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The Thoreau Campus of First Unitarian Universalist Church in Richmond, Texas, recently awarded this year’s Thoreau Dream Scholarships, a program that began sixteen years ago. Recipients receive funding for two years of study after high school graduation. Scholarship chairperson Valerie Tolman said, “We think that education past high school is a path to a better life. We hope sending some of the students to college will have a ripple effect, causing other kids to see college as a possibility for them, too.” (Houston Chronicle, 5.10.19)
Two advocates for reform—one Christian, one UU—argue for parole for older adults in prison. Della Johnson and Claire DeRoche of Queens, New York, write, “As devout people of faith, we believe in the inherent dignity of all human beings, including those who are arrested, detained, and sent away to New York State prisons. This guiding, faith-based principle should be extended to those who are aging, despairing, and dying in our state prison system, including those who have caused serious harm and been convicted of violent crimes.” (Queens Daily Eagle, 5.10.19)
The Rev. Dr.WilliamBarber II recently visited Rosa Guiterrez Lopez, who faces deportation and has taken sanctuary in Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland. “Every person has equal protection under the law...and this is a place of sanctuary,” Barber said. Lopez, speaking in Spanish, said she hasn't left the church in five months because “ICE might arrest me, but I have faith in God that everything will work out.” (Local DVM, 5.10.19)