“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9
Grace Bassekele is a junior sociology and anthropology major at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., and a recent undergraduate fellowship participant. She is the sole member of the Environmental Justice team at Carleton and uses storytelling to illustrate what sustainability means through an environmental justice lens. Working with the Sustainability Office at Carleton, Grace has organized a roundtable series, promoted the sharing of individual sustainability stories, hosted speakers, and written project proposals.
This background experience set up Grace to be an incredible contributor to the inaugural 2023 Fellowship for Undergraduates Program in the Miller Summer Youth Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, with its theme “Listening to the Land: Cultivating Hope through Spiritual Practice and Theological Reflection in Times of Crisis.”
Fellowship for Undergraduates Program
Here Grace offers a snapshot of some meaningful moments during her summer at PTS:
It was a sunny and smoky Pittsburgh Thursday night, and my sweet tears were rolling down my face—my instinctive reaction to parting ways with someone I care about. Let me retrace my steps.
We were concluding the end of our fourth week in the Fellowship for Undergraduates Program with our workshop leader, Dr. Julia O’Grady. Coming to us from North Carolina, Julia graced us with her gentle and powerful presence, joining us for lunch and dinner (devouring wonderful Pittsburgh foods!), strolling the neighboring areas, taking care of us (she gave me a couple packages of senna tea—yes, I was constipated), and dedicating many hours to becoming our friend, as her beautiful personality radiated among us.
That Thursday was Julia’s last day with us—those four days were so sweet that we ate them up fast. I vividly remember that it was a hazy day outside because of the wildfires burning up the forests directly north of us in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Because of the impact of the fires, we were not able to advance to the Garfield Community Farm, like we usually did every Thursday after two days of workshops and a day of contemplative activities. The low-quality, unsafe air was making its way south—and our lungs wouldn’t be too happy if we’d spent much time in it.
We were directly encountering an element of the climate crisis: poor air quality. We spent most of our discussions tying our theological learnings back to questions of environmental ethics. As we were sniffing one consequence of the climate crisis through our nostrils, we started brainstorming: What experiential learning activity could we do in the afternoon to replace our weekly urban farm visit? I suggested the idea of going to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden because I wanted to experience all that Pittsburgh had to offer. Luckily, the leadership was very enthusiastic, so off we went.
At Phipps, we sipped delicious tea as we wandered throughout the garden, admiring the sustainable architecture and the living plants. Afterwards, I had my one on one meeting with Julia O’Grady—she encouraged all of us to have a one on one conversation with her. We went to a coffee shop a couple of blocks away from the Seminary. We talked for almost two hours before we had to part ways. Those were her last couple of hours before she had to head back to North Carolina.
Yes, I cried afterwards because she was not just a professor of communication studies, but also a mother, a friend to me and many others, a mentor, and so much more. We are still in contact. In fact, she was the person who recommended the program to me, and she was one of my highlights of the trip. It was great to sit down in her workshops and immerse myself in her newest book project that examines American obsessions with productivity and “time management” (kairos v. chronos!). From doing timed competitions to deconstructing our relation to the clock, we learned so much and each day I’m trying to implement the learnings and practices from the summer into my life.
Learn more about this summer’s Fellowship for Undergraduates, six-week living-learning fellowship program that will take place on the Seminary’s campus.