Linda and Edward Speed have made a major gift to Oblate School of Theology (OST) to fund the “Preservation and Access Project: The Writings of Ron Rolheiser, OMI” in support of the Rolheiser Research Center. Their gift is for the preservation of the writings of Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI, which have advanced the understanding of Catholic spirituality.
The multi-faceted gift includes funding for an archivist during the 2017-2018 academic year to catalog and index Fr. Rolheiser’s books, articles, lectures, and films to make them available for future research and scholarship for those studying contemporary spirituality. The Speeds’ gift also will underwrite a conference on contemporary spirituality at OST during the 2018-2019 academic year. That conference will emphasize the thought, context, and impact of Fr. Rolheiser’s works and will provide opportunities to envision ways that his work can best be used in the future.
Further, Linda and Edward Speed have pledged to provide a generous grant each year for the next 20 years to be awarded to an OST student or professor who will prepare a scholarly paper focusing on Fr. Rolheiser’s work during the academic year of the award.
The gift honors the many Oblates who have served throughout Texas, the Speeds said, and especially eight Oblates who were instrumental in Edward Speed’s formation as an Oblate seminarian: Fathers Bill Davis, Pat Guidon, Mike Levy, Gabe Mokarzel, Ron Walker and Ed Vrazel, OMI; and the late Frs. John Sokolski and Andy Wueste, OMI.
By J. Michael Parker