal recognition of their humanity and their gifts to us beyond our knowing of them.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: We remember those who prepared the way with us in mind, founders with a vision, Faithful teachers and graduates of the past who left us a tradition of scholarship, leadership, and ministry.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: We remember trustees, churches and donors who shouldered the burden of supporting and maintaining our school.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: We remember pastors and chaplains, mentors and supervisors, communities and individuals who shared their vision and gave us encouragement.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: We remember classmates and faculty, who challenged us and widened our vision. of what life means and faith requires.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: We remember administrators and support staff, whose steady efforts made it possible for us to prepare for our future work.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.
Leader: And we remember with special affection friends and family, partners and children, who bore with us through times of struggle, who helped us persist in reaching for our dream and claiming what we are called to be.
People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them. And with glad and grateful hearts we praise you saying, Alleluia, Amen!
Recognition of Attaining a Certificate
Susan Schlessman Duncan Award for Outstanding Trustee Leadership
The Graduating Class Presentation
Hymn “We are Building Up a New World” words by Dr. Vincent Harding
Reading Dr. Jeremy Garber Academic Advising and Writing Center Coordinator
Commencement Address Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley Mayor Wellington Webb
Prayer Caran Ware Joseph, M.Div. ‘12 Chief Operating Officer
Conferring of Degrees Authorization and Greetings Timothy G. Pfeifer, Chair, Board of Trustees, 2019-2022 Conferral of Degrees Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe Presentation of Candidates Rev. Dr. Boyung Lee Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Practical Theology, Co-Dean, DU- Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion
Presentation of Diplomas Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe and Timothy G. Pfeifer
Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care Master of Arts in Social Justice and Ethics Master of Theological Studies Master of Divinity Joint Master of Arts in the Study of Religion Joint Doctor of Philosophy in the Study of Religion
Charge to the Graduates Dr. Julie Todd John Wesley Iliff Senior Adjunct Faculty in Justice and Peace Studies
Charge to the School Rev. Andrew Finch
Song “This is Me”, assembled by Benjamin Weger
Benediction Dr. Carrie Doehring Clifford Baldridge Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling Dr. Albert Hernãndez Associate Professor of the History of Christianity
Recessional Composed and performed by Matthew David Morris
MASTER OF ARTS IN PASTORAL AND SPIRITUAL CARE
Maxine Christopher B.A., Davidson College
Karen Ann Harder B.A., University of Wisconsin- with distinction Eau Claire M.S., University of Wisconsin- Madison
Julie E. Hiramatsu B.A., Stanford University with distinction M.B.A., Dartmouth College
Sara Welch Keith B.A., Washington University in with distinction St. Louis
Leigh Kettler Knauert B.S., Northwestern University with distinction
MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ETHICS
Cristine Maria de la Luna B.A., Metropolitan State University of Denver
Isabela Leonor Rosales B.A., Luther College with distinction
Linda Margaret Wolfe-Newell B.A., University of California with distinction Irvine
MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Benjamin Adam Climer B.A., Seattle Pacific University with distinction
Katherine Pearle Davis B.F.A., Boston University
Brenda Marie Horth A.A., Santa Barbara City with distinction College B.A., Northern Arizona University M.Div., McCormick Theological Seminary
Jordan Elizabeth Licari B.A., Florida State University
Tamara Ann Love A.A., Central New Mexico Community College B.A., The University of New Mexico
Paul Michalec A.A.S., Finger Lakes with distinction Community College B.S., Cornell University M.S., Minnesota State University, Mankato Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder
Aryn Kylie Hart Riley B.A., Auburn University
Amelia Celestina Romo Olivas B.S., Saint Louis University
Alexander Thomas Tonkin A.A., Red Rocks Community College B.A., Regis University
MASTER OF DIVINITY
David Baffour Akoto B.S., Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Theresa D. Bowen B.A., Metropolitan State University of Denver
Javon Elisea Bracy B.A., Xavier University of Louisiana
Elizabeth McDaniels Butche A.A., University of North Florida B.A., University of Central Florida
David B. Clark A.C.M., New Orleans Baptist with distinction Theological Seminary B.A., University of Missouri- Kansas City
Craig Alan Cranston B.A., Eckerd College with distinction
Deborah K. Dahlke B.S., Colorado Mesa University with distinction
Joseph Paul Donatone B.A., The Ohio State University
Joanna M. Douglass B.D.S., The University of Edinburgh, Scotland D.D.S., The University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Andrew Edward Finch B.A., University of Nebraska Omaha
Brian Patrick Good B.A., Ashford University M.A., Antioch University M.Ed., Concordia University
Paul Curtis Grossman B.A., Metropolitan State with distinction University of Denver
Camille Marie Harrison B.A., University of Colorado Colorado Springs
James Patrick Hellman B.S., Regis University M.B.A., University of Denver M.S., Regis University
Jonathon Mark Hughes B.S., Oregon State University M.P.A., Portland State University
Kayla Ann Flannery Johnson B.A., University of Arizona
Andrea Catherine Kennedy B.A., New College of California
Jenny LaJoye B.A., Calvin University with distinction
Tiffanie Sylvia Lyon B.S., Frostburg State University M.B.A., University of Massachusetts Amherst
Deborah E. Metcalf B.A., Valparaiso University
Matthew David Morris A.G.S., Portland Community with distinction College
Scott Theodore Mulder B.S., SUNY Empire State College M.A., Medaille College Ph.D., Niagara University
Emily Anne Nagle B.A., Elmhurst College
Tressa Jacqueline Nawyn A.A.S., Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology B.S., Colorado State University- Global Campus M.S.W., University of Denver
Amanda Shaw Newsome B.S., University of Kansas
Piper Lanelle Ramsey B.A., Southern Nazarene University
LeAnn Danielle Robine A.A., Iowa Western Community College B.S., College of Saint Mary M.S., College of Saint Mary
Genevieve Nicole Rohret-Navin B.A., Millsaps College with distinction
Kirsten M. Rudberg B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
David Craig Sauer A.A.S., Chemeketa Community College B.S., Excelsior College
Stephanie Lynn Seth B.A., Emporia State University
Janet Patricia Shannon B.A., Eastern Washington University
DC Sills B.S.B., University of Phoenix
Jennifer Leigh Simon B.A., University of Southern California
Liza Stoltz Hanson B.A., Hamline University M.A., University of Denver
Anna Taylor Strickland B.S., University of Texas at Austin
Lynne Tabb B.A., University of Northern Iowa
Robin Douglas Tems B.S., Newcastle University, with distinction England Ph.D., Newcastle University, England
Benjamin Lee Weger B.S., Southeastern University
Berry Daniel Wilson B.B.A., Kennesaw State University M.B.A., University of Georgia M.A.P.S.C., Iliff School of Theology
JOINT MASTER OF ARTS IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION
**Kyle Allbright B.A., Wright State University, Dayton M.A., Naropa University
**Jeffrey Scott Appel B.A., Calvin University M.A., Regent College
JOINT DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION
**Lilith Zoe Cole B.A., University of Redlands J.D., University of Denver Dissertation: “Critiquing Atomistic Individualism in Law: Rosenzweig’s Beloved Soul as Open and Relational Legal Subject”
**Patricia Shawn Fawson B.S., University of Utah B.A., University of Utah M.F.A., Vermont College of Fine Arts M.Div., Iliff School of Theology Dissertation: “Sustaining Lamentation on Traumatic Grief Through the Contemporary Elegy: A Practical Theology of the Poetics of Testimony”
Roger Kurt Green B.A., Metropolitan State College of Denver M.H., University of Colorado at Denver Ph.D., University of Denver Dissertation: “Ayahuasca’s Religious Diaspora in the Wake of the Doctrine of Discovery”
Gregory J. Grobmeier B.S., University of Arizona M.A., Arizona State University Dissertation: “Community Unclaimed: Plurality and the Problem of Sovereignty in Bataille, Nancy, and Blanchot”
*Heidi Rhodes B.A., New College M.S.W., University of Denver
Dissertation: “Affect and Critique: Negative Dialectics and Massumi’s Politics of Affect”
*Graduated, August 2019; **Graduated, November 2019
Special thanks to the staff members with roles in preparing for Commencement: Rev. Dr. Cathie Kelsey, Dean of the Chapel; Alisha Eno, Executive Assistant to the President; Carmen Baca Doster, Registrar; Dr. Rhonda Eaker, Program Manager, University of Denver/ Iliff School of Theology Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion
Acknowledgements
“Where Mountains Lift the Eye” Words: Thomas H. Troeger © 1991 Oxford University Press; Music: John Kuzma © 1991. Used by permission.