Father Damien de Veuster was a Belgian priest who ministered to a community of exiles on the island of Molokai. He has been, for many years, the unofficial patron saint of AIDS/HIV, a disease that has a history of misunderstanding akin to that of the illness he himself died of—Hansen’s disease, or leprosy.
Susan Henking
Susan Henking has been President of Shimer College since July 1, 2012. Previously she was Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. In addition to her leadership in higher education, her scholarly work focuses on theories of religion as well as religion in relation to gender and sexuality. She is co-editor, with Gary David Comstock, of Que(e)rying Religion (1997) and, with William Parsons and Diane Jonte Pace, of Mourning Religion( 2008).The views shared here are, of course, neither those of Shimer College nor of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, but solely those of Susan Henking. Both these colleges and Professor Henking value the diversity of ideas and the value of open debate.
