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The Swope Endowed Lecture supports speakers, artists, and lecturers to visit Puget Sound to deepen our engagement with issues related to faith, ethics, values, and religion in society.  For Fall 2025, we are excited to welcome Dr. Vanessa Gomez Brake, the Senior Associate Dean for Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. Dr. Gomez Brake's keynote address is titled "At the Intersections of Faith, Identity, and Power: Disrupting Christian Hegemony in Higher Education."   The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.  Tickets will be available starting in early October.

A reception with light refreshments will follow in the Chapel Lounge.

Dr. Vanessa Gomez Brake (she/her/siya) is the Senior Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. 

She is the first humanist chaplain to serve in this capacity at any American university. In her role, she works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life broadly conceived, and helps oversee more than 90 student religious groups and 50 religious directors on campus. She also serves as an advisor to the  and the .

Previously, Vanessa worked at Stanford University’s Office for Religious Life, where she led campus programming and worked closely with student-led religious groups. At Stanford, she organized ceremonies, events, programs, and worship services at the historic Stanford Memorial Church and CIRCLE: Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning, and Experiences. Additionally, she played a supporting role at the Windhover Contemplative Center, and the campus-wide series Contemplation-by-Design.

As an accomplished Filipino folk dancer and multi-instrumentalist, Vanessa has performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall for Filipino American History Month celebrations. Her folk artistry is an extension of her interfaith work, as her performances showcase the diverse traditions, rituals, and beliefs of Muslim, Christian, and indigenous peoples of the Philippines.

Vanessa received dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Religious Studies and Psychology from Arizona State University. She received her Master of Science degree from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, with an emphasis on religion and peacemaking. She also earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary. Vanessa also holds a Certificate in Humanist Studies & Leadership from the Humanist Institute and is endorsed as a humanist chaplain by the Humanist Society. Her doctorate of education was earned at USC’s Rossier School of Education, where her research focused on Christian hegemony in higher education, and centered the voices of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and other non-Christian university chaplains. 

In 2025, Vanessa was honored with the Chaplain of the Year Award from the Association for Chaplaincy & Spiritual Life in Higher Education. That same year, Chicago Theological Seminary awarded her the Distinguished ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Award. Vanessa received the 2023 Outstanding Professional Award from NASPA’s Spirituality & Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community.  In 2019, she was the recipient of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association – Person of the Year Award. In 2018, Chicago Theological Seminary awarded Vanessa the Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman Interreligious Leadership Award.  

She holds a variety of board positions with the , , the , and . 

In her spare time, she enjoys cactus gardening and vegetarian cooking with her partner James; visits to the beach with her two pugs, Ube & Tito Mango; and traveling to new places with her parents, sister and niece.