Eliza Smith DeBevoise
Rev. Dr. Eliza Smith DeBevoise is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), serving in a validated ministry as the University Chaplain, Director of Community Engagement, and Lecturer of Religious Studies at Converse University. Her background in a clinical chaplaincy residency informs her ability to offer spiritual care to those from a wide array of traditions, and interfaith education is at the heart of the work she does as she seeks to bolster cultural and religious competency among students, faculty, and staff. In her role, Eliza walks alongside students as they wrestle with matters of vocational discernment, religious trauma, belonging, and faith formation.
Eliza oversees all religious life organizations on campus as well as all university efforts connected to community engagement and service initiatives.
In 2023, Eliza co-founded our university’s Basic Needs Hub (Valkyrie Supply), which ignited a passion in her for food insecurity alleviation within the university setting. This initiative involves 19 community partnerships, as well as several corporate and local grant sponsorships, to remain active and sustainable. She oversees student workers and staff for this program and participates in educational opportunities across the state of South Carolina. Her work with Valkyrie Supply informed her doctoral research, as she sought to understand how effective food insecurity alleviation programs function at liberal arts colleges in hopes of creating a set of “best practices” for other schools wanting to reduce hunger in their contexts.
In addition to these efforts, Eliza creates and teaches religion courses for undergraduate students, always striving toward a pedagogy that encourages a posture of curiosity about those from other traditions and value systems. She works to integrate theory with practice in the classroom, incorporating site visits and interviews into her coursework.
Eliza is the proud recipient of the Dukes Family Award for Staff Achievement (2023), the First Gen Champion Award (2022-2023), and the Recognition for Outstanding Advisor (2024).
Selected Publications & Presentations
Food insecurity on campus: What churches can do to help college students flourish. Smith DeBevoise, Presbyterian Outlook (2025)
Returning to ritual: Gen Z and religion. Smith DeBevoise, Presbyterian Outlook (2024)
Purposefully broad: Reflections on ministry outside the parish. Smith DeBevoise, Presbyterian Outlook (2023)