Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts to stop offering degrees in 2017

The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will cease to grant degrees at the end of the upcoming academic year, the seminary’s board of trustees decided July 21 in an 11-4 vote. As a result, its president announced his resignation.

“A school that has taken on racism, sexism, heterosexism, and multiple interlocking oppressions is now called to rethink its delivery of theological education in a new and changing world,” said board chair Gary Hall, in introducing the resolution. “Ending unsustainable spending is a matter of social justice.”

During the next year, the board will explore options for EDS’s future, including merging with another theological seminary, establishing a center for Abrahamic studies, becoming a center for continuing education, and using the seminary’s assets to fund scholarships for seminarians who are devoted to working on issues of peace and justice.