Pacific School of Religion

PSR was established in 1866 as the first seminary west of the Mississippi River and has a mission to “prepare spiritually rooted leaders for social transformation,” according to PSR President Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy.

Last semester, a campuswide controversy rooted in the ASUC brought to light a rift between the Christian and LGBTQ+ communities at UC Berkeley.

Vegosen framed conversation at this event with the modern interpretation of the Hebrew words “taharah” and “tumah.” These words, Vegosen explained, are commonly thought to translate to “pure” and “impure.” They are more often used to distinguish people who do and do not menstruate; nonmenstruators being pure and menstruators being impure.

On Nov. 13, a student at the Pacific School of Religion noticed that someone had drawn a swastika in the Bible usually put out for worship. A week later, a staff member noticed that someone had written “Adolph Hitler” on a piece of paper on the bulletin board at the entry of the chapel, as first reported by Berkeleyside.

Time for UC Berkeley to be responsible for its students' quality of life and work on their need for safe places to live, as well as their education. I hope students will take action on this and push our alumni to do so, too.

The city of Berkeley appointed three UC Berkeley students to city commissions Monday through a student empowerment campaign between UC Berkeley student groups and Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

The Pacific School of Religion, or PSR, has put one of its campus buildings, the Seeley G. Mudd Building, up for rent this month, according to commercial realtor Lori Rosenthal, who is handling the property lease for Gordon Commercial Real Estate Services.

“I don’t want to own rentals in Berkeley, I don’t want to own an office in Berkeley, and I don’t want to build in Berkeley, ever again,” Winkler said.

UC Berkeley has discontinued its religious studies program, removing it from the application process so new students will no longer be able to apply for the major.

In the hopes of expanding affordable student housing, Berkeley Student Cooperative is set to discuss its potential acquisition of underused student housing owned by the Pacific School of Religion in North Berkeley.