Inaugural Celebration for Dr. Serene JonesSixteenth President of Union Theological Seminary November 16-17, 2008
Honorary Inaugural Committee
Rebecca S. Chopp
Ophelia Dahl
Mokhtar Ghambou
Mary Gordon
Gary Hart
Oscar Hijuelos
David Henry Hwang
Thomas S. Johnson
Bill T. Jones
Michael Kinnamon
Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Judith Moyers
David Price
Keith Reinhard
Richard Rodriguez
Robert Stephanopoulos
Krista Tippett
emilie m. townes
Mpho Tutu
Cornel West
John C. Whitehead
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Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York inaugurated the Reverend Dr. Serene Jones as its 16th president on Monday, November 17, 2008. The ceremony was held at the Riverside Church to accommodate nearly 800 guests who gathered to witness and celebrate the inauguration of the first woman president in the Seminary's 172-year history.
In her inaugural address, which demonstrated a remarkable ability to combine intellectual sophistication and inspiring rhetoric, Jones spoke about a world that is undergoing traumatic reconstruction while at the same time experiencing new hope—asking how God is in our midst in these times.
Faculty colleagues, students, and the larger Union community, who have responded enthusiastically to their new president since she arrived on campus this July, were pleased with this opportunity to formalize their welcome.
 "There is a light in Serene," said Professor Gary Dorrien, who served on the search committee that brought President Jones to Union. "She evokes and analyzes and inspires with a buoyant, luminous spirit, and she is the most collaborative and relational theologian that I know. We are incredibly fortunate that she has thrown in with us. Serene could have gone anywhere, and many of the offers she received would have taken her out of theological education. She is here with us because she is committed to theological education and because she believes so deeply in Union Theological Seminary."
Master of Divinity candidate Sherisse Butler echoed that sentiment in welcoming Dr. Jones on behalf of Student Senate. "For those who find their vocation in the academy, we are hopeful that Dr. Jones will use her expertise to continue to broaden the scope of Union's curriculum," Butler said. "For those who are called to parish ministry, we are hopeful that under her leadership Union will find new ways to bridge the gap between the academy and the church. For those who will direct non-profit agencies and work toward justice for all, we celebrate President Jones’s commitment to society and her service to the global religious community."
Family also played a major role in the ceremony—both the Union family and the Jones family. Alumnus John C.B. Webster paid tribute to Union's history by noting that this occasion marked the 100th anniversary of Union's move to Morningside Heights. It was on November 17, 1908, that his great grandfather, John Crosby Brown, placed the cornerstone for the current buildings at Broadway and 120th Street. Dr. Webster was followed by Charis Jones, twelve-year-old daughter of the new president, as a representative of the generation who will inherit the seismic shifts we are seeing in the church and in society. Finally, Joe Jones, father of the new president and a renowned theologian, himself, brought tears to everyone's eyes with a very personal blessing of the Seminary's new leadership.
Strolling musicians replaced the customary organ prelude. Masked "Charivari" interacted with the arriving guests and later unfurled a seventy-foot scroll carrying the words of Union's Preamble down the main aisle. The ceremony, which welcomed representatives from 70 academic institutions and churches—was designed to signal major changes in the religious landscape that are taking place everywhere right now and Union's role in observing and addressing those changes.
Seen historically as the "Church's risk-taker," Union is one of the country's few independent Christian seminaries not affiliated with either a denomination or a university. With its standpoint at the forefront of progressive religious thought, Union is uniquely positioned to be in the vanguard of an emerging progressive theological revival and a new day for loving witness and discipleship.
More Information
On the afternoon of President Jones' inauguration, Union hosted a scholarly panel titled "The Pounding Feet of Hope: The Future of Theological Education." Learn more about panel of scholars. Read the transcript of Pres. Jones' inaugural address, or listen to the podcast. Download the press photo: 6x7.5 inches (1800x2250 dpi) or 8x10 inches (2400x3000 dpi) Learn more about President Jones.
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