ORSL Transition - Update

In a transition that represents both sadness and joy in the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life, our colleague the Rev. Dr. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger is leaving Stanford to become the inaugural Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life at Hamilton College, her alma mater. 

Since arriving on campus in 2019, Colleen has served as associate dean and director of student engagement, following years of work with young adults in congregational, university, and multifaith settings. A few months into her time on the Farm, her work with student groups took on a new dimension as she identified ways to keep them connected and sustain their spiritual sustenance away from campus during COVID. Whether virtual or in person, she offered a warm welcome, a big smile, and an open mind to our campus community. High on the list of her many contributions to is Meeting the Moment, the program she cultivated and grew to inspire and help students find meaning in an often hazy world. As the Director of Student Engagement for ORSL, she worked closely with the nearly 30 student religious organizations that comprise Stanford Associated Religions (SAR) and chaired the Chaplain Affiliates’ Council, coming to know and nurture diverse religious life on campus. 

Now she is returning to Hamilton, where she graduated in 2006 before earning her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and her Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary. She says her “spiritual and ethical formation was forged in both conventional and unconventional ways” at Hamilton, and we’re confident that students there will feel her joy and gain strength and grow from the deep, meaningful, and creative approaches she will help them experience.  While we will miss Colleen, we share her excitement for this new chapter in her life and ministry.