Elmhurst University has announced that the Rev. Amanda Gott will join the campus community as its new university chaplain.

Selected during a national search, Gott currently serves as interfaith chaplain at The University of the South, an Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee.

In this role, she ensures that all students have the resources and support to fully live their religious and spiritual identity on campus. She also works with student leaders and campus partners to develop and implement programming, and provides students with spiritual care.

She will begin her role at Elmhurst this summer.

“Reverend Gott is a dynamic, highly visible leader who brings a wonderful combination of empathetic leadership and strategic vision to her role,” Vice President for Student Affairs Keri Alioto said in a news release. “Her authentic presence and commitment to student-centered ministry will be a tremendous asset.

“Whether navigating complex moments with grace or fostering belonging in our daily campus life, her pastoral care will ensure that every member of the Elmhurst community feels seen, heard and supported.”

Gott said the chaplaincy at Elmhurst initially appealed to her because the university is “somehow big and small at the same time.”

“It’s small enough to be a real community, but also large enough to offer a lot of opportunities and resources to students and large enough to have a very broad student body, with students from a lot of different stories, different places and different experiences that I’m looking forward to serving,” she said in the release.

After visiting the campus, Gott said, “I was just really impressed by the students that I met, the questions they asked and the things they had to say, and also the commitment of the faculty and staff that I met—their passion for serving students and serving them well.”

Gott also has served as rector in Episcopal churches in Nebraska and New England. She earned her bachelor’s degree in religious studies and world religions from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; a master of divinity from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado; and a master of sacred theology from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. She also completed an ACPE Clinical Pastoral Education residency at St. Anthony Hospitals in Denver.