Belief and Belonging: Faith Communities and Justice

Panel members include:

• Rev. Deborah Lee is co-executive director, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, a California-based interfaith abolitionist organization dedicated to the dignity and full inclusion of immigrants and those impacted by incarceration. Lee is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and is a compelling preacher and speaker on immigration, human rights, and the prophetic role of faith communities in today’s social movements.
• Jerry Park is associate professor, Department of Sociology, Baylor University, and president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. His research interests include the sociological study of religion, race, identity, culture, and civic participation with a focus on Asian American experiences. He has published nearly 50 academic articles and book chapters, and he is active in multiple survey data collections of overlooked and marginalized minority groups. He was associate editor for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and serves as the president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.
• Russell M. Jeung is the 2025–26 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence. Jeung is professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University. Over the last 25 years his research has shaped the fields of Asian American studies and sociology of religion. He is author of Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans; Moving Movers: Student Activism and the Emergence of Asian American Studies; At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus Among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors; Sustaining Faith Traditions: Race, Ethnicity and Religion Among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation (with Carolyn Chen); and Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. He co-produced the documentary The Oak Park Story (2010), about a landmark housing lawsuit involving Cambodian and Latino tenants. In 2020, Jeung co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that was awarded the 2021 Webby Award for “Social Movement of the Year.” He was named as one of the TIME 100 Most Influential Persons in 2021.

Moderated by Ken Estey, professor of political science and director, Studies in Religion Program.