Date: May 11, 2023
This is 2023. VTS has been going for two hundred years. It probably is not literally true that we have had two hundred commencements. Presumably students took some years to earn the first degree. But this commencement is highly symbolic. We have had many years as an institution in taking human lives and forming those lives for the Gospel.
Our graduates for 2023 are a stellar class. They are well educated, deeply thoughtful, passionate about justice, and have a lovely sense of fun. The class president Shane Carlson has been delightful leader. So much that is true of him is true of the class – always seeking to find a way through, focused on the Gospel, and finding to keep everyone in conversation with everyone else.
Today our graduates appear in the Washington Post. It is much deserved. Their labor deserves to appear in a national newspaper.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary