Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo

The Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., is the son of the late Esperanza Aloyo and Victorino Aloyo from Vieques, Puerto Rico. He has been married to Suzette Aloyo for over thirty-six years and is blessed with two daughters, Kayla Cristen, an aerospace engineer working in Huntsville, AL, and Alyssa Nicole, serving as a DEI administrator in Nashville, TN.  Victor currently serves as the eleventh President of Columbia Theological Seminary. Previously he served as the Associate Dean of Institutional Diversity and Community Engagement at Princeton Theological Seminary and as Organizing/Lead Pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana Nuevas Fronteras in North Plainfield, NJ. Victor received a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and Sociology from the College of New Rochelle, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate in Executive Higher Education Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, focusing his dissertation on navigating diversity and inclusion within a framework of social justice.

As the Chief Diversity Administrator at Princeton, Dr. Aloyo was directly responsible to the seminary president on diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence. Victor served as the institution’s Primary Designated School Officer with the United States Customs and Immigration Service, the Title IX and Title VI Coordinator, and the Director of the Office of Multicultural Relations. Victor led the institution in developing a Diversity Action Blueprint detailing specific goals, objectives, and assessment criteria for all DEI and Belonging Initiatives. Victor served as Interim Director of Alumni Relations within the Advancement department, a member of the Committee on Accreditation for three cycles, Task Force on the Historical Audit on Slavery, and Long-Range Strategic Cohort. Victor also directed the Seminary’s Urban Ministry and community engagement efforts by cultivating sustainable partnerships with community organizations, educational institutions, worship centers, and community residents in the City of Trenton and Greater Mercer County.    

Dr. Aloyo’s leadership responsibilities included service as Director of Urban Ministry at the New York City Mission Society, Senior and Organizing Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of The Redeemer of East Brooklyn for ten years, moderator of the Presbytery of New York City, and chair of the General Council of the New York City Presbytery. Victor also served as a member of the board of trustees of the New York Theological Seminary, the Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Holmes, N.Y., and the New York City Presbytery, while spearheading the organization of La Promesa Presbyterian Church in Flushing, Queens (currently Iglesia Cristiana La Promesa). Dr. Aloyo, with a cohort of elders, deacons, and young adults from churches in New York, New Jersey, Long Island, and Pennsylvania, for over thirty years, directed a youth & young adults ministry predominantly from inner-city contexts at the Presbyterian Center in Holmes, N.Y. Victor is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Foundation, the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, and the Covenant Architects Network. For eighteen years in Plainfield, NJ, Victor served as a field education supervisor/mentor for over sixty-three seminarians creating a unique teaching church ministry model.

Dr. Aloyo mentions that he “is blessed and humbled” in leading, with the support of the Board of Trustees, Faculty, Students, and Administrative Staff, a world-class institution serving the Southeast, the nation, and the globe. At Columbia Seminary, Dr. Aloyo posits that in collaboration, “we will continue to bring to life the Seminary’s critical mission of inspiring and challenging every student to a life of leadership and purpose for the glory of God. We will strive to embrace every story through our curriculum, policies, campus life, and virtual platforms because we belong to each other on this journey to become world changers, discoverers, explorers, curators, and stewards of God’s abundance and grace.”

November 30 Address by President Aloyo

Moved by The Spirit – Driven by Our Values

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord’s anointed one brings good news to the humble, cares for the broken-hearted, proclamations of release to the captives, and comforts those who mourn. But that is not the end of the action; it is just the beginning. Then, the humble, broken-hearted former captives and mourners will rebuild, restore, and raise up. Indeed, those who were lowly will ascend to the positions of priests and ministers of the Most High. They will be ministers for the God who loves justice. The lowly will be recognized as God’s own people who are adorned with the righteousness God inspires them to perform. This is the ministry that Jesus announces for himself, and challenges those who follow him to undertake.

Good morning, Seminary Community that includes our students, alums, faculty, staff, trustees, partners, and collaborators! We are here to celebrate the great calling in our lives as children of the Most High and as an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church created close to 200 years ago to serve Christ and the Church in preparing and equipping bold and innovative servant-leader-scholars! To serve as the 11^th president of this esteemed institution is an honor and a joy!    

Read the full address here.