GTU Trustee LaRae Quy and Husband, Roger Quy, Pledge $100K to GTUx

BERKELEY, CA – February 24, 2023 – The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to announce that  LaRae Quy, Secretary to the GTU Board of Trustees and Chair of the Advancement Committee, and her husband, Roger Quy, have pledged $100,000 in support of GTU’s digital learning platform, GTUx. This pledge will support continued innovation and growth of GTUx in response to swelling demand for the platform's offerings.  

Launched in March 2022, GTUx extends the GTU’s campus and furthers its mission by serving as a dynamic, digital learning environment for individuals and communities internationally to engage deeply with questions of spirituality and religion that are situated at the nexus of some of the most critical issues of our time.  

“Roger and I are proud to be investing in the future of GTUx and, in turn, the future of the GTU,” LaRae Quy said. “GTUx is a key facet of the GTU’s bold 5-Year Strategic Plan, and reflects the clear strides that GTU has made over the last couple of years in delivering new learning opportunities that respond to what our changing world needs today. The rapid growth of GTUx since its launch indicates that there is immense appetite for content that supports meaning-making and is available in an accessible, digestible format tailored to the needs of people on different learning and spiritual journeys.” 

This gift builds upon the 2022 pledge from GTU trustee Dale Walker, the initial installment of which contributed to the platform’s launch. Since that time, GTUx has grown to a community of more than 7,000 registered users; established partnership programs with organizations such as the United Nations’ Faith for Earth Coalition, GOOD DOCS, and the Faith and Justice Network; received a grant from Taube Philanthropies; released 6 new GTUx Originals including Ecospirituality: Environmental Pathways to Healing, Psychedelics and Religion Parts 1 & 2, and Mindfulness at Work? Industry’s Search for Meaning and Purpose; and published more than 70 content offerings with new additions released on an ongoing basis.  

In the coming months, GTUx will be introducing additional opportunities for engagement as a direct result from community feedback, including certificates of completion in areas like ecospirituality.  

“This pledge from the Quys will enable us to continue to build on the accomplishments of this innovative platform,” said Uriah Kim, GTU President. “For more than 60 years, the GTU has been at the forefront of theological education, and the launch of GTUx is a testament to our continued commitment to boundary-breaking work. I applaud the GTU and its faithful supporters for their courageous investment in innovative initiatives that enable us to reach seekers and learners around the globe in new ways. The generosity of this gift is a gesture of confidence in the GTU and its continued work with GTUx.”  

GTUx represents a central component of GTU 2.0, the GTU’s 5-Year Strategic Vision, which reflects the GTU’s ongoing agility in meeting the changing demands of higher education, expanding access to learning, and introducing programs to better prepare graduates for a range of career pathways. With GTUx, the GTU is breaking new ground in shaping the future direction of theological education, while offering cutting-edge content that furthers the GTU’s mission. 

More information on GTUx and its original offerings can be found at gtu.edu/x. 

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About the GTU 

The GTU is the most comprehensive center for the graduate study of religion in North America. With a focus on interreligious and interdisciplinary perspectives, GTU faculty and students engage the world’s great religions and wisdom traditions in contemporary contexts. The GTU educates innovative leaders for the academy, religious organizations, and the nonprofit sector, equipping scholars to embody the critical thinking, ethical frameworks, compassionate values, and spiritual foundations essential to building a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.

More than a school of theology, the GTU is a union of schools and programs that, together, represent the world’s major religions in collaboration. More than a graduate school, the GTU is an enterprise that cultivates the highest scholarly standards and provides opportunities to translate scholarship into solutions with impact. The GTU provides a unique community where scholars and practitioners from across the world's great religions gather for academic study of their own and of other traditions and disciplines.