These words, penned by Kat Armas in her opening “Liturgy for Resisting Empire,” echo the beauty of what I have found to be true, first as an SSU student and, in an ongoing way, as a member of the alumni community.

I want to congratulate you all, every single one of you, students and friends, spouses, alumni, teachers, administrators, children, parents, all of you. Everyone. Congratulations to all of you who are graduating on the hard work and the met deadlines and the missed deadlines, and the anguish and the joy and the, “What am I doing this for?” And the, “I’m not good enough,” and, “What do I do with it now?” And, “What comes next?”

GOD of Creation, help us to understand our role in the violence we see around us, be it war, be it domestic abuse, be it how we treat our neighbor, or the stranger among us. Open our eyes, our ears and hearts to the way of shalom.

When I began my Master’s journey at SSU, I did not come as a blank slate. I came as a South African...

My deconstruction was a slow boil. I first felt the water warm on a 3-month trip to Africa as an SSU student back in 2001 ...