Endowment to Fund Div School Chapel
The Duke Endowment has awarded a $2 million grant to help fund construction of a new chapel for Duke University Divinity School, President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Thursday.
The gift honors the late W. Kenneth Goodson, a bishop in the United Methodist Church and university trustee who also served on The Duke Endowment trustees board and became chairman of the endowment's rural church division.
"Once again, The Duke Endowment is leading the way in helping Duke meet an important university priority," Keohane said. "It's particularly fitting that this generous gift recognizes the many contributions of Ken Goodson, whose affiliation with both The Duke Endowment and Duke University enriched both institutions and whose devotion to the ministry and to training future practitioners to serve others was legendary."
Goodson was an alumnus of the Duke Divinity School and later served as its bishop-in-residence. He received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Duke and was awarded the University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service in 1989.
"Ken Goodson had the gift of prophetic leadership," said Divinity Dean L. Gregory Jones, "and his winsome spirit made him a beloved member of our community."
The new chapel to bear Goodson's name will be part of a building for the divinity school community that also will include an indoor/outdoor cafehigh-tech classrooms and offices. Hartman-Cox Architects, of Washington, D.C., will design the space, which will adjoin the school's current facilities on Duke's West Campus.
"The generosity of friends and alumni has made it possible for us to begin new ministries that seemed out of reach only a few years ago," Jones said.
Since late 1999, the Divinity School has launched the Duke Institute for Care at the End of Life, the Learned Clergy Initiative, the Duke Pastoral Leadership Program and the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation.
Groundbreaking for the new building is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 10 to coincide with the divinity school's 75th anniversary.
Duke Divinity School is housed in three buildings: Old Divinity and the Gray Building, which were part of the original Gothic campus when it opened in 1930, and the adjoining New Divinity Building, which was completed in 1972.
"Bishop Goodson consistently reminded us that we were 'stewards of another man's dream.' He wanted us to remember that The Duke Endowment's work is to care for and carry out the legacy of James B. Duke," said Elizabeth H. Locke, president of The Duke Endowment. "In making this gift, we hope to honor our beloved trustee and place his name forever with Mr. Duke's. They both were exemplary stewards and leaders."
Goodson was the first president of the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race. His efforts to help blacks in Alabama obtain civil rights paralleled the push by Duke Divinity School faculty to integrate Duke. He served 27 years as a parish minister in the Western North Carolina Conference before he was elected bishop.
The Duke Endowment, based in Charlotte, is one of the nation's largest private foundations. Its mission is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare and spiritual life.
Duke Divinity School, one of seven professional schools on the Duke campus, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It enrolls approximately 475 students from 40 denominations.