BIE Students Recognized!
This year’s graduation saw several BIE students return to the stage to receive academic awards. These awards are granted both to graduating students and to current students. Let’s be clear: getting through any degree program is worthy of recognition, especially in these times of pandemic and global upheaval! Having said this, it was a delight to see such a strong showing of the BIE community among those granted particular recognition.
The Frederick Buechner Writing Prize is named after that celebrated writer, a Union alumnus, class of 1958, and given by the Buechner Institute in Princeton, New Jersey. It is presented to the winner of a creative writing competition. Submissions may be in any genre, written in the spirit of Frederick Buechner. This year’s winners, chosen by the Practical Theology field, are two middlers, Em Peake and Pearl Vercruysse.
Em Peake, MDiv BIE ‘24
Alexandra Gekas, MDiv BIE ‘22
Established in 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of Auburn’s move to Union, The Anne McGrew Bennett and John Coleman Bennett Fellowship is awarded to a graduating student who shows promise of excellence in a ministry of social service and advocacy for justice in the public arena. Intended for use with continuing education, this award was granted to two winners this year: Master of Arts student concentrating in History, Autumn DeLong and Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement Master of Divinity graduate, Alexandra Gekas.
Weishin Huang, MDiv BIE/MSW '22
Dharmacharini Upayadhi, MDiv BIE ‘21, STM ‘22
The Interreligious Engagement Prize is awarded to a candidate who has excelled in academic work within this field, and also has made significant contributions to interreligious engagement in the broader life of Union. This year the prize was awarded to Master of Sacred Theology graduate and alumna of the MDiv BIE program, Dharmacharini Upayadhi.
Established in 1999 as exemplified by the life and work of Charles Augustus Briggs, this award is granted to a member of the graduating class who has best demonstrated the qualities of conscience, commitment, and courage. This award is given in recognition of a written work or suitable community action reflecting the qualities of Dr. Briggs, illustrated by excellence in scholarship and the commitment to social justice and freedom of inquiry. This year, the Charles Augustus Briggs honoree was dual-degree Master of Divinity and Social Work graduate, Weishin Huang.
The Scholarly Excellence Award is Union’s highest prize for academic achievement, awarded to a graduating Master of Divinity student. This year the award was presented to three students: Dava Aul, Ellie Hutchison Cervantes…. and our very own Weishin Huang — double awardee of 2022!
We want to take a moment to also acknowledge past awardees from the BIE community. In particular, Ian Case, who was awarded both the Interreligious Engagement Award and the Scholarly Excellence Award in 2020, and Charles Schneider who was co-awarded the Scholarly Excellence Award in 2021. That’s a three-year streak BIE Scholarly Excellence!
The Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement program is still in its days of infancy, but already its graduates are making a notable contribution to Union’s long tradition of excellence and social engagement.