In same resolution, Board designates the 'Cynthia Briggs Kittredge Motte' in her honor
At the meeting of Southwest Board of Trustees on May 21, 2024, the Board unanimously voted to bestow the Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, who leaves her post as Dean and President on June 30, 2024, the title of “Dean Emerita.” In the same resolution, the Board decreed the tree covered green space at the center of the Southwest campus – which Kittredge herself named ‘The Motte,’ shall henceforth be known as the “Cynthia Briggs Kittredge Motte.”
The Rt. Rev. Kathryn Ryan, Board Chair, and Mr. Clarke Heidrick, Board Executive Chair, read the proclamation and made the announcement to a gathering of the Southwest community that included Kittredge, her husband, Frank, and oldest daughter, Rachel. The gathering and the announcement were kept a surprise to the Kittredge family, including Cynthia.
Excerpts from the Resolution…
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the title of “DEAN EMERITA” is hereby conferred upon Dean Cynthia Kittredge to have and to hold such title in perpetuity; and,
WHEREAS, one beautiful place which Dean Kittredge has been known to frequent is a group of trees next to an open space right in the middle of the seminary campus, and now known simply as the “Motte” – a place to sit on a bench and read, a place of worship in the time of pandemic, a place to be married, a place to celebrate successes, a place to share sadness when the community experiences a loss, and a place to lie down on ones back to observe a solar eclipse, as the dean recently was seen doing; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the area formerly known as the “Motte” is hereby designated and dedicated as the “Cynthia Briggs Kittredge Motte,” with appropriate signage to be erected, and a tree worthy of the honor of living in such motte to be planted, watered and loved forever by all of us, as a symbol of the Beloved Community that has taken root in this seminary under her leadership.
