Macalester Chaplain named President of Association of College and University Religious Affairs

St. Paul, Minn. – Lucy Forster-Smith, Chaplain and Associate Dean for Religious and Spiritual Life at Macalester College, has been named President of Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA), a national organization of religious professionals serving institutions of higher learning. She is an ordained Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) minister and has been at Macalester since 1994.

Forster-Smith has served in ministry on campuses for over 25 years. She has a M.Div. and Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary.

“I’m honored to have been appointed president of ACURA,” said Forster-Smith.

“This organization does important work on the ground at colleges and universities around the country, and it’s a microcosm into how religious life manifests itself in the lives of our young people.”

Forster-Smith is a columnist for the Religion section of the Huffington Post.  Here’s her latest column: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucy-forster-smith/is-college-bad-for-religi_b_1310788.html

The Association for College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA) is a national collegium of chaplains, deans of religious life, and directors and coordinators of religious affairs. ACURA is an ecumenical and interfaith group of women and men who serve as religious life administrators and currently includes 27 institutions of higher education.

Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,978 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement.  Learn more at macalester.edu