GTU’s 5-Year Strategic Vision

Members of the GTU Community:

As many of you know, prior to serving the Graduate Theological Union as dean and president, I attended the GTU as a doctoral student, graduating in 2004. Arriving on campus to begin my program right at the precipice of the 21st century, I was full of energy and anticipation: both to commence my studies, and to be at the forefront of shaping theological education’s future. The GTU, I knew, would no doubt be a leader in this regard. Indeed, there are many ways in which my experience of that time mirrors the sense of hope and possibility that I feel in this moment, as the world witnesses the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States.

Today, a little more than 20 years since I began my journey with the Graduate Theological Union, the time has come for the GTU to take its place fully and resolutely as a chief innovator in the realm of higher learning for religion, theology, and spirituality. Over the past seven months, a diverse group of GTU community members inclusive of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees gathered to form a dedicated Strategic Planning Committee, tasked with shaping a bold future vision for the GTU. Working in close collaboration with Trium Group, a renowned San Francisco-based strategic consulting firm with expertise working in non-profit and higher education contexts, the Committee devoted countless hours to listening and learning from you — our community — about the GTU’s opportunities for growth, and paired these insights with deep research to develop a bold and innovative 5-Year Strategic Vision poised to guide the GTU’s evolution.

Now is the time for the GTU to meet the moment, and to boldly chart our course forward into the 21st century. If there is anything of which we can be assured as we look ahead to this new chapter, it is that as an institution and a community, the GTU is gifted with a profound capacity to innovate, to respond to change in a spirit of resilience and faith, and to find common cause in our commitment to the GTU’s enduring mission.

I and other members of the GTU’s leadership look forward to sharing the GTU’s 5-Year Strategic Vision with you, and to working together in forging the road ahead.

Peace and blessings,
Uriah