The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation — a private philanthropic organization dedicated to the mission of “[fostering and supporting] Chinese arts and culture, as well as to [promoting] deeper understanding of the teachings of the Buddha and to [applying] them to everyday life” — has given $5.2 million, in total, to Stanford University’s Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Center for Buddhist Studies and Harvard Divinity School. Stanford will receive $2.5, and use the grant to endow a Chair in Buddhist Studies at the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies. The remaining $2.7 will go to Harvard Divinity School and fund a Buddhist Ministry Initiative, which, according to a press release from the foundation, will “help Buddhists bring their insights to people of different faiths who are studying for the ministry; will allow future Buddhist clergy to be trained in a way appropriate to the modern world; and will support the field education of Buddhist clergy in hospitals and other sites of pastoral care.”
One of Harvard Divinity School’s Buddhist students, Andrew Merz, tells Buddhadharma, “Beyond simply enriching the Buddhist ministry training here, I think expanding our offerings will have an effect on all the ministry students here. One of the most valuable aspects of my education here has been being embedded in a truly multi-faith environment… It will be very interesting to see how ministry at HDS — and ministry in general — may be influenced by a growing Buddhist presence.”
