Baylor Alumna and Former Obama Administration Special Assistant Melissa Rogers Will Speak at the J.M. Dawson Spring 2018 Wamble Symposium
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (March 26, 2018) – Melissa Rogers, B.A. ’88, J.D., nonresident senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, will be the guest speaker at the Spring 2018 Hugh and Beverly Wamble Endowed Lecture of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University.
Rogers will present her lecture, "Faith in American Public Life: The Constitutional Framework and Current Controversies," at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in Kayser Auditorium in the Hankamer Academic Center, 1428 S. Fifth St.
“Melissa Rogers is an alumna of Baylor and has been recognized for her work in the arena of church-state issues,” said Doug Weaver, Ph.D., professor of religion and director of the the J.M. Dawson Institute. “She is, simply put, one of the top experts on issues of religious freedom in the United States today. She is that well respected, and her expertise is acknowledged by scholars and politicians and people of faith.”
Rogers served as special assistant to the president and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships during the Obama administration. She holds a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and Phi Beta Kappa honors from Baylor University.
“In today’s politically contested era, a lecture on the First Amendment, free speech and free exercise of religion could not be more relevant,” Weaver said. “Students interested in religion, politics and the Constitution should not miss the opportunity to hear Rogers speak.”
Dr. Hugh Wamble taught church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Missouri from 1959 until his death in 1991 and was passionately devoted to the Baptist principle of religious liberty. He represented the Missouri Baptist Convention in legislative matters from 1967 to 1975 and was an acknowledged expert on the constitutionality of "parochiaid," government aid to religious schools. He was the author of The Shape of Faith, Baptists, Bible and Authority, Glossalalia in Christian History and Through Trial to Triumph.
In 1997, at the request of Beverly Wamble, the Dawson Institute received a generous donation to establish the G. Hugh Wamble and Beverly C. Wamble Fund for Religious Liberty. In addition, the Institute received Wamble's extensive collection of theological and historical research, as well as his private papers and archives, which will be used to educate future generations of students.
This event, free and open to the public, is presented by Baylor's J.M. Dawson Endowed Lectures of Church-State Studies, the religion department and Baylor University Press.
For more information, visit the Church-State Studies website.
by Brooke Battersby, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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