MITCHELL – Dakota Wesleyan University will offer the annual Stark Lecture on Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. in the Sherman Center on the DWU campus. Murphy will also speak during DWU’s regular weekly chapel service at 11 a.m. in Sherman Center. Both talks are open to the public and will be livestreamed at dwu.edu/live. Additionally, a meet-and-greet coffee will be held at 3 p.m. in Tiger Café inside the McGovern Library.
The Stark Lecture brings to campus religious leaders, authors, educators, activists, politicians, journalists and entertainers who are living examples of the biblical message. All events are free.
This year’s lecture will feature Brendan Murphy, a Catholic educator and the founder and director of the Bearing Witness Institute, an educational initiative dedicated to Holocaust education, the study of antisemitism, and interreligious dialogue. The title of Murphy’s evening lecture is “We Remember: Faith, Failure and the Moral Reckoning with Antisemitism.”
Murphy teaches world history and Holocaust studies and has led students and educators on intensive study programs in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic examining the history and moral legacy of the Holocaust. He works closely with Jewish, Christian and Muslim partners to foster meaningful encounters grounded in historical truth, human dignity, and moral responsibility. His work is particularly focused on helping Christian communities grapple honestly with the legacy of Christian anti-Judaism.
Murphy’s teaching has been widely recognized at the local, state, and national levels. He has received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Anne Frank Center in New York, as well as the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Goldstein Human Relations Award and Unsung Hero Award. His work has also been recognized statewide twice with the Georgia Outstanding Educator of the Year Award from the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He has been named Teacher of the Year by the University of Notre Dame.
In addition to these honors, Murphy has participated in prestigious professional fellowships, including the Museum Teacher Fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Lerner Fellowship at the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in New York City. He was recently selected as a member of Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2025.
Dr. Franklin C. Stark graduated from DWU in 1937 and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from DWU in 1959. Dr. Stark endowed the Stark Lectures to bring the stories of those who are “living examples of the truths of the Biblical message” to campus. Through his gift, DWU has welcomed numerous speakers of national stature. Presentations have demonstrated the authenticity of the connection between faith and works.