Del’s part-time post in OCRL during the past several years included serving as a counselor for men of color and overseeing several significant programs. The OCRL team and many students, witnessed firsthand his many gifts and professional insights. We anticipate his contributions in this new leadership role with real enthusiasm.
Del holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University and a Master of Social Work degree (focusing on psychotherapy) from New York University. His extensive leadership experience serving Protestant church communities includes varied settings in the Black Church tradition. Over the past 12 years, he served a historically predominantly white congregation in its transformation towards becoming racially diverse. In 2019, he received a Certificate of Recognition from the Rhode Island chapter of the American Baptist Churches USA – ABCUSA acknowledging his 20th year of ordination in good standing.
As a counselor with the Office of the Chaplains, Del provided support to students individually and programmatically through groups including “Soul Food," a group for Black-identified undergraduate students supported by OCRL’s Truth Racial Healing and Transformation grant from AAC&U; and currently he co-leads a “Gratitude Group,” a non-religious gathering that welcomes all students to explore and share the positive things in life. Del effectively oversaw the 2021 program grant of $40,000 that OCRL received from Interfaith Youth Core’s “Faith in the Vaccine” project that engaged 22 Brown students as “vaccine ambassadors'' in an effort aimed at increasing vaccine usage locally across a variety of religious communities.
We are truly grateful to those who provided leadership for the search process including: Sarah Kim ’22, Lucy Tian ’22, and Joseph Delamerced ’22; Religious Life Affiliates Lisa Yang ‘20 and Jarrod Lynn ‘05 MA ‘07; Fr. Edmund McCullough, Associate Chaplain of the University for the Catholic Community; as well as for the staff support provided by Philip Torphy in OCRL and Lisa Middleton in Campus Life
Del’s new role begins officially on July 1, 2022 and we hope you will join us in congratulating him for this marvelous new step. We are delighted that Del’s partner, Dr. Francoise Hamlin, Professor of History and Africana Studies and their son Elijah, already beloved members of the Brown community, share Brown’s excitement for Del’s new role.