Category Archives: Announcements

Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion has now selected their new President: Dr. Paul Sniegowski. Congratulations!

Here is the full announcement.

As described by this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down colleges’ use of race-conscious admissions nationwide, ruling in a pair of closely watched cases that the practice is racially discriminatory.

“Writing for the court’s majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that policies that claim to consider an applicant’s race as one factor among many are in fact violating the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Further follow-up from the Department of Justice and Department of Education, August 14, 2024.

Here is a video from the Wall Street Journal exploring potential effects.

Some of our member institutions have issued statements in response. Here are links to the statements we could find so far:

Bryn Mawr College statement

Earlham College statement

Guilford College statement

Haverford College statement

Swarthmore College statement

(Updated August 14, 2023)

We have received the sad news that Lonnie Valentine passed away on June 19, 2023. Lonnie was a member of FAHE, served on the Executive Committee in the past, presented frequently at our conferences and helped organize them when hosted by Earlham, and was editing the Quakers and Future of Peacemaking volume of our Quakers in the Disciplines book series. Here is further information from the Earlham School of Religion, where he was Professor Emeritus of Peace and Justice Studies:

Submitted by April Vanlonden (ESR Class of ’04 and Joint Seminaries Registrar – Earlham School of Religion):

With hearts broken that carry an abiding sense of gratitude, the Earlham School of Religion (ESR) community shares the passing of Professor Emeriti of Peace and Justice Studies, Lonnie Valentine, on June 19, 2023, during treatment for Primary Cerebral Lymphoma. Lonnie retired from ESR at the close of the 2021‐22 academic school year.

Lonnie earned a B.A. from Raymond College, University of the Pacific in 1970, a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, University of California, Irvine in 1975, an M.S. from Loyola College, an M.A. in Religion from Earlham School of Religion in 1983, and a PhD in Constructive Theology from Emory University in 1989.

Lonnie returned to teach at ESR in 1989 and was part of the creation of the area of emphases in the MDiv program. His broad training and experience enabled him to teach Ethics, Interfaith Dialog, Moral and Faith Development, Spirituality and Peacemaking, Liberation and Process Theologies, and Biblical Violence and Non‐Violence. Lonnie was known for his personal history of tax resistance and other justice actions, leading students on trips to protest the School of the Americas and accompanying groups of students to Friends Committee on Legislation Annual Conferences. A strong advocate for the student, Lonnie led educational trips to India and shepherded the numerous international students who came to study at ESR. Towards the end of his career at ESR, Lonnie designed and implemented the new Master of Arts in Peace and Social Transformation, a program that continues to attract students. Lonnie served as the clerk of the ESR faculty and as Academic Dean in his 33 years at ESR.

Widely published, Lonnie’s works are in The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies, Quaker Religious Thought, Friends Association of Higher Education publications, among others. Always willing to pitch in, Lonnie offered countless presentations at National Peace conferences, Yearly Meeting annual sessions, Church of the Brethren gatherings, American Academy of Religion, Friends World Committee for Consultation, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, individual monthly meetings, churches, and to anyone willing to join with him in the pursuit of peace.

An accomplished academic and sought‐after presenter, Lonnie was loved by the hundreds of students he taught at ESR and Bethany Theological Seminary and as well as those throughout the wider Quaker community. After Lonnie’s passing, messages flooded in, relating stories of the impact Lonnie had on the students of ESR and Bethany, and how this impact guides their work throughout this world. Lonnie was a ready participant in student activities, gatherings, meals, and endeavors of ministry, willing to lend a hand if any called or simply join in the various celebrations of their lives.

Lonnie is survived by his wife, Genevieve Baird, daughter Cady (EC ’05‐’07), son Ben (EC Class of ’09), grandson, Sovann, and the countless who go forth in his ministry. As Lonnie would say, “Carry on.”

To honor Lonnie for his many years of service, teaching, and care for his community, ESR will be raising money for a restricted fund for the Peace and Justice Program in Lonnie’s name. If you are inclined to make an early start and contribute to the yet‐to‐be‐named fund please send a check to ESR or go to the ESR website and indicate your gift is ‘in memory of Lonnie Valentine’. Thank you!

Submitted by April Vanlonden (ESR Class of ’04 and Joint Seminaries Registrar – Earlham School of Religion)

The Quaker Institute for the Future’s 2023 Summer Research Seminar will be held from July 17-21 using Zoom. Details and registration form are available at Summer Research Seminar 2023 – Quaker Institute for the Future. We welcome your expression of interest in presenting or facilitating by June 16.

There will be no registration fee; instead, participants in QIF videoconferencing seminars are encouraged to make a donation to QIF that is within their means. Youth Grants in the amount of $500 are available to support activist/researchers 18-35.

This year, which marks 20 years since QIF was established, the SRS will put less emphasis on presentation and discernment of individual research projects and more on theme-based discernment, led by groups of people interested in introducing and facilitating a theme-based session. Example themes of possible interest include:

• Moving past colonial legacies and systemic racism
• Climate change and related ecological crises
• Economics, money, and the impossibility of infinite economic growth
• Overcoming political and social polarization

The connections among issues are of special interest, since past failures to address any of the preceding issues have impeded progress on others. We also invite SRS participants to propose additional themes when they register. Following registration, SRS organizers will help facilitate brief preparatory sessions for those involved in each theme-based discussion.

THE 2023 BLACK QUAKER LIVES MATTER FILM FESTIVAL & FORUM

Recorded Fora Now Available 

The recorded events from the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum are now available. You can now watch all five installments of the 2023 festival-forum on this website. The organizers would also appreciate receiving any thoughts or feelings you might have on your experience attending this year’s program. Please fill out this brief exit survey–available here–if you have not already done so.

This year, the BlackQuaker Project set out to honor African American Quakers who made a difference throughout USA history: Bill Sutherland, Joan Countryman, Sarah Mapps Douglass, Benjamin Banneker, and Paul Robeson, a descendant of some 300 years of Quakers. The recordings include the following content corresponding to each event: 1) an introduction by Dr. Harold D. Weaver, festival-forum curator, director, and host; (2) a post-screening dialogue between guest experts; (3) an audience Q & A session; (4) a closing from Dr. Weaver; and, in limited cases, (5) a short postscript presentation on our ministry’s foci. Please note that for legal reasons, our recordings do not feature any of the films screened this year. The website offers information on where you can access the films, curated by Dr. Weaver for this year’s program.

Please write to theblackquakerproject@gmail.com with any comments or questions.

A Unique Black History Month Event This Saturday!

Saturday, 18 February , 1 PM ET over Zoom Webinar

The Prep School Negro (2012): African Americans in Quaker Schools

Honoree: Quaker Educator Joan Countryman

This Saturday, the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum continues with our second event, examining the challenges of African Americans in Quaker schools and honoring lifelong Quaker-educator Joan Countryman. On Saturday, 18 February, we will screen the 2012 documentary, The Prep School Negro, directed by trailblazing filmmaker André Robert Lee, and discuss the trials and contributions of African American students, teachers, and administrators in Quaker education. This program begins precisely at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over Zoom Webinar. You can register here for this event and receive a Zoom invitation to join the webinar 24 hours in advance. 

We are honored to be joined by the following guest experts:

André Robert Lee is an award-winning filmmaker, keynote speaker, consultant, writer, and educator. André has served as a professor of writing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and teaches filmmaking at the Germantown Friends School, where he worked to develop a film program. His most recent film, Virtually Free (2021), tells the story of incarcerated youth in Richmond, Virginia, and is still on the festival route.

Joan Cannaday Countryman grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and became the first African American graduate of Germantown Friends School in 1958. Her career in education included serving as a teacher and administrator in Friends schools, as the Head of Lincoln School in Providence, RI, as the Interim Head of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa, and as the Interim Head of the Atlanta Girls’ School. She has been a member of Germantown Monthly Meeting since 1958. We are thrilled to have Joan Countryman joining us as both honoree and guest expert.

Emma Bracker teaches history at Moses Brown School in Providence, RI, and has extensive experience in Quaker education as student and teacher. A graduate of Haverford College (BA – History) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.S.Ed.), she spent seven years teaching, coaching, and working in residential life at Westtown School in West Chester, PA.

We will open Satuday’s Zoom Webinar at 12:40 PM Eastern Time. Those who join early will be treated to a pre-screening mini-concert of selected music before our program begins at 1:00 PM ET. You can register here for EACH of our remaining screenings. Write to us at theblackquakerproject@gmail.com with any questions or comments about the festival-forum.

Peace and blessings,
Dr. Harold D. Weaver 
Festival-Forum Director, Curator, and Host
theblackquakerproject@gmail.com

The Friends Historical Association is pleased to offer funding to support contributions to the field of Quaker history. There are three grant opportunities: project support, publication subventions, and research funds. All opportunities run on the same cycle, and applications are due April 15, 2023. Details about each opportunity and application instruction are provided at https://www.quakerhistory.org/grants.