9/15/2026

Dear Loggers,

You are invited to join us on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. for our Fall ’26 Swope Endowed Lecture, featuring Mathew S. Nosanchuk, the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law at George Washington University Law School. Dean Nosanchuk’s lecture is “Bending the Broken Arc: Reckoning, Responsibility, and Renewal.” The lecture does not require a ticket and is free for both the campus community and the public.

A lifelong champion of LGBTQ+ rights, Nosanchuk most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach in the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education during the Biden administration. He is a recipient of the American Bar Association's inaugural Stonewall Award — one of the most prestigious recognitions in the country for LGBTQ+ civil rights work.

Nosanchuk has spent his career fighting for those pushed to the margins, advocating against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, and religious identity. He has held senior roles across multiple presidential administrations, including during the Obama administration when he served as President Obama’s liaison to the American Jewish community in the White House, Senior Counselor in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, Senior Advisor in the Office for Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and as General Counsel for a U.S. Senator and Special Counsel on the House Judiciary Committee.

A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School and a Harry S. Truman Scholar, Nosanchuk is also a recipient of the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award.

About the Swope Endowed Lectures

For 27 years, the Swope Endowed Lectures have welcomed major speakers — scholars, activists, community leaders, artists, and more — to Puget Sound to help facilitate thoughtful and meaningful engagement with issues of faith, ethics, values, and religion in society. The lectureship was established through a gift from Major Ianthe Swope in honor of her mother, Puget Sound alumna Jane Hammer Swope, Class of 1942. In keeping with her mother’s vision, and recognizing their deeply held religious values as Methodists, Major Swope chose to create an endowment that would bring guest lecturers to campus to promote broad discussions, critical thinking, and ethical inquiry about matters of religion — including its role in public life, contemporary spirituality, ethics, and world religions. The Jane Hammer Swope Lectureship remains a space for the nature of the mind and heart to meet, challenging us to think deeply about the values that shape our world.

In addition to the lecture, Dean Nosanchuk will be available for a couple of smaller gatherings for students while on campus. Please email me at  dwright@pugetsound.edu  if you would be interested in learning more about these opportunities, or if you have any questions about the Swope Endowed Lectures. I hope you’ll join us later this month!

With gratitude,

Dave Wright '96 | University Chaplain