Former United States Senator (and retired Episcopal priest) John C. Danforth’s foundation gives $30 million dollars to establish a center which will explore the role of religion in politics:
Danforth gives $30M for Washington University religion center
Washington University in St. Louis is establishing a center that will explore the role of religion in politics, thanks to a $30 million gift from the Danforth Foundation.
The creation of the center, which includes the recruitment of five new faculty members with endowed professorships, is believed to be the largest gift of its kind made to a university to fund such an academic center.
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“The John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics reflects the legacy of (former U.S. Sen.) Jack Danforth and his belief in the importance of a civil discourse that treats differences with respect,” Chancellor Mark Wrighton said Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “The center will serve as an ideologically neutral place that will foster rigorous, unbiased scholarship and encourage conversations between diverse and even conflicting points of view.”