Speaker Series: Our Spiritual Strivings

Join Jonathan Smith, our guest preacher for the day, as we debrief the worship experience and go deeper. Dr Smith is part of our focus on Black History Month.

Jonathan is the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement at St Louis University. Among his priorities are providing leadership on the Clock Tower Accords; offering support to the President’s Diversity Council; reaching out across campus to define University diversity goals; and developing strategies and assessment plans that are specific to diversity and inclusion. The Cross-Cultural Center and Center for Global Citizenship also fall under his leadership.

Smith has been a fierce advocate for programming that promotes cultural competency, literacy and fluency; racial, gender and cultural support; and connecting SLU to the greater St. Louis community.

Smith has been a distinguished faculty member at SLU since 2002, serving as assistant professor and community liaison in the African American Studies Program. He has been involved in supporting a variety of social justice initiatives at the University, including co-convening the Strategic Plan Topical Working Group on Social Justice and Responsibility, serving on the advisory board of Micah House and working periodically with the Access and Success Group.

Jonathan has asked us to read and wrestle a bit with Chapter 1 of THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by WEB DuBois. These six pages are important. Please pickup a copy of the reading in the Gathering Space or let us know that you would like it sent to you electronically. You will notice that we have highlighted one paragraph on the first page. Please become very familiar with that section. You may even want to commit it to memory?