Meeting This Moment Symposium March 17-18, 2023

To watch videos of each session, click on the links in the schedule below.

• Biographies of keynote speakers
• Abstracts of paper presentations

Friday, March 17

Quigley Auditorium

• 7:00 pm
  • Keynote Speech: “Church-College Relations: A View from the Academy”
    • Dr. Joanne Berger-Sweeney, President, Trinity College
• 7:50 pm
  • Break
• 8:00 pm
  • Keynote Speech: “Church-College Relations: A View from the Church”
    • The Rev. Dr. Peter D. Weaver, United Methodist Church Bishop, retired

Saturday, March 18

Ford Memorial Chapel

• 9:00 am
  • Paper Session One: “An Ever Widening Gap: Allegheny College and Methodism over the Years”
    • Presenters: Charlie Waid, Allegheny ‘25
      The Rev. Jane Ellen Nickell, Ph.D., Allegheny College Chaplain, retired
• 10:00 am
  • Break
• 10:30 am
  • Paper Session Two: Historical Perspectives
    • “The Ties that Bind: Methodism’s Early Relationship with Allegheny College”
      Presenter: The Rev. Susan Lyn Moudry, Ph.D., Ordained Elder, Western Pennsylvania UMC Conference
    • “‘This Peculiar Convocation’: The Thoburn Jubilee and Allegheny’s Missionary Legacy”
      Presenter: June Meadow Gromis, Former Allegheny Student
• 12:00 pm
  • Lunch (provided), Tippie Alumni Center
• 2:00 pm
  • Paper Session Three: Aspects of Affiliation
  • Please note that the start time for this session has been changed from 1:30 to 2:00. 
    • “Doing Good: Institutions, Cultures, and Enabling Morally Virtuous Action”
      Presenter: The Rev. Erik Hoeke, Ordained Elder, Western Pennsylvania UMC Conference and Th.M. student in Moral Theology, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
    • “Looking Back as a Means to Live Forward: Claiming One’s Institutional Truth in Order to Foster an Equitable and Inclusive Campus Community”
      Presenter: James Puglisi, D.Min., Allegheny ’84, Ministry Formation Manager with Ascension Wisconsin
    • We regret that Rev. Lynette Moran will be unable to attend the Saturday afternoon session, but we look forward to including her paper in the published record of the symposium. 
• 3:30 pm
  • Break
• 4:00 pm
  • Keynote Speech: “The State of United Methodist Higher Education”
    • Melissa Spas, Allegheny ‘03
      Vice President of Religion, Chautauqua Institution
• 5:00 pm
  • Dinner (on your own)
• 7:00 pm
  • Closing Session
  • Please note that the closing session and dessert reception have been moved to the Tippie Alumni Center.  
    • Dr. Ron Cole, President, Allegheny College
    • The Rev. Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, Bishop, Western Pennsylvania UMC Conference