Evidently in an effort to prove that secular academia does not own exclusive rights to pandering to rabble-rousing community organizers – hint, hint – Yale Divinity School has announced that Black Lives Matter honcho DeRay McKesson will be a guest lecturer at the school this fall. Here’s the syllabus:

A young leader of the Black Lives Matter Movement, DeRay McKesson will present case studies about the work of organizing, public advocacy, civil disobedience, and social change, through both Leadership of Presence, and Leadership in the Social Media.

Will students attending McKeson’s talk be reading, for example, Kant, Rousseau or Nozick? Mmmm … no. Maybe something from the collected works of Karl Marx, Bill Ayers or Saul Alinsky? Nope.

Here’s the reading list:

 Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book Between the World and Me.

 A Huffington Post article titled “How the Black Lives Matter Movement Changed the Church.”

 Derrick Bell’s book Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfilled Hopes for Racial Reform.

 Leah Gunning Francis’ book Ferguson & Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community.

 A New York Times article titled “Our Demand Is Simple: Stop Killing Us.”

A couple of items mention religion so I guess that was considered close enough to show “relevance” to the mission of YDS

Building on its centuries-old traditions, Yale Divinity School fulfills a critical role preparing leaders for service in church and world at a time of dramatic shifts in the theological landscape.

Also on the program will be U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Reverend Nancy Taylor. As to who is footing the bill, the presentations will be funded through a $120,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

It was not made clear how much of the loot will go to McKeson. The foundation folks might want to look into that if only to make sure he doesn’t use the money for, ahem, illegal activities next time he goes off in search of rabble to rouse.