Candler School of Theology - Emory University

Candler students never fail to leave their mark—in our seminary community and more broadly throughout Emory University. Congratulations to these recent Candler grads who were honored with university-level awards at the end of this academic year!

Clara Benson 25T 26T was awarded the Graduate Student Service Award from the Emory Center for Civic and Community Engagement. In addition, Associate Professor in the Practice of Ethics and Society Letitia Campbell won the center’s faculty award.

At this year’s Emory Pride Awards and Lavender Student Celebration, Jesse Sloan 26T was the first Candler student in the history of the event to earn the Berl Boykin Fierce Leadership Award, which honors an Emory student who has made meaningful contributions to Emory’s LGBTQ+ community through their leadership on or off campus.

We’re proud to claim these leaders and advocates as Candler’s own!

Photo 1: Clara Benson (left) and Dr. Letitia Campbell at the Emory Center for Civic and Community Engagement awards ceremony.

Photo 2: Jesse Sloan (center) with members of the Candler community at the Emory Pride Awards.

"These major questions that we as communities have got to face are easily obscured by the latest cartoon meme on social media." - Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones, assistant professor of theology and Africana studies, in a May 29 USA TODAY article on Pope Leo's encyclical addressing AI.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/adkins-jones-usa-today

Two years ago at New Student Orientation, the student organization AAPI@Candler placed a blank canvas on a table with one invitation: write your dreams, your hopes, and your expectations for your time at Candler, in any language you choose.

What emerged was a canvas full of color, full of scripts, full of futures, something that reflected our community. The practice was so powerful that the group repeated it at other gatherings they hosted.

For Candler’s AAPI community, language is a thread that runs through everything: connecting students to the cultures they carry, to the families they came from, and to the people they are becoming. Whether that journey began across an ocean or across a city, language holds something that is not easily translated: a sense of home, of self, of belonging.

Over the past two years, Asian and Pacific Islander students at Candler have built something here — in the Atrium at Lunar New Year, at late-night karaoke, over boba tea and moon cakes and games. They have built a community that is joyful, rooted, and open to everyone.

This May, Candler celebrates AAPI History Month with gratitude for every student who showed up, every language spoken, and every bond formed.

In every language — we are here.

Brandon Stewart 10T is a Candler Changemaker, serving those who serve and nurturing spirituality as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force. For Brandon, an ordained Baptist minister, chaplaincy is more than a job—”it’s a lifestyle, a calling, an everyday experience. It’s who I am and what I do,” he explains.

And he does even more than that, as a lawyer who's recently been selected to serve in the United States Coast Guard Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

With his unique blend of pastoral care, legal expertise, and cultural competency, Brandon is a great example of how one person following God's call can have a ripple effect, transforming more lives than we'll ever know. Read more at bit.ly/candler-changemakers

Associate Professor of Transformative Leadership and Spiritual Care Gregory C. Ellison II recently launched the Five Hardest Questions Podcast, which he hosts along with musician Okorie "OkCello" Johnson. Each episode explores five themes: identity, purpose, community, love, and legacy.

The series' third episode featured Ellison in discussion with his Candler colleague Tony Alonso, Latin Grammy-nominated composer and musician who serves as director of Candler's Catholic Studies program and Aquinas Associate Professor of Theology and Culture.

Watch or listen to Ellison and Alonso's conversation at the podcast's website, as well as other episodes with guests including bestselling author and Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing Tayari Jones: https://www.fivehardestquestions.com/

For more than a decade, David Daniel has served the Candler community. But at the end of this school year, Candler’s assistant professor in the practice of music ministry and director of chapel music is retiring. Daniel leaves behind a legacy of what Associate Dean of Worship and Spiritual Formation Khalia Williams says is not only his musical excellence, but his consistent generosity of spirit. Read a tribute to Daniel:

David Daniel: Nurturing Faith through Song David B. Daniel, Candler’s assistant professor in the practice of music ministry and director of chapel music, is retiring.