PhD students Lerato Pitso and Fellipe Dos Anjos Pereira receive prestigious two-year awards supporting future theological educators
July 2026 – Drew Theological School PhD students Lerato Pitso and Fellipe Dos Anjos Pereira have each been awarded the prestigious Louisville Doctoral Fellowship, a competitive two-year program that encourages PhD and ThD students to pursue theological education as a vocational calling.
As fellows, Pitso and Dos Anjos Pereira will participate in two annual formational gatherings through the Louisville Institute’s Vocation of the Theological Educator Initiative, joining a national cohort of emerging theological scholars and educators.
“Drew Theological School has prepared me for the Louisville Doctoral Fellowship by making room for me to live out my Ubuntu-shaped African women’s theologies, my experience of living through apartheid South Africa, and my AME Church tradition fully into my becoming,” said Pitso. “As an international student far from home, I am in/formed by a community that keeps showing up. Thus, this moment is not only about individual achievement; it is also about making space so that those who come after us are able to stand and speak.”
“In times of hostility, Drew welcomed me, invested in my calling, and equipped me for new challenges in theological education and socio-environmental justice,” said Dos Anjos Pereira. “The Forest has become my home, my strength, and my foundation. Thanks to all this support, I was able to be accepted by the Louisville Institute, an organization so vital to the formation and empowerment of theological education in the United States.”
“As an international student, I believe that Drew and Louisville share a virtue that goes beyond even the institutional excellence they demonstrate: a hospitality that makes new futures possible,” continued Dos Anjos Pereira. “And in times of hostility, hospitality is sacred and changes worlds. I am grateful to see my world being transformed by Drew University and the Louisville Institute.”
