Karen Sue Smith, MDiv ’84, honors Professors Elisabeth and Francis Schüssler Fiorenza with a financial aid fund in their name to support the next generation of religious studies scholars.
For nearly thirty years, Karen Sue Smith, MDiv ’84, wrote and edited for national publications reaching key parts of the Catholic community and beyond—from Commonweal (a lay opinion journal) to CHURCH (a quarterly for pastors, lay parish staff, and diocesan leaders) to America (the Jesuit opinion journal). Throughout her career, she procured and edited the work of biblical scholars, theologians and religious commentators, including Donald Senior, Elizabeth Johnson, Martin Marty, James Martin, James Keenan, Monika Hellwig, and J. Bryan Hehir (an HDS dean). But deepening her relationship to Catholicism has been a lifelong journey.
Raised Evangelical in Phoenix, Arizona, Smith converted to Catholicism while spending four years at Koinoina Farm, an ecumenical, interracial Christian community in Georgia with a housing ministry that spawned Habitat for Humanity. Struck by the works of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Henri Nouwen, she sought summer study at the University of Notre Dame to further her understanding of Catholicism, earning a master’s in liturgy in 1981.
There, she first crossed paths with Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, who was an associate professor in Notre Dame’s department of theology. In a recent conversation, Karen Sue Smith discusses her inspiration for establishing a financial aid fund for students at Harvard Divinity School.
HDS: You generously support financial aid efforts at the School—including establishing a new fund named in honor of Professors Elisabeth and Francis Schüssler Fiorenza. Can you tell us about the inspiration for this gift?
Smith: When I was at Koinonia, I read an article Elisabeth had written. So when I went to Notre Dame, I took a Scripture class with her. If you have read anything by Elisabeth, you know she is a wordsmith and one of the founders of the Catholic feminist movement. Besides her outstanding scholarship and love of teaching, I was struck by her personal example, especially her connection and love for her husband and daughter. Most Catholic theologians then were priests.
“...it’s especially important to me to offer financial aid for students. If other alumni and friends want to add to this fund, please contribute; the bigger the fund, the more students it will serve.”
Elisabeth and Francis were in seminary as lay students during the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), a council that changed the ways the Church understood itself and engaged society. Elisabeth and Francis studied with some of the key theologians of Vatican II. For me, they embody much of that theology. So, when I became an editor, I asked them to write. Francis wrote a book review for Commonweal and the opening article for a series on the Kingdom of God for CHURCH. Elisabeth wrote on feminist theology—the Women’s Church movement and the discipleship of equals, which describes the laity as it was developed at Vatican II. Because they can both write for a general audience (I love this about them), Elisabeth and Francis brought their work to many who would not have read it otherwise. I was happy to work with them, even in these very small ways. And I cherish the opportunity to establish a fund in their names.
HDS: What drew you to Harvard Divinity School as a student?
Smith: In the last year of my master’s program at Notre Dame, I was talking to a faculty member and friend, Tjaard Hommes. I said, “I love what I am studying here, but I feel so un-Catholic at this school, like I am always on the outside looking in.” He had saved all his copies of Harvard Divinity Bulletin because he had been on the HDS faculty. When he opened them he was so enthusiastic; his enthusiasm grabbed me. He encouraged me to apply. I asked him “What makes you think I would ever get in?” He said, “Karen, you are more like a Harvard student than any student I have met here.” I had no idea what he meant, but with his encouragement, I applied to HDS and to two other schools. When I visited their campuses, I noticed at the first two that all the students looked alike. They were nice, but no one asked a single question. I felt disruptive with my inquiry; I didn’t really fit in there.
When I visited Harvard Divinity School, everything was interreligious and richly diverse. I met a monk in orange robes and another student with long red hair, a rhinestone in her nose, wearing a long purple dress with ruffles. I saw a range of opportunities, and everyone asked questions. For the first time, I felt Catholic. I remember thinking: “This is the place.”
HDS: You generously support the HDS Fund, which provides vital, flexible support for the School. Can you share your thoughts on the importance of both the HDS Fund and financial aid resources to support the School’s mission?
Smith: My mother was widowed when she was 23 and had two children. She was the only woman I ever knew who worked. All the other mothers did not work at that time, and she provided for us. She also made everything fun. If we did not have a dessert to eat, she would make what she called rice pudding, which is rice with sugar and cinnamon. She would talk it up so that we thought we were getting something made for a king. Because everything was a bit hard for us, I learned frugality.
Actually, there were years when I never could afford to give HDS anything monetarily. So I feel grateful to be able to give something back now—especially financial aid, because at every school I attended, I received financial aid scholarships, job opportunities, and other support to further my education. I often worked three jobs at once too. So, it’s especially important to me to offer financial aid for students. If other alumni and friends want to add to this fund, please contribute; the bigger the fund, the more students it will serve.
—by Suzannah Lutz, ALM ’21
Investing in the Next Generation of Ethical Leaders
As one of the smallest Schools at the University, and the most reliant on endowment income for its annual operating expenses, HDS makes a conscious effort to offset the cost of tuition for students—with more than $10 million dedicated to student financial aid in FY22–23. The School utilizes endowment income, annual revenue, and staffing capacity prudently to ensure students receive the support they need to meet their academic goals, but increasing endowed and current-use funds is crucial to ensuring a strong financial aid program for generations of students to come.
There are several ways to support students as they pursue careers and vocations grounded in ethical leadership and religious scholarship: financial aid, field education, student internships, and more. An investment in student support helps educate scholars, ministers, and practitioners who will lead the world—with critical and ethical thinking, with mutual respect and compassion, and with the practiced hope of bringing people together across divides.
Ways to support students at Harvard Divinity School include:
• Gifts to establish endowed scholarships, which ensure the long-term success of HDS’s financial aid program—supporting generations of students in perpetuity.
• Flexible, current-use gifts, which offer immediate impact and allow HDS to provide more financial aid for today’s students.
• Endowed and current-use funds for field education and experiential learning possibilities, helping to educate leaders who bring creativity, imagination, and meaning to the world’s most pressing challenges.
(Note: In addition to creating new funds, alumni and friends who know the Schüssler Fiorenzas are welcome to contribute to the existing fund established by Karen Sue Smith.)
HDS welcomes the opportunity to talk about ways to support students, including how gifts can be made over time. Please connect with Associate Dean for Development and External Relations Lori Stevens to learn more about how to make an impact.