Artificial Intelligence, the Smartphone, TikTok, a land war in Europe, Brexit, a global pandemic costing millions of lives?
Thirty years ago, who would have imagined such things?
Yet the forty-seven Anglican colleges and universities that wove a net in 1993 established a framework that would help them face the impact of such changes in the world of higher education.
How this happened was the focus of that network’s Online Seminar VIII: Celebrating 30 Years of CUAC, which took place by Zoom – another life-changing innovation very few people would have imagined in 1993 – on March 29. With CUAC 170 member institutions strong, across five continents, the speakers pondered the universal question: “Where are we going now?”
Seminar organizer Dr Jeremy Law, Dean of Chapel at Canterbury Christ Church University (UK), noted that Christianity has “a unique way of connecting past, present, and future.” Avoiding the “trap of nostalgia” as well as “short-sighted living in the present” or “day-dreaming about a future existence,” the Church’s sense of the passing of time was rooted in the Lord’s Supper, where each element of the Eucharist is a “remembering together” which “brings the past into the present so as to determine the future.” Dr David Peacock, former Principal of Whitelands College (UK) and CUAC’s first Board Chair in 1993-2002, said the original group of eleven English and one Welsh colleges of Anglican foundation “wanted to make an association and determine what the hallmarks were and to what extent they were shared across the world.” A focus on international students was there from the outset, and he praised the work of the late Linda Chisholm, CUAC’s first General Secretary, for making Service Learning a model for involving them.
Dr Gail Cuthbert Brandt, the second Board Chair in 2002-2005 and former Principal and Vice Chancellor of Renison University College (Canada), agreed that without a “doggedly determined” Linda Chisholm, there would not have been a CUAC. Travel to Canterbury would have been impossible for her amid 1993’s financial troubles, but Brandt said she was invited to an Association of Episcopal Colleges meeting in New York, and eventually five Canadian colleges joined the network. The emphasis on forming students as better global citizens, the worshiping together at Triennials, the international ties – “it fits so well into the times.” She noted in particular the ties that had developed between Renison’s social work faculties and Lady Doak College in Madurai (India).
The former Principal of Lady Doak, Dr Nirmala Jeyaraj – a molecular biologist and CUAC's third Board Chair in 2005-2008 – praised CUAC for giving her the opportunity to visit other women’s colleges and for teaching her about the value of Service Learning. Attending the Triennials and taking part in the India Chapter has enabled Lady Doak faculty and staff to form partnerships with other institutions enabling credit transfers. Student feedback from Service Learning, she added, confirmed that it was “an experience that affected their lives. In a nutshell, Service Learning facilitates the transformation of a whole person – head, heart, and habits. I thank CUAC for initiating this.”
Herb Donovan, Professor of Business Administration at Rikkyo University (Japan), said he had not realized until hearing the panelists how important Service Learning had been from the start. In pre-COVID years, he organized such programs for students from Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines in low-income neighborhoods of Manila. The CUAC Asia Chapter Service Learning Program this year added four students from Women’s Christian College (India) among the forty-five participants. It’s a model regional program, he said, using English as a lingua franca.
Charles Calhoun
CUAC Names a New General Secretary
After 12 years under the guidance of the Revd Canon James G. Callaway, the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion has selected a new General Secretary, the Revd Richard Burnett, who has been for the past twenty-five years Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. He will take over as CUAC’s fifth General Secretary on July 6, during the Business Meeting of the Melbourne Triennial.
The Selection Committee conducted an international search, followed by a rigorous process of vetting applications and conducting interviews. CUAC Board Chair the Revd Canon Prof Peter Neil, Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln (UK), made the announcement to CUAC members in a letter on March 20, saying “A worthy candidate emerged,” said Neil, who chaired the committee. Other members were the Rt Revd Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle (Retired); Prof Joel Cunningham, Vice Chancellor Emeritus, the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee; and Dr Lilian I. Jasper, President of Women’s Christian College, Chennai, India.
Before seminary, Burnett’s passion for international ministry took him to the Philippines, where he connected with Trinity University of Asia and other Episcopal colleges. “The Board was very impressed by Dick’s enthusiasm, his background in Anglicanism, his extensive leadership in public ministry, and his success in fundraising,” said Neil. He graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylavania and received an MDiv from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
“In handing over this role I have treasured,” said Callaway, “I look forward to working with Dick and our gifted Administrator, Julia DeLashmutt.”
Dear CUAC Members,
Our talented General Secretary, The Revd Canon Jamie Callaway, DD, retires at our Melbourne Triennial in July after 12 years of inspirational service. During Jamie's tenure, CUAC has soared to new heights with 170 membership institutions across five of the world's seven continents. Under Jamie's leadership, the CUAC network has sponsored extensive cross-cultural learning both in person and on webinars, which came of age during Covid. The world - and the Anglican Communion especially - is the richer for these relationships.
As we celebrate Jamie's work, we seek also to honour him. Will you join with me in making a gift to CUAC's endowment? Such support not only resoundingly cheers Jamie's work, it will also strengthen CUAC in the coming years. You may make your gift or send it to: CUAC, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
Faithfully yours,
The Rev. Canon Professor Peter Neil Board Chair
Canon Callaway at St. Augustine's University for the Installation of Dr Christine McPhail, April 2022 Also pictured: The Revd Canon Martini Shaw, The Revd Hershey Mallette Stephens, and The Revd Sallie Simpson
Last Call for Registrations!
There is just one week left to register for the Triennial.
Click the Register Now button to fill out the registration form or contact Julia at [email protected] to reserve your spot! We do hope you can join us.
Meeting virtually on April 11, presidents and chaplains reviewed post-pandemic recovery efforts at the ten campuses of the Association of Episcopal Colleges (AEC), including those institutions abroad founded by Episcopalians. The news from the latter ranged from the horrific – students and faculty at the Université Episcopale d'Haïti in Port-au-Prince are afraid to go to class lest they be caught in gang war cross-fire – to the hopeful – Cuttington University in Liberia is adding solar panels to its buildings to supplement the few hours of the day they have electric power from the public grid.
They also were greeted by the Revd Richard Burnett, who will assume the duties of CUAC General Secretary in July, the AEC being its American Chapter. And by the Most Revd Dr Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA. He warned of “a narrow-mindedness and bigotry taking mutated forms and appearing virtually everywhere…a new Dark Age.” He called for “a counter-narrative that would articulate love and decency and kindness.” He said he learned that narrative as a student at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and “it’s more critical now than in 1975.”
Saying farewell, outgoing General Secretary James G. Callaway pointed out one challenge ahead: “There are a lot of Episcopal schools that don’t know these are Episcopal colleges. And there are a lot of Episcopalians who don’t know that we have HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities].”
Some highlights from the members' “roll call” were:
Bard College is about to open its ninth Early College, in the Bronx, in partnership with local hospitals, enabling high school students to earn a two-year Associate degree then complete their BA at Bard before resuming their medical studies. Among campus building projects, Maya Lin has designed a new Studio Arts Building. Bard’s Prison Project now teaches at five state penitentiaries in New York.
Hobart & William Smith Colleges is observing its 200th birthday, including curricular innovation (e.g., in management and entrepreneurship) and stronger commitment to the city of Geneva (NY). By a nice coincidence of timing, its men’s ice hockey team is the 2023 Division Three National Champion.
The University of the South (Sewanee) will welcome a new vice chancellor and president, Rob Pearigen, in July and looks forward to a new emphasis on climate action. The Indigenous Engagement Initiative is working with local indigenous peoples on Land Acknowledgement Statements – i.e., recognition that the University is built on land that once belonged to Native Americans – and other cooperative programs.
Voorhees University’s president, Dr Ronnie Hopkins, said it had launched its first MA program and soon will offer an MBA as well, thanks to a $40 million grant from the US Department of Education. There are two new majors (environmental science and tourism and hotel management), and Vorhees made US News & World Report’s list of “Best Value Regional Colleges.”
Kenyon College looks forward to its Bicentennial in 2024 and now has a slight over-enrollment, which Chaplain Rachel Kessler said, “is better than the alternative.” The college’s multi-faith efforts continue to grow, given an increasing number of Muslims, Hindus, and practitioners of “alternative spiritualities” on campus.
Trinity University of Asia in Manila, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, reports “almost normal” campus life after COVID alongside more options for graduate students and others for online learning. President Dr Gisela Luna said students have many questions about Episcopal identity. “We are a predominantly Catholic nation, so we have to explain what being Episcopalian means.”
St Augustine’s University in Raleigh NC is happy about its 77 percent retention rate after COVID. Two historic buildings are being restored on campus, and deep radar technology is being used to identify slave graves in a historic cemetery. The University partnered with nearby North Carolina State University and local churches for Holy Week. In other comments, Presiding Bishop Curry said he had just returned from visiting the Episcopal Diocese of Europe – “the most diverse in the entire Church.” Once known for its congregations of expats and diplomats, its churches are now filled with refugees and immigrants as well as local people looking for a progressive yet liturgical place of worship.
In other business, Ronnie Hopkins was elected AEC president; Mark Gearan, vice-president; Joel Cunningham, treasurer, and Scott Evenbeck, secretary.
Charles Calhoun
CUAC Climate Crisis Action Reports
The CUAC Climate Crisis Action Group is still collecting Climate Action Reports from member colleges for a portfolio of campus activities to be presented at the upcoming Triennial. We want to know what is happening on your campuses regarding climate! Please send your reports to Julia at [email protected] or request a copy of the template.
PASSAGES
News from Around the CUAC World
Dr M.J. Punnoose has become Professor and Principal in Charge of ecumenical United Christian College in Aluva, Kerala (India). A specialist in folklore, tribal studies, and ethnic studies, he is the author of six books and editor of four, with a long list of scholarly articles. He earned an M.Phil. writing on “Christian Folk Songs in Kerala,” and a Ph.D. on “St Thomas Myths: A Folklore Approach,” both degrees from Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam. He was a 2014 United Board Fellow, spending a semester at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and another at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.
Prof Claire Ozanne, an ecologist, is the new Vice-Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University (UK), following the retirement of Prof Gerald Pillay. She earned a D.Phil. at Oxford and is a specialist on habitats informed by human activity, having led multidisciplinary projects in the UK, Australia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Guyanna. She was previously Principal of Heythrop College London, Provost of SOAS University of London, and Vice-Provost at the University of Roehampton.
Prof Claire Taylor has been named Vice-Chancellor Designate at Plymouth Marjon University (UK). She will be responsible for day-to-day leadership as well as for long-term vision for an institution that intends to reach carbon zero by 2030. She was previously at University of Liverpool as the Gilmour Chair of Spanish and Professor in Hispanic Studies. She has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, and a specialist in Latin American literature and culture, including digital culture and women’s writing.
St John’s College Queensland (Australia) has named the Revd Richard Browning as its new Chaplain. Originally a physiotherapist, he has an M.Th. from St Francis College and extensive experience in ministry in schools. He is part of the Community of the Way at St Francis College and has been Director of Mission for the Anglican Schools Commission and a chaplain at Radford College, Canberra.
St John’s has also appointed Peter Branjerdporn as its Lay Chaplain. A pharmacist by profession, he is a part-time Justice Enabler with the Social Responsibilities Committee of the Anglican Church, South Queensland. His volunteer work in a refugee clinic on the Thai/Myanmar border in 2012 has inspired his activism back home in refugee advocacy work and climate action, including taking part in a “Vigil for the Reef.”
Dr Shigeko Horiuchi, RN, is the President of St Luke’s International University, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in Tokyo, Japan. She is Professor of Women’s Health/Midwifery, with a special interest in prenatal loss, grief counseling, Asian and African midwife research, and the oxytocin crisis.
HORIZONS
From the General Secretary’s Desk
Having addressed What is a network? in the previous column, in this my final entry I want to conclude with my thoughts on What is the CUAC network? Obvious questions often lie dormant unless you engage in strategic planning, which the board did in preparing the 2017 Chennai Triennial. We began by asking “What is the CUAC network, and what are we about?”
Not surprisingly, we started answering with the things CUAC does – from holding Triennials all the way to the myriads of global connections among members. But as our savvy volunteer facilitator Scott Townell pressed us to see, we were describing what CUAC did, rather than what it was, what is its mission. Turning from “how” to “what” led us to two recognitions. The first, defining Anglican identity as the foundation led to the task of defining what it was. Happily, Dean Jeremy Law of Canterbury Christ Church University was guiding our work. This led to a Declaration of Ideals he helped author, Identity and Character of CUAC Institutions, laying out in ten statements CUAC’s overall goals and mission from “the priority of conversation” to “creating sustainable futures” to “respect for faith and reason in the search for truth.” We now had found a roadmap to CUAC’s “what.”
We have long known that Triennial experiences were at the heart of what drew folks to active participation in CUAC and to their gaining life-changing new perspectives. Member participation results in “capacity building,” where administrators of CUAC member schools hone their skills for the specialized world of Anglican higher education. We identified CUAC as a learning network, where presidents, vice chancellors and principals, along with chaplains, gain perspective for cultivating Anglican higher education’s distinctive identity which they cannot find elsewhere. Achieving a distinctive formation of future citizens and leaders requires not only understanding the goal, but having leaders with the skill set for putting it all together in our rapidly changing environment.
For example, a veteran trustee, Linda Lankewicz from Sewanee, undertook a one-to-one, three-month Peer Mentoring project with Sweetlyn Moses, a dean at Women’s Christian College in Chennai, thoroughly documenting their interactions and the resources she drew on for a template that pointed the way to scaling up an international program. These possibilities were underway when the COVID curtain fell. When revived, such initiatives in training can flesh out fulfilling CUAC’s potential leading role in certification.
This July in Melbourne we are gathering as a “learning community” to deepen our members’ knowledge and skills at keeping our Anglican identity flourishing in an ever more competitive higher education environment. Rediscovering Community, our Triennial theme, is not just about our post-pandemic colleges and universities, but reflects the CUAC network’s coming back as well, reclaiming our space, and enhancing our members’ capacities. Jamie Callaway
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Hail and Farewell
There are some things you grasp intellectually…yet they still take you by surprise when they actually happen. Such as the fact that this is the last issue of Compass Points which I’ll help produce under the guidance of Jamie Callaway.
Such occasions mix the bitter and the sweet. For the past eight years, I’ve worked with Jamie, first in the Episcopal Church Center at 815 Second Avenue in Manhattan, then by Zoom when I moved to Texas and eventually to Rhode Island. His hospitality and generosity and good humor have blessed my life – qualities not always found, I must admit, in the working life of a freelance writer! (Just a warning to any of you contemplating a career change.) In those eight years, which included a trip to India, I have never heard him say an unkind word about anybody. As someone inclined to complain about everybody, I have found him a kind of good-conscience angel, looking over my shoulder and reminding me to bite my tongue.
The sweetness of this transition comes from the fact I know how much both he and Mary Chilton, now approaching her last year of teaching at Fordham University, are looking forward to the non-business travel they have rarely had the time for.
From CUAC headquarters in New York, you can see the United Nations complex a block down 44th Street and a multi-national, multi-racial mix of diplomats coming and going. But the most skilled diplomat I’ve ever known is Jamie. From his many years at Trinity Church Wall Street, managing its philanthropic activities in Africa and elsewhere, to his indefatigable travels on behalf of CUAC across five continents (I think he has visited at least 100 of its 170 member institutions), he has spread the good word – that higher education matters and that Anglican Christianity has a unique contribution to make to its flourishing.
Charles Calhoun
Compass Points is published by GENERAL SECRETARY: The Revd Canon James G. Callaway, D.D. PUBLISHER: Julia DeLashmutt EDITOR: Charles C. Calhoun PRODUCER: Francis Rivera
Dr Gail Cuthbert Brandt, the second Board Chair in 2002-2005 and former Principal and Vice Chancellor of Renison University College (Canada), agreed that without a “doggedly determined” Linda Chisholm, there would not have been a CUAC. Travel to Canterbury would have been impossible for her amid 1993’s financial troubles, but Brandt said she was invited to an Association of Episcopal Colleges meeting in New York, and eventually five Canadian colleges joined the network. The emphasis on forming students as better global citizens, the worshiping together at Triennials, the international ties – “it fits so well into the times.” She noted in particular the ties that had developed between Renison’s social work faculties and Lady Doak College in Madurai (India).
The former Principal of Lady Doak, Dr Nirmala Jeyaraj – a molecular biologist and CUAC's third Board Chair in 2005-2008 – praised CUAC for giving her the opportunity to visit other women’s colleges and for teaching her about the value of Service Learning. Attending the Triennials and taking part in the India Chapter has enabled Lady Doak faculty and staff to form partnerships with other institutions enabling credit transfers. Student feedback from Service Learning, she added, confirmed that it was “an experience that affected their lives. In a nutshell, Service Learning facilitates the transformation of a whole person – head, heart, and habits. I thank CUAC for initiating this.” 
