Dear Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School’s Classes of 2020 and 2021:

 

Grace and peace to you in this holy season of Lent, where we examine our spirits and align ourselves with God’s intentions for our lives and ministries. I pray you are looking to Easter, spring, and your futures with joyful anticipation.

 

I write to describe Andover Newton’s plans for celebrating the incredible accomplishments signified by your graduation. You might have read the news that YDS will have an in-person diploma ceremony for 2021 graduates. We are so happy this will be possible, barring new developments in the ongoing pandemic. We are sad to report, however, that Andover Newton’s graduation celebrations must be entirely virtual. Each of Yale’s various schools has capacity for one in-person event only, and even that is both a stretch and a gift. 

 

The good news is that we have an exciting plan underway for a deeply meaningful graduation service at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 22 on Zoom (link to follow in early May). Our graduation speaker will be Professor John Campbell, Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics at Harvard University and lay leader at Hancock Church United Church of Christ in Lexington, MA. Our graduation preacher will be Mahogany Thomas, Class of 2020, the inaugural recipient of Andover Newton’s Martin B. Copenhaver Prize for preaching. Mark Miller will lead graduation music, and his compositions will weave throughout the service.

 

2020 and 2021 graduates, expect surprises before and after the ceremony to arrive by mail. Please plan to attend the Zoom ceremony attired (if possible) in Andover Newton’s purple and blue. Invite your friends and family, and know that we will make this day as special as it can be. As you make the transition from Andover Newton student to alumnus/a, we promise to meet the occasion with both solemnity and celebration. 

 

Yours truly,

Founding Dean