Zubik to give Waynesburg University commencement
The Most Rev. David Zubik, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, will speak at Waynesburg University’s annual commencement May 3, the school announced Thursday.
The event will honor about 730 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.
The Rev. Peter Paris, the Elmer G. Homrighausen professor emeritus of Christian social ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary, will serve as the baccalaureate speaker.
Baccalaureate services will be held at 11 a.m. in Roberts Chapel, and commencement will be held at 2 p.m. on the front lawn of Miller Hall. In case of inclement weather, the commencement ceremony will be held in Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Families are encouraged to arrive early as the commencement processional begins about 20 minutes prior to the ceremony.
Both Paris and Zubik will be honored with honorary degrees, doctors of humane letters, for the ways in which their lives and personal missions relate to the mission of Waynesburg University.
Zubik was ordained a priest in 1975. He was later consecrated a bishop before being appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In 2007, he was named the Twelfth Bishop of Pittsburgh by Pope Benedict XVI and was installed at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis.
Zubik holds an undergraduate degree as well as a master’s degree in education administration from Duquesne University and a degree in theology from Saint Mary Seminary and University.
In addition to Princeton Theological Seminary, Paris has taught at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn., Howard University School of Divinity in Washington D.C., Union Theological Seminary in New York City, N.Y., and Harvard University Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. He has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from both Boston University and the Society of Christian Ethics.
Paris was elected to several national offices, including the presidencies of the American Theological Society, the Society of Christian Ethics, the Society for the Study of Black Religion and the American Academy of Religion.
Paris published several books including “Black Religious Leaders: Unity in Diversity;” “The Social Teaching of the Black Churches;” “The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse;” and “Virtues and Values: The African and African American Experience.” He authored numerous academic journal articles and book chapters and edited several books. He is the general editor of a series with New York University Press on religion, race and ethnicity and he continues to lecture and teach widely throughout the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, India and Brazil.
Paris was ordained in the African United Baptist Association of the Atlantic Baptist Convention of Canada and served churches in various roles in addition to his present role on the Freedom and Justice Advisory Committee of the Baptist World Alliance.
He completed two degrees at Acadia University and earned his master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Chicago.