The 2026 Kellogg Lecture took place at the Sheraton Commander in Cambridge, MA, with alum events hosted on Lesley University’s Brattle Campus.
Alum Reception & "Passing of the Torch" Ceremony & Commissioning Honoring Freedom Fighter Ruby Sales ’98
Friday, May 29, 2026
Lesley University - 99 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
5-7pm ET - Alum Reception and Garden Party
*7-9pm ET - Ceremony Honoring Ruby Sales
A highlight of the weekend was a Friday evening ceremony recognizing and celebrating Ruby Sales ’98— legendary leader, Freedom Fighter, public theologian, and scholar.
Kellogg Lecture delivered by
Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Sheraton Commander Hotel - 16 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138
9am - Registration and Coffee Hour
10am - The 2026 Kellogg Lecture "Rejecting Eurocentric Christianity"
Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre is a professor, author, documentarian, scholar, and activist who serves as Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.
About the lecture:
Eurocentric Christianity is detrimental to marginalized communities. For those seeking an ethical response to the world's crises, eurocentric Christianity must be rejected for however the disenfranchised understand their faith. Decolonizing Christianity is an exploration of how to accomplish this and faithfully live what we claim to believe.
11am - Break
11:15am - Panel Discussion and Response with Dr. De La Torre, Dean Lydia Bucklin, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan, Dr. Paulo Ueti, and the EDS Community
12:15pm - Lunch
2pm - Alum Community Gathering at Lesley University, St. John's Chapel - A time for community building, honoring alums, praying and singing together, and carrying forward the work of EDS. We encourage alums unable to attend in person to join us virtually on Zoom for a full hybrid experience.
During this event, a booklet, entitled, “After the Death of a Martyr: A collection of memories in honor of the Episcopal Theological School classes of 1965, 1966, 1967,” was distributed. It is a collection of essays and student journal entries from 1966–1967 that reflect on the raw grief and internal conflict of a campus suddenly brought face-to-face with the deadly realities of the Civil Rights Movement and contrasts the bold civil disobedience of the Episcopal Society for Racial and Cultural Unity (ESCRU) with a hesitant church hierarchy. Rather than painting Daniels as a flawless icon, reflections from his classmates humanize his doubts and ordinary imperfections, offering a powerful reminder that justice relies on ordinary people with extraordinary commitments.
After the Death of a Martyr Publication
4pm - Events conclude
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Sheraton Commander Hotel
Location: 16 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Check-in: 3:00 pm
Check-out: 12:00 pm
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Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre
Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre is a professor, author, documentarian, scholar, activist and is currently a Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He has served as President of the Society of Christian Ethics and Executive Officer for the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion. Dr. De La Torre is a recognized international Fulbright scholar who has taught courses at Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (Mexico), Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), University of Johannesburg (South Africa), and Johannes Gutenberg University (Mainz, Germany). Additionally, he has lectured at several prestigious universities across the globe.
Advocating for an ethics of place, De La Torre has taken students on immersion classes to Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Peruvian Amazon, and the Mexico/U.S. border to walk the migrant trails. Among multiple yearly speaking engagements, he has also been a week-long speaker at the Chautauqua Institute, and the plenary address at the Parliament of World Religions.
De La Torre has received several national book awards and is a frequent speaker at national and international scholarly religious events and meetings. He also speaks at churches and nonprofit organizations on the intersection of religion with race, class, gender, and sexuality.
In 2020, the American Academy of Religion bestowed on him the Excellence in Teaching Award. The following year, 2021, the American Academy also conferred upon him the Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award. De La Torre is the first scholar to receive the two most prestigious awards presented by his guild and the first Latinx to receive either one of them.
