Lynn Receives Alumni Achievement Award
by Bill Sulon
July 2, 2010
Dickinson College honored Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, with the professional achievement award during alumni weekend ceremonies recently.
Since 1992, Barry Lynn, a member of the Dickinson class of 1970, has been executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a national, 120,000-member organization dedicated to the preservation of the U. S. Constitution’s religious-liberty provisions.
The former English major earned a master’s in theology from Boston University in 1973 and a law degree from Georgetown University in 1978. He was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and served as legislative counsel for the Washington, D.C. offices of the UCC’s Church of Society and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) before joining Americans United.
“It was very political stuff from the very beginning, but not in a partisan way.” He said of his career. “I’ve never worked for a member of Congress; I’ve never worked for a president. I think that change comes from outside government, from putting pressure on government to do the right thing.”
Lynn’s byline is a fixture in national media outlets such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. He also appears regularly on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and hosts Culture Shocks on the Genesis Communications Network.
Among Lynn’s publishing credits are “Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom” and “First Freedom First: A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State,” which he co-authored with C. Welton Gaddy.
Lynn was a Metzger-Conway Fellow in 2000 and, in 2007, was chosen as one of Dickinson’s 25 Most Influential Dickinsonians.
His activism goes back to his time at Dickinson. “The remarkable opportunities that I never would have anticipated when I started college—to be part of some very important social movements,” he said. From there, he never looked back or to a different way to function.
This award is one of three Distinguished Alumni awards presented each year at Dickinson College’s annual alumni weekend. The awards recognize outstanding alumni of Dickinson. Selected entirely by fellow alumni, recipients must demonstrate exemplary service to the college, accomplishment in their professional and civic lives and strength of character. Members of the Leadership Committee of Alumni Council determine the recipients from among those nominations that are received.