WS Chronicle

Dr. McGee

Dr. Paula L. McGee will speak at Bennett College (in the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel) on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Motivated by her life’s purpose to preach, write and teach, Rev. McGee believes that her personal mission and vision is “to inspire everyone to recognize, accept and fulfill their call to greatness.” Furthermore, the scholar regularly incorporates her advocacy for women, especially women of color, into much of her professional life.

In fact, as a recipient of the 2009 Fund for Theological Education dissertation fellowship, Rev. McGee completed a work that was entitled: “The Wal-martization of African American Religion: T.D. Jakes and Women Thou Art Loosed.” This dissertation was a culmination of her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies in Religion from Claremont Graduate University.

Before answering her call to ministry, Rev. McGee pursued a successful career in women’s basketball. At the University of Southern California (USC), she and her twin sister, Pam, teamed up with Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper to win two back-to-back National Championships in 1983 and 1984. Following college, she played a season with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s American Basketball Association and five seasons abroad in Italy and Spain. In her final basketball seasons, she negotiated her own contracts.

Along with various basketball accolades, Rev. McGee’s accomplishments include starting a sports management agency where she represented her twin sister in the inaugural season of the WNBA. She was also the co-founder of Christian Business Success Network, a nonprofit organization that specialized in training and providing support for Christian business leaders. Additionally, she is one of the few women ordained in the Baptist Church, where she later served as dean of chapel at Fisk University.