TORONTO, ON—The inaugural address of president John Suk galvanized the mission statement of the Institute for Christian Studies (ICS) in Toronto, October 20. It marked the conferral of the first ICS honourary doctorate to Gerald Vandezande, veteran national public affairs director of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ).

“We don’t often connect compassion with wisdom or knowledge,” said Suk at a packed St. Andrew’s Evangelical Lutheran church. Suk described ICS as a place where students are equipped with both wisdom and compassion.

Vandezande, who was awarded the Order of Canada for his work with CPJ, is a clear example of the Reformed tradition of social justice, says Suk. The conferral of the doctorate was a fitting recognition of Vandezande’s deep Christian commitment to consistently promote public policies for healing, justice and peace in areas such as aboriginal and refugee rights, educational justice, poverty, the environment and national unity. His lifelong pursuit and promotion of “communal compassion and public justice” as founding member of CPJ and as veteran advocate, was affirmed by friends, policy makers and many others.

Suk spoke of a young woman from Zimbabwe who began to grasp the extent of the devastation of AIDS in her community. She was directed toward a fully funded doctoral research in drug development to seek a cure for AIDS. Suk says this story “illustrates that, for the healing of the nations, wisdom and compassion must embrace.”

“Compassion is when you get your tongue as twisted and knotted as your intestines feel …when you’re really hurting for someone else,” John explained.

“Jesus had compassion for the people who followed him when he tried to find a solitary place. At ICS we seek ourselves, our students, and our community from within that embrace.”