Press Release
The Historic ITC, an Atlanta HBCU, Charts a Path to an Exciting Future
Accreditation Reaffirmed through 2032; Campus Redevelopment in Progress
(ATLANTA) August 12, 2024 – The Rev. Dr. Maisha I.K. Handy remembers her first visit to the campus of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) as a young college student at HBCU Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri) where, as a college senior, she served as the National Baptist Student Union Retreat (BSU) President over 36 years ago. Back then, many college campuses had a Baptist Student Union, an organization of Christian students who would gather weekly for prayer, bible study, and support, while facing the challenges of college life. That year, in 1988, the retreat brought college students together in Atlanta, with over 2,000 attending.
“The year I was National BSU Retreat President, we had the largest attendance because the 3-day Retreat was held in Atlanta. Atlanta, at that time, was a small southern city with huge potential,” Dr. Handy stated.
12 years later, in 2000, the ITC offered her a professorship in Religion and Education after she completed the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Emory University (Atlanta, GA). During her tenure at the ITC, Dr. Handy has served in various roles, including Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost, Executive Director of The Dr. Jacquelyn Grant Center for Black Women’s Justice, and now as Interim President.
In July of 2024, Dr. Handy was named the first Black female president of McCormick Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary in Chicago’s Hyde Park, not far from the home of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. This is a historic appointment and a return home for the Whitney M. Young Magnet High School graduate, Presbyterian Minister of Word and Sacrament, and pastor of Rize Community Church (Atlanta, GA).
“My time at the ITC has been one of the most rewarding periods of my professional life. I carry a deep love for our village as seen in my two decades-long commitment to our school,” Dr. Handy stated.
The ITC is a well-known HBCU and UNCF member institution within the prestigious Atlanta University Center in S.W. Atlanta. For over 65 years, the ITC has served as an ecumenical consortium of seminaries and fellowships, awarding master’s and doctoral-level degrees and graduating pastors, ministers, community activists, and nonprofit leaders. These Prophetic Problem Solvers go on to make lasting impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. The collective African American membership of its partner denominations reaches over 25 million congregants.
Dr. Handy has served on the Executive Leadership team of the ITC over 13 years and has seen several accomplishments including the redesign of its Doctor of Ministry and Master of Divinity programs. The ITC received a 10-year reaffirmation of its accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) Commission on Accrediting in 2022. ATS also approved all of the ITC’s educational offerings, including comprehensive distance education.
Dr. Handy has grown relationships with the funding community, including Lilly Endowment Inc., the Home Depot, which is building an Innovation Lounge on campus, and the David, Helen, and Marian Woodward Fund, which is replacing the HVAC units in the James H. Costen Lifelong Education Center. The ITC continues to manage major grants from Lilly Endowment.
The next President will lead a historic transformation of the 10.4-acre campus into an ecologically responsible, tech-savvy, community-embedded hub that may include housing, retail, community office spaces, conference space, a new chapel, administrative offices, and hybrid classrooms. That process is being implemented now.
“It’s an exciting time for the next President of the ITC as we are applying for redevelopment funding in a southwest Atlanta community that wants to preserve the historic Black communities and churches in the area. We are excited for all the new partnerships and doors opening up.”
Dr. Handy is not leaving the ITC without hosting one more fundraiser. In fact, she will always be connected to the ITC Village in support and care. She will return back home to Chicago knowing the ITC’s future is looking very bright.
For more information on applying to the ITC, please contact Admissions@itc.edu.
For more information on the ITC, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at nljones@itc.edu.
About the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC)
The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is an Atlanta-based historically Black graduate theological center located in the Atlanta University Center, awarding master’s and doctoral level degrees. ITC graduates enter professional careers in the church, academia, chaplaincy, nonprofit, business, and social advocacy. The ITC is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). Follow ITC on social media @ITCEducation.
