Richard “Dick” Phillips G’63, G’65, dean emeritus of Hendricks Chapel who led the chapel through the 1980s and 1990s, died July 10 in Colorado. He was 90.
A native of Missouri, Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Northwest Missouri State University in 1957. He earned a master’s degree in theology from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, in 1960 and became a Methodist minister.
Phillips and his wife, Ethel, then moved to Syracuse. Phillips served as associate minister at University United Methodist Church while teaching and working on advanced degrees at Syracuse University. He earned a master’s degree in religious education in 1963 and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and curriculum and school programs in 1965.
After earning a Ph.D., Phillips was a member of the faculty of Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas, from 1966-75 and director of the St. Louis-based American Youth Foundation from 1975-81.
Portrait of Richard “Dick” Phillips that is displayed in the narthex of Hendricks Chapel
Phillips was installed as the fourth dean of Hendricks Chapel on April 10, 1981, during the chapel’s 50th anniversary year. His installation signaled a new era at the chapel. Up until that time, the chapel’s deans had served as the preacher of the chapel’s main service on Sunday mornings, which was a Protestant service. Phillips’ role became one of being chief administrator of the chapel, rather than being affiliated with one particular worshipping community. A report written by the late religion professor James Wiggins after a committee study of Hendricks redefined the relationship of the chapel’s dean as a representative of the whole.
Phillips worked to expand Hendricks’ role in the community, telling the Syracuse Herald-Journal at the time of his installation, “We have to be out in the community doing relevant things.”
The Syracuse Post-Standard reported that during his installation address, Phillips removed his shoes and placed them next to the podium as he talked about Moses and the biblical story of the burning bush.
“God instructed Moses to take the shoes off from his feet, because the ground upon which he was standing was holy ground,” Phillips said. “Theologically and vocationally, I believe the ground on which I am standing is holy ground. … You, the learners and the teachers and friends and neighbors from far and near are the sacred ground upon which I stand.”
“I think the thing to think about in Hendricks is that even though Dick operated under the new formalized structure, Hendricks Chapel really during that time came even closer to its full mission, because it was always built as an interfaith space,” says Thomas V. Wolfe, dean emeritus of Hendricks Chapel who succeeded Phillips in 1999 and served in the role until 2012. “Even in the 1930s, when mainline Protestantism was in its heyday, the chapel was always making space, as was the University, for the array of people of different faiths. Dick’s tenure was the first that had that array as part of their work. He was tasked with enriching and developing that strategy.”
Phillips was integral in the establishment of the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on campus in the mid-1980s, a signature, communitywide event, which to this day continues to be one of the largest University celebrations of Dr. King in the nation.
Phillips was dean when 35 Syracuse University students were killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, and he was key in planning the January 1989 service held in the then-Carrier Dome. He took a two-year leave of absence from the chapel to serve as director of the Syracuse Abroad center in Strasbourg, France, from 1995-97.
“I am profoundly grateful that I got to work with him,” Wolfe says. “There are many of us that have appreciated his faithful presence to both Syracuse as an institution and to continuing to strengthen the tradition of meaningful interfaith relationships. The chapel has always stood in the middle of the Quad to represent that.”
“Dean Phillips was widely regarded as a faithful and fruitful leader, both on and off campus, and we give thanks for his remarkable life and legacy,” says Brian Konkol, vice president and dean of Hendricks Chapel. “As we reflect upon his profound impact and the countless ways he enriched our campus community, I believe we are reminded that Hendricks Chapel is far more than a beautiful building, as Hendricks Chapel is—and always will be—about wonderful people such as Dick Phillips. May the Phillips family and all who grieve his passing receive the fullness of comfort and strength.”
In retirement, Phillips wrote “Hendricks Chapel: Seventy-five Years of Service to Syracuse University” (Syracuse University Press, 2005), a comprehensive look at the chapel’s history, and another book on Methodist theologian Harvey Pottoff.
Phillips was predeceased by his wife, Ethel, in June 2023. He is survived by their children, Cindy and Ken.
Donations in Phillips’ memory may be made to Hendricks Chapel.
