Ayanna Johnson Watkins to speak at Convocation
Ayanna Johnson Watkins will be the speaker at the 2015 Convocation, to be held Friday, June 12, beginning at 6:00 pm. DDH's Convocation is a formal service that marks the end of the academic year and celebrates the achievements of graduating Disciples House Scholars and ecumenical community members.
As Director of the National Benevolent Association's Incubate Initiative, Ms. Johnson Watkins seeks out and supports the development of new health and social service ministries as well as the Disciple social entrepreneurs who are starting them. After earning her BA in Sociology from Yale University, she earned the MDiv and MA in Social Service Administration degrees from the University of Chicago as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar. Ordained in 2004, she was the organizing pastor for Family of Hope Christian Church in the Chicago area. She has also served as a community organizer, a counselor for at-risk youth and adults with mental illness, and an advocate for public aid clients. For five years, she was the Director of Community Life at Chicago Theological Seminary. A former First Vice Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she has written for Disciples publications, published in The Christian Century magazine, and spoken on leadership, mentoring communities, domestic violence, and youth development. She and her husband, Rich, call Memphis home.
Convocation is held in the Chapel of the Holy Grail on the last Friday of the quarter. DDH's Convocation precedes the University’s Spring Convocation, which takes place in the main quadrangle on Saturday. The first DDH Convocation was held in 1933. Recent speakers have included Larry Bouchard, Don Browning, Frank Burch Brown, W. Clark Gilpin, Ana Gobledale, Claudia Highbaugh, Sandhya Rani Jha, Verity Jones, JoAnne Kagiwada, Hubert Locke, Daisy Machado, Holly McKissick, Mark Miller-McLemore, Lee Hull Moses, Stephanie Paulsell, David Vargas, Clark Williamson, and Geunhee Yu.