New Office of Multicultural Relations Established at Princeton Seminary

June 25, 2007, Princeton, NJ–Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the creation of an Office of Multicultural Relations. The new office, located in the Department of Student Life, will focus on the concerns of international students, promote campus programs relating to opportunities for and appreciation of multi- and crosscultural experiences, facilitate the life and work of the racial-ethnic councils of the faculty, and assist various Seminary constituencies in providing learning opportunities regarding multicultural and racial-ethnic concerns. The office is an effort to live out the Seminary’s mission statement, to “embrace a rich racial and ethnic diversity and the breadth of communions represented in the worldwide church.” 

“As our strategic plan says, mission is an interactive endeavor,” said Seminary President Iain Torrance. “The diversity of our student body is one of our strengths, and we want to facilitate conversation among all members of the community to shape Christian leaders who are not afraid of difference, who challenge narrow thinking and build bridges between communities.”

The Reverend Victor Aloyo Jr. will direct the Office of Multicultural Relations, effective July 1, 2007.  Aloyo grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and for ten years was pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Redeemer, a multilingual and multicultural congregation in East Brooklyn, before becoming the Seminary’s director of vocations in 1999. An M.Div. graduate of Princeton Seminary, Aloyo also served for fifteen years as program director of the Hispanic Leadership Development and Enhancement Program sponsored by the Seminary’s Center of Continuing Education. 

Princeton is the first Presbyterian seminary to create an office of multicultural relations, and Aloyo thinks this is in part because of Princeton’s location.  “We’re near the city of New York, which is a microcosm of the world, and we’re near Philadelphia, Newark, and Trenton, at the hub of this cultural richness that we cannot deny,” he said.  “In order for church leadership to be effective in this postmodern, multilingual, pluralistic society, we need to know that we have all been endowed with gifts and talents, that people of all cultures and races can contribute equally and effectively to our society. The office will be an instrument to create a space for everyone to share their experiences, whether that is developing a church in Ghana or a mission outreach in Colombia.                                                                                                        

In the 2006–2007 academic year, the Seminary’s student body of 704 included sixty-six African American students, forty-six Asian American students, twenty-four Latino/a students, two Native American students, and fifty international students from twenty-four countries.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 as the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian seminary in the country, with seven graduate degree programs and 700 students.

For more information, contact the Communications/Publications Office at 609.497.7760 or visit www.ptsem.edu.