Sidwell's Earl Harrison Honored by Yale Divinity School

Earl G. Harrison was one of five alumni of the Yale Divinity School YDS given Awards for Distinction at the Fall Convocation on October 9. Honored this year were Talitha Arnold ‘80, Mr. Harrison ‘59, Stanley Hauerwas ‘65, G. Scott Morris ‘80, and George Todd ‘51. Kenneth W. Clapp, president of the YDS Alumnal Board, introduced the award recipients, and YDS Dean Richard J. Wood made the presentations.

Mr. Harrison, honored for “Lay Ministry within the Church,” has devoted his career to elementary and secondary education. After earning the B.D. degree from YDS, he completed his M.A. in social and philosophical foundations of education at Columbia University Teachers’ College. A member of the Religious Society of Friends, he has been an educator and administrator in several Friends’ schools, including the Brooklyn Friends School New York, NY, the William Penn Charter School Philadelphia, PA, and Westtown School Westtown, PA. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Haverford College in 1991.

Mr. Harrison has been head of The Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. since 1978, where his leadership, vision, innovation, and commitment to Christian values have caused the school to become known for community service as well as a rigorous academic program, strong athletics, and a multi-racial, ethnic, and religious student body.

Yale Divinity School was established in 1822, though ministers have been trained by Yale since the founding of Yale College in 1701. Today, YDS instructs students of all the major Christian church bodies. Its mission states that it seeks to create “a communal environment which combines rigorous scholarly inquiry, public worship and spiritual nurture.” It offers three degrees, a Master of Divinity M.Div., formerly known as a Bachelor of Divinity B.D.; a Master of Arts in Religion M.A.R.; and a Master of Sacred Theology S.T.M.. The divinity faculty and students work in close conjunction with the Department of Religious Studies of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.