Why do we wear red shoes at graduation?

There is a beautiful tradition at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary of wearing red shoes at graduation. In the past, this has primarily been a tradition of the women of Garrett-Evangelical but in recent years we've seen some red shoes on our male  colleagues too. The tradition, though, fails to be beautiful if no one knows the story behind the shoes.  Our alumna, Amanda Baker, wrote the following blog post before her graduation in 2010 from Garrett-Evangelical and has given us permission to share.
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Why do we wear red shoes?

We wear red shoes to remind us of our place as courageous, outrageous women, and to celebrate the rich tradition of female scholarship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

 
What does wearing red shoes have to do with female scholarship?

It begins with a story that Georgia Harkness used to tell of her great-grandmother Abigail.

As Georgia told the story, "Abigail was not only not a quaker, but was known as a 'worldly woman,' who affronted neighbors by 'appearing out of plainness' and was referred to scornfully as ' the woman in the red coat.' Whether because of the red coat or more abiding charms, she won the heart of Daniel Harkness and they were married in November, 1802."

In response, the Society of Friends presented Daniel Harkness with a letter of dismissal for marrying out of the meeting. To 'make satisfaction to the meeting' he would only have had to say he was sorry he married her. But he was not sorry, and he would not say it!" Georgia stated flatly-and proudly. (Keller, 33)

Wait. . .Who was Georgia Harkness?

Georgia Harkness has become one of the legendary personalities of  Garrett-Evangelical. She was the first professional female theologian in the United States. She served as the first ever Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Biblical Institute from 1939-1950 before moving to California to teach at the Pacific School of Religion until 1961. In addition to her teaching she was a prolific author and hymn-writer. Most telling of her character, though, is a story she told of her struggle to be accepted in the Ph.D. program of her choice.

Edgar Brightman, the distinguished professor of philosophy at Boston University and Georgia’s mentor in her doctoral program in the 1920s initially questioned whether she was that exceptional and whether he should take her as a Ph.D. candidate. He judged that “I had the preparation, probably the  brains, but that I lacked the stick-to-itiveness.” Clear in her own mind, Georgia “told him that if that was all, I would see to that.” And she did. (Keller, 35)

So who decided we should wear red shoes?

The story of the woman in the red coat was recorded in a biography of Georgia Harkness’s life, For Such A Time As This written by Rosemary Skinner Keller. She feared that Georgia’s story, and with it, the history of women’s entry into professional theology in the United States, might be lost. Keller was on faculty at Garrett-Evangelical from 1978-1996, and she served from 1993-1996 as the seminary’s first female Academic Dean. During her time on the Garrett-Evangelical faculty she took to wearing red shoes to honor the legacy of Georgia Harkness and her great-grandmother Abigail Cochran. The tradition spread to other female faculty members, and has in recent years become a tradition of the student body.

Our red shoes are not a privilege we earn, but a history we claim. We honor Georgia Harkness, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Rosemary Skinner Keller, and so many others with our red shoes. We claim our place in their legacy, and with it we accept the responsibility to continue to move the world forward, to maintain their history, and to advance theological thinking. We proclaim our willingness to be bold, to be ourselves, and to show the world how much stick-to-itiveness we have!

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Congratulations class of 2013! We are so proud of each of you and your many accomplishments. To learn more about this week's graduation events, go to www.garrett.edu/156th-commencement.

What are you Reading? Part 8

In anticipation of summertime reading, we recently asked our faculty to tell us what they have been reading and the answers may surprise you!

This week's entry comes from Osvaldo Vena, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, and Jack Seymour, Professor of Religious Education.

Dr. Osvaldo Vena
Professor of New Testament Interpretation

Apart from reading again some of the classics of the Post-Colonial literature, such as Orientalism, by Edward Said, and some foundational works on phenomenology of religion, such as The Symbolism of Evil, by Paul Ricoeur, I am also reading Embracing Israel/Palestine: A Strategy to Heal and Transform the Middle East, by Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of the Tikkun magazine (www.tikkun.org), an online resource dedicated to peace and justice in the Middle East. The book, which outlines a balanced, fair, and just solution to the crisis, has received high praise from people like Cornel West, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, and even evangelical pastor Tony Campolo. The book is well written and it provides a balanced and informed view concerning the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Dr. Jack Seymour

Professor of Religious Education

Thomas H. Groome, Will There Be Faith?: A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples (Harper One, 2011).

One of the best and most important books in the field of Christian Religious Education. Thomas Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, describes in detail his “life-faith-life” approach to Christian education. Building from a theological analysis of the teaching of Jesus, Groome describes his approach to education to undergird the vitality of faith. He draws heavily on his own Catholic faith tradition, as well as liberation theology, to seek to answer how we can teach a faith that makes a difference in our world and gives voice to the important of faith in public dialogue. If you read one book on education this year, make it Groome’s.


Eboo Patel, Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America (Beacon Press, 2012).

The founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Corps and a member of the advisory council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships calls the U.S. to its promise of a land of diversity where many voices participate in public discussion about the future. Patel weaves remarkable stories of how faith-based partnerships make a difference and how they are essential to fulfilling the pluralistic vision at the heart of the U.S. Again, this is the key book on the public impact of faith.

What are you Reading? Part 7

In anticipation of summertime reading, we recently asked our faculty to tell us what they have been reading and the answers may surprise you!

This week's entry comes from Charles Cosgrove, Professor of Early Christian Literature.

Dr. Charles Cosgrove
Professor of Early Christian Literature

These days I am reading the books of Elizabeth Robins, an American novelist, feminist writer, and actor who was born during the Civil War and died in 1952. I discovered her recently-published “Alaska-Klondike Diary” while vacationing with my family in Alaska last summer. As an actor, Elizabeth Robins was the leading interpreter of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen when his works were first being performed in the late nineteenth century. Most of her acting was done in England where she tried to make a life for herself after her young husband committed suicide. In 1900, she traveled from London to Alaska to find her younger brother Raymond, who had left his budding career as a San Francisco lawyer to join the gold rush of 1897. When Elizabeth did not hear from him, she feared that he had died on his way to the Klondike. Then, a letter from him in 1899 told of his arrival in Nome and how he had undergone a profound Christian conversion. From certain details in this letter Elizabeth incorrectly inferred that he had become a Jesuit, which she thought a very bad thing! Worried about him, she made the trip to Alaska—alone and against the advice of friends and family; and she kept a diary of her trip, which was published in 1999 by the University of Alaska Press. Since reading the diary, I have also read her memoir, based on the diary, Raymond and I, which was written in the 1930s but not published until the 1950s. 

Raymond Robins had in fact become not a Jesuit but a Congregationalist minister; he served a little fledgling church in Alaska for a year; went on to engagement in social work in Chicago from about 1902–1905; was a member of the Chicago Board of Education from 1906–1909; became a leading figure in the National Christian Social Evangelistic campaign of 1915; joined the Progressive Party; and went to Russia in 1917 to facilitate diplomatic relations between the United States and the Bolshevics, and was active in American politics and social causes after his return.

After reading Raymond and I, which concentrates on Elizabeth’s journey to Alaska and her time with her brother in Nome, I read The Magnetic North (1904), her fictionalized account of Raymond’s harrowing gold-rush experiences in the winter of 1897/1898, when he traveled with a small group of gold seekers up the Yukon River, which froze during their journey. I am now reading her novel ‘Come and Find Me!’ (1908) about a young woman’s journey to Alaska, which is told in ways that reflect much of Robins’ own experience. Next, I will read her feminist nonfiction writings, including The Open Question (1898). Sadly, there is no visual record of her acting, apart from a few still photographs. She did not go from stage acting to film acting but instead concentrated only on writing after 1900. In 1928 she applied her skill as a writer to her memories as an actor in a revealing reflection called Ibsen and the Actress. I plan to read that, too.