BUSTH Announces Distinguished Alumni for 2022
August 2022 – The Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is pleased to announce this year’s Distinguished Alumni for 2022. A list of previous winners can be found on the BUSTH website.
“The 2022 Distinguished Alumni are change-leaders, each in their own way,” says G. Sujin Pak, dean. “They model for us the possibilities of visionary leadership in our world today for Theology & the Arts, support of clergypersons through various transitions in their vocations and duties, and faithful protest in the face of daunting injustices. We celebrate these alumni/ae for the many ways they powerfully embody prophetic witness and prophetic hope—speaking boldly into theological and social crises with conviction, compassion, and wisdom—calling us all to be the change needed to enact and embody a more just and peaceful world.”
A celebration of these alums and their achievements will be part of our annual Community Day, scheduled for Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
2022 School of Theology Distinguished Alumni
Dr. Michelle A. Graveline (CFA 1974, STH 1976)
Reverend R. Preston Price (STH 1970)
Reverend Howard-John Wesley (STH 1997)
In the category of Emerging Leader:
Reverend Dorlimar Lebrón Malavé (STH 2018)
2022 Distinguished Alumni Biographies
Dr. Michelle Graveline (1976, MSM), taught at Assumption University in Worcester for 35 years, retiring in 2019 as Professor Emerita of Music. She was active as a collegiate and community chorus conductor, teacher, adjudicator and clinician in Massachusetts. With the Assumption Chorale, she performed in numerous European countries on15 national and international concert tours. Her choruses performed at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and twice had the distinction of performing for Pope John Paul II.
In 2008 Dr. Graveline received Assumption’s Honorary Alumna Award, and in 2011 received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Contribution to the Mission. She served on numerous committees, including the Representative Faculty Senate, which she served as President from 2015-2017. She served multiple terms as Chair of the Art and Music Department.
Graveline received the BMus and MSM degrees from Boston University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
Graveline served as President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and has served as an adjudicator for numerous festivals, including the Massachusetts All-State Vocal Auditions. She has given workshops at ACDA conferences, for the Massachusetts Music Educators, and the Rhode Island Music Educators.
Also a noted harpsichordist and organist, Graveline has performed at numerous venues in the US and Europe, as well as locally.
Reverend R. Preston Price (1970, MTh) has been married to Jean Price for 55 years. Jean is retired from teaching and being a professional organist. They have two sons. Robert is Dean of the Saint Matthew Episcopal Cathedral in Dallas; John is Superintendent of Schools in the city of North Chicago. The family includes two wonderful daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.
Beginning in 1970, Preston served seven churches within the California-Pacific Annual Conference: rural, suburban, urban; one with a majority of members POC, one a new church start, one with two language congregations (Korean and Samoan) embedded. During that time, he participated in graduate-level education with Walter Wink, Eric Law, Marie Fortune, Lombard Center, JustPeace, and a two-year Spiritual Direction certification. He took two travel seminars: Palestine and Spiritual Sites including Taizé and Assisi. He served with ten associates and five seminary interns. He was volunteer chaplain in an emergency room, established a chaplaincy program at a children’s hospital, served on the board of a sheltered workshop and Red Cross, co-hosted a weekly radio show, and was a member of a city traffic commission. In every appointment he founded or supported clergy support groups.
After retiring and moving to Chicago and the Northern Illinois Conference, Preston served three interim appointments of five months each; two with majority of members POC. He then served for six years as a $1/year associate for Urban Village Church — a United Methodist new church start that aggressively/assertively welcomes LGBTQIA+ members. He also served as Parliamentarian for Bishop Sally Dyck for four years. He served as Mentor or Courtesy Mentor to 10 students considering Candidacy for Ministry and served for two years as pastoral assistant to Dean of Students Cynthia Wilson at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He also taught for six years as a part of the faculty of the Course of Study program at Garrett.
Preston enrolled in the School of Theology immediately following his graduation from California Western University. He graduated in 1970 and served as a member of the Alumni Council of the School for several years in the 1990s and as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee from 2009-2015. During that time, he and his family established the Rev. Dr. Robert P. Price, II Scholarship honoring his father who received his PhD degree from the School in 1958. He has also been able to financially support several specific students in pursuit of their degrees. He and his wife (also a graduate of Boston University with a Masters in English) are members of the Claflin Society of the University.
Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley (1997, MDiv) is the exciting, gifted and anointed Senior Pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) in Alexandria, VA. A courageous, dynamic, and visionary leader, he is only the eighth pastor in the church’s 218-year history of worshipping Christ while serving humankind. Under Dr. Wesley’s extraordinary leadership, the Alfred Street Baptist Church has grown from 2,500 members to 10,000 members, 50,000 plus monthly online viewers and 80 active ministries with an emphasis on children’s ministries and missions. Since 2020, the Alfred Street Baptist Church has also donated more than $5.4 million dollars to over 200 organizations through their Tithe-the-Tithe initiative.
An empathetic pastor who is not afraid to take on social and political issues, Dr. Wesley led community protest marches against the New York grand jury’s 2014 decision not to indict an NYPD officer whose chokehold led to the death of Eric Gardner. His sermon, “When the Verdict Hurts,” was acknowledged in Time magazine’s July 29, 2013 cover story, “After Trayvon” as one of the best sermons preached in the United States following the “not guilty” verdict in the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman, who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Three of Dr. Wesley’s sermons, “When the Verdict Hurts,” “A Rizpah Response” (and with the black hoody he donned while preaching this sermon), and “Tell Your Own Story,” have been archived in the faith-based collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC. With his guidance, Alfred Street Baptist Church became the first and only faith-based institution founding donor of the NMAAHC with a $1 million donation. Dr. Wesley captivated some thought-provoking leaders of our great nation at the 2019 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 2019 Prayer Breakfast as the Keynote Speaker with the sermonic address of “Let the Church Say Amen.”
Dr. Wesley is the son of the late Rev. Dr. Alvin and Dr. Helene Wesley and represents the fourth generation of Baptist preachers in his family. He is an avid golfer, movie- goer, spades player, and aspiring chef. He is a Lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., as well as a member of Sigma Pi Phi, the first successful and oldest African-American Greek-lettered organization. His sons, Howard-John II (Deuce) and Cooper Reece, are the greatest joys of his life.
Emerging Leader
Reverend Dorlimar Lebrón Malavé (2018, MDiv) was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York. She currently serves as Lead Pastor at the First Spanish United Methodist Church, also known as “The People’s Church” in Spanish Harlem. Dorlimar holds a Bachelor in Sociology concentrating on Black and Latinx Studies from the City College of New York and a Master of Divinity with a focus in Liberation Theology and Ethics from Boston University School of Theology. Her passion centers around de-cloaking, naming and resisting injustice in our society. She is a sister, a daughter and believer in change. In all things she strives to create spaces where love, hope, peace, justice, and liberation are imagined, created and sustained.
While at STH, Dorlimar excelled in in her leadership and participated in many organizations: Raíces Latinas Student Association, Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, Raices Latina Leaderships Institute, Anna Howard Shaw Center, National Association of Latina Methodist Clergy Women (ACLAMEN), The New England Annual Conference, Hispanic Summer Program (HSP), and National Hispanic Caucus of the UMC (MARCHA).