Alumna Honors Mother for Encouraging Her to Travel

In 1983, Rebecca Shade '54 Mignot chose to honor her mother by creating the Alice Pope Shade Fund at Susquehanna. Because of her mother's forward thinking and encouragement to travel, Mignot enjoyed a long career as an educator in Liberia, Libya and Saudi Arabia before returning to Danville, Pa.

Mignot's generosity was amplified by a gift-matching program through ExxonMobil, where her husband, Jack, was employed. This has enabled the university to sponsor an annual lecture by nationally and internationally renowned religious scholars and leaders.

The lectures typically explore the role religion plays in various aspects of public life: civic, social, spiritual, political, moral, environmental and the formation of individual character. Lecturers are selected on the basis of their scholarship and their ability to meaningfully engage students and members of the community.

Some highlights of recent Pope Shade lecturers are below. The 2019 Alice Pope Shade Lecture was presented by Joe Lieberman, the former U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Lieberman is perhaps best known as Al Gore's running mate in 2000. He was the first Jewish candidate on a major American political party presidential ticket.

2017-18: Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel laureate
2016-17: David Gregory-"How's Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey"
2013-14: The Rev. Dr. William H. Willimon- "Thinking About Jesus in a Post-Christian World"
2012-13: The Yuval Ron Ensemble-"The Mystical Music of the Middle East"