Fall 2009 Ivy League Christian Observer by Christian Union

IVY LEAGUE THE

Volume VIII • Issue IV • Fall 2009

CHRISTIAN

OBSERVER

Borden of Yale Still Impacting Students Page 11

Cornell Alumna Traces Ivy League’s Spiritual Decline Page 29

Princeton Alumnus Writes about ‘Forgotten Foundations’ Page 30

Veritas Forum Continues to Expand SERVING FRESHMEN

Page 16

Harvard College Faith and Action, Princeton Faith and Action Launch Outreach Campaigns – Page 5

Columbia’s ‘Engineer without a Border’ Page 34

Brown Senior Has Heart for Serving Page 21

Making an early ‘Impact’ at Dartmouth Page 39

Penn Study Shows Positive Effects of Prayer Page 17

Brown • Columbia • Cornell • Dartmouth Harvard • Penn • Princeton • Yale

Advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in the Ivy League The Ivy League Christian Observer is published by the Christian Union, an independent Christian ministry.

EXPLORE THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS: THE APOSTLE PAUL’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LETTER

Martin Luther hailed Romans as the “most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian’s while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul.” If you want to know and live the Christian life, then you must know Romans. Renowned New Testament scholar Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner knows Paul and he knows Romans. Follow Schreiner over the course of twelve 30-minute lectures as he traces Paul’s thought through this masterful and sometimes perplexing epistle. Through this course you’ll get your arms around all 16 chapters of Romans. Along with a macro-level knowledge of the letter, you’ll wrestle with some of the most difficult passages in the Bible, like Romans 9-11. You’ll be challenged by the call to live your everyday life in light of the glorious gospel that is on display in Romans. In addition to mastering the material of the book, you’ll improve your ability to interpret the Bible by learning observationally from the exegetical skill of one of the best New Testament expositors.

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS Taught by Professor Thomas R. Schreiner, Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Lecture Titles 1. The Gospel and the Heart of Sin: 1:1-32 2. Sin Uncovered: 2:1-3:20 3. Salvation Accomplished: 3:21-4:25 4. Hope Secured: 5:1-21 5. Power over Sin: 6:1-23 6. The Role of the Law: 7:1-25 7. Indomitable Confidence: 8:1-39 8. God’s Faithfulness to Israel (Part One): 9:1-11:36 9. God’s Faithfulness to Israel (Part Two): 9:1-11:36 10. The New Life of Christians: 12:1-13:14 11. The Weak and the Strong: 14:1-15:13 12. The Spread of the Gospel: 15:14-16:27 This course is produced by Lifelong Discipleship Media, a ministry of the Christian Union. Lifelong Discipleship Media develops intellectually rich Christian education materials for use individually, in small groups, and Sunday School classes. Our aim is to strengthen Christians with the finest scholarship available in order to engender a habit of lifelong Christian learning for leadership development and cultural impact.

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INSIDE

ILCOEditor@Christian-Union.org

ON CAMPU S

Please help us get this magazine into the hands of those who want it. E-mail or write us in order to: • pass along the names of fellow Christian alumni, parents, staff, faculty, or friends who would enjoy this quarterly update from the Ivy League universities. • update us on any address change you have. • be removed from the mailing list. Editor-in-Chief Matt Bennett, Cornell BS ’88, MBA ’89 Managing Editor Tom Campisi, College of New Jersey ’88 Senior Writer Eileen Scott, Mount St. Mary ’87 Field Reporters Elyse Lee, Cornell ’08 Layne Zhao, Dartmouth ’09 Charity Hung, Cornell ’09 Kevin Plybon, Columbia ’11 Brandon Duck, Columbia, MS (Candidate) Photo Editor Pam Traeger Letters to the Editor Please send us your feedback regarding events and topics described in this magazine at the e-mail or regular mail address listed above.

Freshman Campaigns off to a Flying Start Christian Union’s Leadership Development Ministries Soar with Prayer By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Darkness of the Human Soul Graduate Student Relives Horror, but Finds Healing Following Murder of Annie Le By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Walking the Walk Brown Student Brings Gospel to Those ‘Blinded to Their Own Need for God’ By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Swine Flu Epidemic Subsides at Cornell One Student Loses Life, Hundreds Were Infected By Charity Hung, Cornell ’09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A ‘Streetlight’ on Nassau Organization Brings Gospel to Princeton Sidewalks By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ‘No Reserve,’ ‘No Retreat,’ ‘No Regrets’ William Borden Chose Life of Service over Family Fortune By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 IN TELLECTU AL EN GAGEM E N T Friends, Not Foes Forum Seeks Common Ground for Scientific, Theological Pursuits of Truth By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

By God’s power and the help of other ministries, the mission of Christian Union is to change the world by bringing sweeping spiritual transformation to the Ivy League universities, thereby developing and mobilizing godly Christian leadership for all sectors of society. Matt Bennett (Cornell BS ’88, MBA ’89) founded the ministry with friends in 2002 in Princeton, New Jersey. To learn more about the ministry, please visit www.Christian-Union.org. The purpose of The Ivy League Christian Observer (this free quarterly magazine) is to inform Christian alumni, students, parents, staff, faculty, and friends of the Ivy League universities about the spiritual activity on the campuses. Our desire is that you would be encouraged to pray for these universities, give financially to Christian initiatives on the campuses, and use your influence for the cause of Christ.

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The Man on the Plus Sign Land and Metaxas Discuss the Importance of Culture By Marvin Olasky, Yale ’71 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Finding God at Harvard and Leading Universities The Veritas Forum Continues to Expand By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 How God Changes Your Brain Study Shows Positive Effects of Prayer By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 MISSION S PFA Students Take Gospel Down Under Princeton Mission Team Gains Global Perspective By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Ivy League Christian Observer

Gaining a New Perspective Mission Trip Helps Set Spiritual Foundation for Brown Student By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ‘I Can Make a Difference’ Brown Senior Has Heart for Serving Those Who Need Hope By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Continuing a Family Legacy of Service Penn Alumna Helps Launch Medical Distribution in Burundi By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 C R U MB L I NG F OUNDAT ION S A Crisis of Faith in the Modern Era Cornell Alumna Traces the Ivy League’s Spiritual Decline By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Stemming the Tide of Relativism Author Tells How to Recover ‘Forgotten Foundations’ By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ‘Inclusivity’ Is Quite Exclusive at Harvard and Yale Universities Establish ‘LGBTQ’ Chair, Office By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Forward in Faith Dr. Howell Dedicated to Maintaining Tradition in Anglican Church By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 S O CIAL JUS T IC E An Engineer without a Border Columbia Student ‘Lives Out’ Her Faith in Africa By Kevin Plybon, Columbia ’11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 A Unified Front Against Human Trafficking Columbia Christians Find Common Ground with Campus Organizations By Kevin Plybon, Columbia ’11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 A BOUT MINIST RY Under God’s Power… Anthology Shares Testimonies of Princeton Alumni By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fall 2009

A Band of Brothers Harvard Alumnus Helps Lead New Canaan Society By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Making an Early ‘Impact’ Campus Crusade’s Dartmouth Ministry Starts Year with Some New Faces By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Park Street Church Celebrates Bicentennial Worship and the Word Keep Students Coming Back By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 A Passion for Campus Renewal Jeremy Story Strategically Ministers in the Ivy League and Beyond By Brandon Duck, Columbia, MS (Candidate) . . . 41

IN PERSON Semper Fidelis Marine Writes about Leading Platoon in Iraq By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Seeking Health Care Solutions Yale Alumna Is Able to ‘See a Need and Fill It’ By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Beating Down Stereotypes Dartmouth Duo Spreads Conservative Message through Hip-Hop Music By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Traveling the ‘Highways Of Holiness’ Penn Alumnus Maps God’s Promises in New Jersey By Rachel Mari, Contributing Writer . . . . . . . . . 26 A Passion for Campus Ministry New Aquinas House Chaplain Hopes to Transform Culture One Student at a Time By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

DEPARTMENTS News-in-Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Mission and Vision of Christian Union . . 50 Ivy League Prayer Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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TH P SI E RA 20 Y TO GN 09 W -2 IT D U A P 01 H 0 US Y! AC D AD U EM RIN IC G YE AR

ach year, thousands of students pass through the halls of Ivy League

institutions and move out into the world to take positions of leadership in

our society. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them, over 90%, have had no regular Christian influence in their lives during these critical college years.

At Christian Union, we are prayerfully seeking God for the transformation of all 8 Ivy League campuses. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (KJV)." As we

expectantly look through the eyes of faith, we see an Ivy League that is radically different than today's version. We see an Ivy League

that reflects the presence and Lordship of Jesus Christ. We see

an Ivy League that has returned to its roots and sends out Christian men and women who will change the world.

Today, it is our divine opportunity to bring change to the

universities we hold so dear. Prayer for the Ivy League is mobilizing 600 alumni, family, friends and supporters to

partner with us in daily prayer for the students and staff of

these schools. Each week you'll receive prayer requests, updates,

and devotionals gathered by us from the students and ministries

on these campuses. You can have an impact today from where

you're sitting. Join us, won't you?

To join Prayer for the Ivy League, you may sign up online at www.christian-union.org/prayer, send an email to prayer@christian-union.org, or write to: Prayer for the Ivy League, Christian Union, 240 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. BROWN • COLUMBIA • CORNELL • DARTMOUTH • HARVARD • PENN • PRINCETON • YALE

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FRESHMAN CAMPAIGNS OFF TO A FLYING START Christian Union’s Leadership Development Ministries Soar with Prayer “There’s something happening here.” That’s what Princeton Ministry Fellow Scott Jones, Cornell ’04, said during the recent Princeton Faith and Action pre-retreat in Ocean City, New Jersey. That “something,” it turns out, was the movement of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Fall Freshman Campaigns held at Harvard and Princeton, the leadership development ministries of Christian Union have witnessed the hand of God upon their work and His presence in their midst as they purposefully reach out to students. Reaching freshmen and plugging them into ministry can have an impact throughout eternity, considering that 50 percent of the nation’s most influential leaders graduate from the eight Ivy League schools. With these statistics in mind, Don Weiss, Christian Union’s director of ministry at Harvard, said it’s vital to “aggressively pursue freshmen and make every effort to invite them to participate in Bible courses and ministry events.” Both Princeton Faith and Action (PFA) and Harvard College Faith and Action noted a great response to their freshman initiatives and higher-than-expected attendance at their Bible courses, which are designed toward dynamic life-changing spiritual development. However, one striking element of the campaigns was the presence of the Holy Spirit at ministry events, which was credited to extended times of prayer. Since the spring,

the Christian Union faculty has come together for two hours each weekday for extended corporate prayer and seeking God and His direction as they strive to interact with students in ways that will maximize their impact as Christian leaders. Among the more poignant experiences at the PFA preretreat was the moving of the Holy Spirit. “God met us in a powerful way,” said Teaching Fellow Dr. Chuck Hetzler. “It’s something I’ve rarely seen before.” Hetzler said that as one particular song concluded while he was leading worship, he sensed the students’ desire to worship had not ended. “I looked up at the students at the end of the third song, and I could tell by their eyes [that] they weren’t done. I felt it had come to a point that I had been praying for — that people were worshiping God with everything in them…The spirit of God was so at work in that place and in people’s hearts,” he said. Dan Knapke, director of undergraduate ministry at Princeton, recalls a particularly profound time as well. Ministry Fellow Quincy Watkins, Wharton Business School ’95, felt the Holy Spirit reveal to him that four students were struggling with heavy burdens and he encouraged them to come forward for prayer. Subsequently, one student revealed she had been victimized in a way that nearly destroyed her. Another revealed he had spent the summer

Christian Union’s leadership development ministries at Princeton (left) and Harvard (right) started the academic year in fine fashion with successful freshman campaigns.

Fall 2009

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ON • CAMPUS “We’ve had a phenomenal start to our weekly meetings,” said HCFA Ministry Fellow Nick Nowalk, who hoped fifteen students would participate in the first meeting of the academic year. His expectations were surpassed when thirty students turned out. What was particularly encouraging, he says, was that the group was comprised primarily of freshmen. The upperclassmen had not yet come back for classes. Just as encouraging, says Weiss, is the number of students participating in HCFA Bible courses. More than forty students have joined so far. These turnouts are even more significant in light of the fact that HCFA has been recognized as an official campus organization for less than one year, he said. Weiss also attributes the better-than-expected turnouts to another successful Facebook initiative and the enthusiastic efforts of HCFA upperclassmen. Through the social networking site, sophomores were able to reach out to incoming freshmen who indicated on their profiles that they were Christians. Approximately 374 Christian freshmen were identified, and the upperclassmen wrote personal notes to all of them. The initiative allowed students to connect and build relationships with the freshmen before they came to campus. The HCFA sophomores welcomed them as they arrived, making themselves Princeton Faith and Action hosted a lawn games party as part of its freshman outreach. available as resources for information and guidance. Harvard freshmen were also invited to a variety of funcfilled, which means that five percent of the incoming class tions sponsored by the ministry, including a rooftop picnic is currently enrolled in a PFA Bible course. Currently, PFA in Harvard Square. HCFA was present at the university achas filled 24 Bible courses for freshman and upperclasstivities fair and “meet and greet” events. men, which represents a significant increase from last year’s Christian Union Founder and President Matt Bennett, total of 18. Cornell ’88, MBA, ’89, also attributed the early success of Equally as powerful is the manner in which the Lord PFA and HCFA to times of concerted prayer. has been blessing Harvard College Faith and Action “We continue to ask for the presence of God to come,” (HCFA). The ministry experienced amazing results from its he said. “It’s not random that God showed up on the pre-reoutreach campaign, something HCFA leaders also attribute treat. God comes often when we invite Him. We shouldn’t to the extended time they have spent in prayer. “It’s been be surprised He showed when we’ve been asking Him dilifun to see what really feels like God blessing us as we are gently. We will see Him doing more.” doing these things,” said Don Weiss, director of undergraduate ministry at HCFA. By Eileen Scott, Senior Staff Writer doubting his faith, but through this moving of the Spirit, he could feel God reaching out to him. “There is no doubt this is linked to the way we sought God,” said Hetzler, referring to the extended time the Christian Union faculty has spent in prayer since last spring. “It was so powerful.” Additionally, PFA’s freshman campaign at Princeton also resulted in all of its freshman Bible courses being

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

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THE DARKNESS OF THE HUMAN SOUL Graduate Student Relives Horror, but Finds Healing Following Murder of Annie Le “I felt guilty about the fact that I didn’t scream out of fear On what should have been the happiest day of he would strangle me to death,” she said. She thought, perhaps her life, Annie Le’s lifeless body was being reYALE if she had screamed, maybe she would have been rescued. trieved from behind a wall of a research lab in But when she learned that Le was strangled, she said it the basement of 10 Amistad Street. The grim discovery of somehow validated her rationale not to scream, and that has the missing pharmacology graduate student on her wedding set her free from the guilt. “It’s been sort of liberating,” she day dashed the hope that she would be found safe after misssaid. “This morning I woke up for the first time ing for several days. Le was engaged to Columhappy to be alive,” she said. bia graduate student Jonathan Widawsky. And so, in a bittersweet way, the despair of In a letter to alumni and students, Yale UniLe’s death has brought hope for another’s life. versity President Richard Levin wrote that the Additionally, amidst the aftermath of the September murder of Le, allegedly by lab techshocking crime, campus ministries sought to nician Raymond Clark, could have happened bring comfort and healing to the Yale campus. anywhere. It wasn’t so much about Yale, he said, One of Yale Health Professional Christian as it was about “the darkness of the human soul.” The funeral of Annie Fellowship’s (info.med.yale.edu/yaxis/yhpcf) A Yale female graduate student interviewed Le, murdered on the meetings was devoted to praying for Le’s famby the Ivy League Christian Observer knows all Yale campus in September, was ily. Additionally, the evening after her body was too well about that darkness. The student, who held at Holy Trinity found, 2,000 members of the Yale community wishes to remain anonymous, attended classes Church in California. came together for a candlelight prayer vigil. next door to the building where Le was murdered. “Our hearts go out to the family of Annie Le, to her fiFor this woman, the tragedy brought to memory unreancé and his family, and to her many friends. We pray for solved issues of her own violent abduction, rape, and near murtheir comfort and well-being, as we honor and remember der as an undergraduate student at a different college. At the Annie,” Levin told attendees. time of her attack, the woman was, like Le, in her early twenHsin-hao Hsiao, a Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Bioties and engaged to be married. Her attacker is still at large. physics and Biochemistry, admits he was shocked and anShe knows what it’s like to live with the horror of havgered by Le’s death. ing suffered at the hands of a “human animal,” as she refers “It reminds us of the existence of the evils around us,” to her captor; of living with the guilt over not being able to Hsiao said. “It reminds us of how weak we are and how unstop it, of the fear, and of the secrets that have been kept. controllable life can be. It’s not in our hands.” This woman remembers what she thought about during He was also disappointed by the absence of God in the what she thought would be the last few moments of her life. messages to the Yale community. “In my humble opinion,” She says she can’t imagine going through it without God. he said, “President Levin, as the leader of Yale, a univer“I was focusing on God only,” she said. “I can’t imagsity which pursues light and truth, and encourages its memine if I hadn’t had God. I would have lost my mind. I can’t bers to be for God, for Country, and for Yale, should stand imagine being able to cope. I knew God was present beup and advise Yale students that coming back to God is the cause I, somehow, didn’t feel anything [despite being solution.” beaten],” she said. Absent of that, however, Hsiao did find some light “I resigned to die because he was going to kill me,” she amidst the darkness through his faith in Jesus Christ and the said. And then, she did the unexpected. “I prayed for him way the tragedy united the community. “People came toout loud,” she said. “I don’t normally pray out loud.” At that gether to console and support each other,” he said. “People point, she said, she lost all fear about dying, and simply are reminded that they could have been the ones to lose a said, “Lord I’m going to be with you tonight.” loved one. This tragedy reminds people of the importance Soon after uttering her prayers, her attacker set her free of their families in their lives.” physically; but the guilt she carried kept her captive until the recent events at Yale. By Eileen Scott, Senior Staff Writer

Fall 2009

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WALKING THE WALK Brown Student Brings Gospel to Those ‘Blinded to Their Own Need for God’ not bringing up Christianity.” But once she started opening A Christian since age six, Anna Hsu ’10 knew up about her faith, she realized that despite the rampant relabout having a personal relationship with BROWN ativism in the academy, her peers are searching and they are Christ, but she wasn’t necessarily inclined to open to discussing faith. talk about it. However, seeing how other Christians live At the same time, she says, God has grown her heart their lives at Brown has transformed the way Hsu now lives and inspired her to care about more people knowing Him. and boldly shares her faith. “I have an opportunity at Brown, with all these students Being raised in a Christian home, Hsu said she just aswho are really gifted, yet are blinded to their own need for sumed Christianity was true. “That was the way to live— God. What God has done in my heart is show me how much you go to church and read the Bible,” she said. However, at there is a need,” she said. Brown, where the truth of Christianity is not assumed, Hsu In addition to sharing the Gospel with her peers, Hsu is had to choose for herself what being a follower of Jesus also giving back to the ministries that have Christ truly meant. helped her grow in her faith. Currently, she Making life even more challenging, durworks part-time for Campus Crusade for ing her first semester, both of her grandfathers Christ (www.ccci.org) and Athletes in Acdied and her father had open heart surgery. “I tion (www.athletesinaction.org) in an adminwas really frazzled,” she said. But the Christistrative capacity. ian ministries on campus reached out to her, “I love [the job] because I love the staff helping to anchor her faith. “I thought God’s members and I love to serve the students in love for me was real because of the way peothis way. I think it fits my administrative ple really cared for me,” she said. skills well.” Hsu says she doesn’t see the poHsu admits she questioned the circumsition as work, but as a “fun job” in which stances of her life during that time and wonshe can help the ministry in a way she bedered why things were happening the way they Anna Hsu, Brown ’10, has lieves God has gifted her. were. However, she realized that what mattered a passion for sharing the Gospel on campus. “It’s super encouraging to talk with staff most was her relationship with the Lord. “Nothmembers and see what’s up because they are ing matters if I’m not right with God,” she said. working throughout Providence, and I can see what’s hapAnd now she wants to share that message with others. pening elsewhere,” she said “It’s exciting and encouraging “What I’ve learned is the importance of evangelism and to see what’s being done at Brown.” talking about God in my life,” Hsu said. Although a lifeDuring her sophomore year, Hsu went on a weeklong long Christian, she admits that evangelism wasn’t a part of mission trip to Mexico, where she helped Campus Crusade her daily routine. However, she says that seeing other Chrisstaff connect with Christians on the campuses and shared tians at Brown who aren’t afraid to talk about their faith and the Gospel with the students. who live their lives transparently inspired her. Hsu also spent last spring studying in Mexico and was Hsu admits that sharing God’s Word in a liberal commualso planning to focus on evangelism. Instead, she found nity like Brown was daunting, even with her own friends. the study requirements more intense than anticipated, and As a new student on campus, she had friends who were beshe wasn’t able to spend as much time evangelizing. That lievers and some who were not. She says she interacted less was a reminder, she said, that God is in control. “God used authentically with friends who weren’t believers because she that semester to challenge my own plans. He used [that didn’t feel she could share her faith as openly with them. time] to teach me more about walking with Him.” “That frustrated me and also made me feel that I was In turn, Hsu continues to use her time at Brown to teach being superficial in that I wasn’t sharing things that were her peers about how they, too, can walk with the Lord. important to me,” she said. “I had the impression that [Brown] was a more liberal place. I intimidated myself into By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

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SWINE FLU EPIDEMIC SUBSIDES AT CORNELL One Student Loses Life, Hundreds Were Infected As Cornell University opened its doors to the hands and fight the flu with free soap bars; and Cornell start of a new fall semester, both new and old United Religious Work, a group of twenty-nine affiliated CORNELL students alike bustled around the beautiful communities that offer opportunities for students to enIthaca campus buying new books and attending new stugage in interfaith dialogue, presented a program to assist dent festivities. Contracting the flu was the last thing on freshmen. everyone’s minds. “The main area of concern was freshmen who did not On September 4, Cornell University’s Gannett Health Seryet know people. They would go to the cafeteria while quite vices issued its first statement, confirming a wave of H1N1 ill and then expose others. We were asked to take meals to virus on the campus community. A few days later, Gannett students who were sick, and Gannett would provide masks raised its numbers from over 140 students with the flu-like illto those helping,” asserts Barbara Westin, InterVarsity ness to over 291 students who spoke with or used university Christian Fellowship staff worker and Cornell United Relihealth services. Later in September that gious Work chaplain. number was approximately 600, according Earlier in September, the Cornell comto The Cornell Daily Sun. munity came together to prepare “home flu kits” for ill students with basic self“Cornell’s reaction to the swine flu was care supplies. Even professors who usureally dramatic,” comments Carolyn Baek ally don’t like to give make-up exams ’10, “[The university] installed new hand were much more flexible. “Academically, sanitizer dispensers every few feet… It got they were very accommodating, especially sort of scary when the numbers were rising with make-up exams. If you weren’t able dramatically.” to make it to class, professors were very Unfortunately, on September 11, WarAs the H1N1 virus hits the Cornell campus, students, understanding,” states Baek ’10. ren Schor ’11 passed away due to complistaff and faculty take While fraternities decided not to have cations related to the H1N1 virus after precautions. open parties, events and programs on cambeing hospitalized at Cayuga Medical pus don’t seem to be heavily affected by the swine flu. “I Center. “Most people consider it like the flu, just out of seahave not seen much of the H1N1 effects,” says Justin son. People just don’t want to get sick because they don’t McGeary, director of undergraduate programs at the want to stay out of class…There is definitely a hygiene Chesterton House. At the end of September, the anxiety and paranoia, I see people carrying anti-bacterial gel, washing commotion of spreading and contracting the swine flu aphands constantly,” states Kristie Lee ’10. “Cornell is so acpeared to have died down. ademically- and event- driven, it’s hard for students to take “It seems like the flu has receded a bit, and it isn’t as days off from getting sick…even success comes before their big of a deal as it was two or three weeks ago,” said Lee. “I own health and bodies.” think that the school administration worked really hard to Since the rise of the number of flu cases and Schor’s keep the school open and keep things going. One major death, a number of changes have occurred on campus. problem on campus is the education of what the swine flu The university launched a “You and the Flu” initiative to is, and how to prevent it. People hear all of these things, but help prevent the spread of the disease, and to treat it propthey don’t act on them,” says Lee ’10. erly; Cornell University Emergency Services initiated a “Got Soap?” campaign to urge students to wash their By Charity Hung, Cornell ’09

“Cornell is so academically- and event-driven, it’s hard for students to take days off from getting sick… even success comes before their own health and bodies.” Fall 2009

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A ‘STREETLIGHT’ ON NASSAU Organization Brings Gospel to Princeton Sidewalks “Destroying the scholarly subterfuge of institufaith matured,” he said, “and I began to live in the light and tions of higher indoctrination.” That is the misnot just understand it.” Eventually, Krause’s passion for PRINCETON sion of Streetlight, a non-denominational, truth became a burning passion for Christ, which compels evangelical organization bringing the Gospel to the streets him to share the Gospel. and meeting sinners where they walk. For Harrison, a retired corporate executive, money and Chuck Harrison, Wharton ’68 and Robert Krause, all its trappings were the allures. “I got out of Wharton and Princeton ’10, take to the streets of Princeton on Friday I learned how to make money. I played tennis at private esnights where they ask, “Are you going to heaven?” tates,” he recalls. The evangelists also pull no punches when it comes to reEven though Harrison saw himself as a Christian and was pentance. Harrison says that today, many people come to Jesus a deacon in his church, it wasn’t until he attended a Bible for life enhancement: “Repentance study, at age 37, that he realized is a component missing from his faith was not genuine. During evangelism today. You can’t find the subsequent years, Harrison tracts on repentance or surrender. and his wife came to know God When you repent, you have a more and increasingly realized change of heart and mind about sin that idolizing money held little and who Jesus and God are.” meaning. What he does now, he Harrison is up front with says, is eternal. people and doesn’t promise them For Krause, evangelism is an an easy path. “As they turn from extension of who he has become sin, they will lose friends,” he in Christ. “From the beginning, says. “We want them to think I had the indwelling desire to about what their idols are.” preach the Gospel,” he said. Chuck Harrison, Wharton ’68, and Robert Krause, And Harrison and Krause “You preach all the time. By Princeton ’10, bring the Gospel to the streets of preaching I mean word, action, both know about idols. Krause Princeton. and deed, seen and unseen… I admits that before coming to go to people and say this is what happened to me. My tesChrist while at Princeton, he was fully immersed in the timony has developed and my desire to evangelize has departy culture. “I drank all the time, five times a week,” he veloped.” said. “I blacked out about three times a week, and I enjoyed While some are hesitant to do street evangelism, Harrievery minute of it.” son says, “We have the power of God. There is no stress on Things started to change, however, when a fellow stuus whatsoever. The Lord is working; it’s amazing.” dent shared the Gospel with him. Although not immediately “Every night is a new beginning” Harrison explains. transformed, Krause said he began reading the Bible and, in “At Princeton, kids are being taught to be anti-Christian time, Jesus shed light upon his reading, and he repented. and anti-biblical apologists.” As a result, he’s had to preHis early faith, he admits, was a cerebral one. “I was grappare by reading the Qur’an cover to cover and studying pling with what true faith is. I was an individual who had a apologetics in order to talk with such skeptics. In one inpassion for truth.” stance, Harrison had a two-hour conversation with a parOver time, God worked within his heart, revealing that ticle physicist. walking in the truth is the same as knowing the truth. “My

“At Princeton, kids are being taught to be anti-Christian and anti-biblical apologists.” Page 10

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ON • CAMPUS In addition to sharing the Gospel with non-Christians, Harrison is also a resource for believers at times. For example, he reminded a Christian who was dating an atheist about the Bible’s command not to be unequally yoked. “We exhort people and pray for them on the spot,” he said. After introducing people to the Gospel, the evangelists give them Bibles and other resources, and encourage them to attend a local church. They also keep records and continue praying for each person after leaving the street. Ac-

cording to Krause, they have spoken to 1250 people this calendar year alone. Although Harrison and Krause have limited time to get to know the people with whom they talk, they come to know each by name and hear personal stories and confessions from many. “I really want to know them,” Krause said. “I can know more about someone in one hour than their friends do.” By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

‘NO RESERVE,’ ‘NO RETREAT,’ ‘NO REGRETS’ William Borden Chose Life of Service over Family Fortune the man Borden grew to be. He was dedicated to his family One hundred years after his graduation from and hard work and faithful to his belief in Jesus Christ. Yale, William Whiting Borden (Class of 1909) YALE For example, in Borden of Yale, the author wrote of a is still having an impact upon the campus. Retime when Borden visited an uncle at his Indiana farm. Borcently, the International Church at Yale, in cooperation with den, who was only ten at the time, wanted to make cider; other campus ministries, commissioned the reprinting and but his uncle explained that the cider-press had been negdistribution of 500 copies of Borden’s biography, Borden of Yale, by Mrs. Howard Taylor. lected and couldn’t be properly cleaned for use. Undaunted, The purpose of the book distribution, which was parhowever, young Borden relentlessly took on the task of tially funded by a grant from Christian Union, was to incleaning the press, carrying two buckets of hot water at a spire students and scholars with the example of Borden’s time and scrubbing the machine until it was “spotless and total commitment to Christ. According to Hugh Hedges, cider-making began.” founding elder of International Church at Yale (www.yale. Borden spent much of his time inclined toward manual edu/icy), the effort was more than an evangelistic one. labor on his aunt’s farm and the nearby McKinley sawmill. “This was a discipleship thing,” he said. “When young His aunt, Taylor wrote, “wondered if there ever was another boy so humble, with a heart so full of love and a mind thinkChristians read this book, their hearts are stirred.” ing such pure thoughts.” As heir to the Borden family fortune, Borden had wealth At Yale, Borden’s thoughts turned toward ministering and opportunity; but his passion was serving God. “In spite of [his] being a millionaire, in everything he had and everything he did, he said ‘yes’ to Jesus and ‘no’ to self,” said Hedges. And that passion for Christ was born in Borden’s heart at a young age. When William was just six years old, his mother asked the Borden children to write down what they wanted to be when they grew up. “I want to be an honest man when I grow up, a true and loving and kind Campus ministries at Yale recently commemorated the 100th anniversary of the and faithful man,” wrote young graduation of evangelist William Whiting Borden by giving out copies of Borden William Borden. of Yale. By all accounts, that’s exactly

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ON • CAMPUS to his classmates. As one student was quoted in the book, “He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration.” But Borden’s compassion didn’t end at Yale’s gates; he also reached out to neighboring New Haven. It was there that, according to The Yale Standard, “Borden felt something needed to be done so he gathered his friends to pray, rented a room in a dive on the strip, and began to hold evangelistic meetings. Thus was born the Yale Hope Mission.” Borden’s heart for mission work grew even broader while touring the world at age sixteen. His heart was touched by the barren hearts of others throughout the world who did not know of Christ’s saving grace. He decided to bring that knowledge to them. And, given his love for hard work and a good challenge, he chose to bring the Gospel to Chinese Muslims. In 1912, Borden was accepted into service for the China

Inland Mission. However, while studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. He died at the young age of twenty-five. Reportedly, in Borden’s Bible (which was found after his death) he had written “No Reserve” shortly after turning from fortune to the mission field. In another portion of the Bible the words “No Retreat” were inscribed shortly after he learned of his meningitis diagnosis. He wrote “No Regrets” shortly before his death. But even after his death, the humble, vivacious servant of Christ continued to touch hearts, not only through Taylor’s book, but also through the vast sum of money Borden bequeathed to Christian causes. Today, a full century after he left Yale, the echo of his testimony inspires current graduates to pursue a life of dedication and service. One graduating senior remarked, after receiving one of the distributed copies of Borden of Yale, “I’m excited to follow in Borden’s footsteps and spread God’s Word to Asia.” Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

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FRIENDS, NOT FOES Forum Seeks Common Ground for Scientific, Theological Pursuits of Truth Christian Union Teaching Fellow Chuck Hetzler recently particiALL IVY pated in a symposium with the Trinity Forum to help the leadership academy develop curricula on the intersecting issues of science, faith, and truth. In July, the Trinity Forum held a two-day workshop at its waterfront campus in Royal Oak, Maryland, with participation from more than twenty scientists, scholars, theologians, and campus ministers. The Trinity Forum will use the results to develop study materials for college campuses across the country. Hetzler said he came away from the symposium with increased perspective to share with students involved in Princeton Faith and Action (www.pfanda.com), Christian Union’s leadership development ministry. “One of the

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Dr. Chuck Hetzler, a Christian Union teaching fellow, was among 20 scientists, scholars, and theologians who participated in a recent two-day symposium sponsored by the Trinity Forum.

major topics at Princeton is this question of how do science and faith relate to one another,” said Hetzler, who holds a doctorate degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “It’s a recurring question.” The John Templeton Foundation, under the chairmanship of Dr. Jack Templeton, Yale ’62 and Harvard Ph.D. ’68, awarded the Trinity Forum a grant to develop the curriculum through its Science for Ministry Initiative. The aim is to help campus ministers and pastors address the “complementary way Christianity and science pursue truth and the roots of scientific inquiry in the Judeo-Christian tradition.” To lead the three-year project, Trinity assembled a Core Advisory Team that includes some top names in the scientific and theolog-

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INTELLECTUAL • ENGAGEMENT

“…The story of science and religion since the Middle Ages has been one of estrangement rather than conflict. Most ministers and lay leaders still have no workable common language to reconnect these universes.”

ical worlds. Team members are Dan Cho, Francis Collins, Dallas Willard, Bill Hurlbut, Luder Whitlock, and Don Yerxa. Cho, Harvard ’96 and Yale Divinity School ’05, serves as executive director of The Veritas Forum. Collins, Yale PhD ’74, is a geneticist who is known for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership in the Human Genome Project. In July, President Barack Obama, Columbia ’83 and Harvard Law ‘91, nominated Collins to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, Hurlbut is a physician and consulting professor in human biology at Stanford University. In 2002, he was appointed to the President’s Council on Bioethics. Whitlock, the former executive director of the Trinity Forum and former president of Reformed Theological Seminary, is a senior fellow with the organization. Willard is senior fellow with the Trinity Forum and a philosophy professor at the University of Southern California. Yerxa, who holds a doctorate degree in American history from the University of Maine, is co-director of The Historical Society and editor of Historically Speaking by Johns Hopkins University Press. The Trinity Forum, which is based in Washington D.C., is a Christ-centered organization that promotes the renewal of culture through programs and publications for established and emerging leaders. Cherie Harder, Harvard ’91, is the president of the Trinity Forum.

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The results from the symposium will be used to develop two pilot forums as Trinity revises and finalizes its proposed curricula. A key goal of the project is to offer an understanding of science as part of the human pursuit of truth rather than as an independent, overarching source of authority and meaning. Another goal is to encourage an “engaged and enthusiastic quest” to comprehend creation. And, a final key goal is to promote a fuller understanding of the ways truth can be known, what constitutes reliable knowledge, and respect for the ways both science and faith pursue truth. Misunderstandings are often at the root of conflicts between faith and science. “…The story of science and religion since the Middle Ages has been one of estrangement rather than conflict,” noted Stephen Barr, a symposium participant and physicist, Columbia ’74, Princeton *78. “Most ministers and lay leaders still have no workable common language to reconnect these universes.” Likewise, “scientific knowledge is usually prized above other sorts of knowledge,” Hetzler said. “Non-Christian students have a caricature of what Christianity teaches and thinks they’re not compatible… Whenever there’s a conflict between science and Christianity, there’s always an issue of interpretation.” By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

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THE MAN ON THE PLUS SIGN Land and Metaxas Discuss the Importance of Culture Editor’s note: The following article, written by they said, “Our teenage son wants to know who the man is Marvin Olasky (Yale ’71), originally appeared hanging on the plus sign.” They didn’t know it was Jesus ALL IVY in the August 1 issue of WORLD magazine. and they didn’t know it was a cross. That sounds far-fetched to some of us, but I’ve been some places in our country Reprinted with permission. The subjects of the discussion, where it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. Richard Land (Princeton ’73) and Eric Metaxas (Yale ’84), We have an obligation and a responsibility to live a whole are Ivy League alumni. Olasky is the editor-in-chief of gospel before that world out there. The idea that there’s a soWORLD magazine, provost of The King’s College in New cial gospel and a spiritual gospel is an invention of the devil. York City, and the author of several books, including The There is only one gospel, and it is a whole gospel for whole Tragedy of American Compassion. people. It is blasphemous to go out and seek to feed the hunDaniel Patrick Moynihan, the rare U.S. senator who was gry and not tell them about the bread of life, or to seek to also a thinker, once said, “The central conservative truth is house the homeless and not tell them that in our father’s that it is culture not politics that determines the success of house are many mansions, or to seek to give water to the a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change thirsty and not tell them about the rivers of living water. It is a culture and save it from itself.” also a denial of the incarnation Conservatives have the betto go preach the gospel and igter of that argument, but both nore the fact that people are fall short of the central Christian understanding, which is hungry and thirsty and naked that only Christ saves us from and homeless. We are to do ourselves, and that neither culboth. ture nor politics is of any help METAXAS: You have to apart from God’s grace. realize that you’re speaking I recently moderated at into a culture that in some The King’s College in New cases is wildly ignorant, just York a discussion between amazingly, staggeringly ignotwo thoughtful Christians that rant of some things they encompassed many topics, but should know. About four years particularly the importance of ago, Dick Cavett, the former Richard Land, Princeton ’69, and Eric Metaxas, Yale ’84, recently discussed culture and Woody Allen. culture. Richard Land has talk show host, walked into a served as president of the Park Avenue bistro. Cavett is Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty totally brilliant, knows everything there is to know about Commission since 1988, hosts two national radio shows, everything—except that he has lived in New York City and is a fan of Woody Allen. Eric Metaxas, founder and host since he left Yale in the late ’50s, so he has been part of the of Manhattan’s Socrates in the City, has written two biogepicenter of secular culture. In the back of the bistro there’s raphies, 30 children’s books, and humor articles that Woody Father Rutler, a Catholic priest and a true intellectual. I Allen called “quite funny.” think, “This is the Lord!” because I would love to introduce Here are excerpts of the discussion. Dick Cavett to this guy. So we go sit with him and Dick LAND: When we look at our culture today, we have to Cavett turns to Father Rutler: “I’ve got a question for you, try to understand, and ask God to help us learn, how to exFather. Where does the Golden Rule come from?” plain the gospel to people who don’t have ready biblical Father Rutler is so smart that he thinks Dick Cavett is references. I read an article in Time magazine about the lack asking him some deep theological question. He thought of religion in some parts of America. One couple came to there was no way that someone could not know that Jesus see an Episcopal priest after they had been to a service, and said the Golden Rule. But Dick Cavett is the poster boy for

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

INTELLECTUAL • ENGAGEMENT people who seem to know everything—but in Manhattan most people are absurdly ignorant of the things that evangelicals know incredibly well. If you want to reach the world with the gospel, move to New York City. LAND: If you showed American television to a sociologist, they would be hard pressed to conclude that 61 percent of Americans say that religion is a very important part of their lives. It just wouldn’t compute, given our sitcoms and films. METAXAS: And the 12-year-old girl in Topeka goes up to her room and turns on her TV and effectively gets the worldview of Hugh Hefner and Baywatch. If the invisible hand of the market were working when it comes to media,

a third of every sitcom, talk show, and movie that you watch would come from the perspective of conservative, evangelical Christians. But somehow the market isn’t working, because we have been out of the game for 50 or so years. LAND: When Muslims come to America and get out of New York City and Washington and go into the real country and see people who are actually religious, it stuns them. I’ve talked to some Cuban Christians who are very ambivalent about the ending of the embargo, because they say that if the embargo ends, a lot of what will come into their country from America will be very harmful to their families and their faith. . . We do need to do a better job. We desperately need Christians to engage the media.

TALKING WITH WOODY ALLEN LAND: I’m a Woody Allen fan. Woody Allen movies come to Nashville three weeks after they’re released, and they stay there for one week at one theater, so all of us who like Woody Allen know each other. I think people will be watching Woody Allen films a hundred years from now to figure out how a particularly influential subset of American culture lived and what they were like in the late 20th and early 21st century. Woody asks all the right questions; he just doesn’t have any answers. His central question is, “If God doesn’t exist, what meaning does life have?” METAXAS: In a number of his movies it’s as if it’s the gospel without the ending. He makes you see that life without God is agony, it’s undoable. WORLD: If you were sitting next to Woody Allen on a plane, what would you say to him? METAXAS: I’d have to somehow figure out how to connect with him. . . . If you come across as morally superior, that’s unbiblical, that’s wrong, it’s a lie, so you’re confused. But also you’ll push the person away. You’ve got to find a point of connection, otherwise they won’t hear you. If you walk around New York you might see someone, semi-homeless, almost always from out of

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town, with a hat and a Bible “preaching the word” on the street. Nine times out of 10 they are not preaching the Word any more than Satan was when he was quoting the Bible to Jesus in the wilderness. The words are not magic. Some people will respond, “The word of God will not return void,” and yes, the capital-w Word of God, the Logos, will not return void—but the words of the Bible can certainly return void unless they’re anointed by the Holy Spirit. Many people think that if they just spew out Scripture or something that people are hearing them, but it’s not true. Jesus never did that. He always connected with everyone around him. LAND: I would say make a connection with him as a person. I would start with his movies and tell him how much his movies had meant to me and spoken to me as a human being. It’s very clear that he’s a very vulnerable man; he does have no hope, and he’s very disturbed by having no hope. METAXAS: He should be, but there are a lot of people who just float through life. The thing about somebody like Woody Allen is that he has thought this through and he sees the bleakness of it. A lot of people haven’t thought it through; they’re not logical. Logic is good.

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FINDING GOD AT HARVARD AND LEADING UNIVERSITIES The Veritas Forum Continues to Expand man at Harvard and assumed the role of executive director While antagonism within the Ivy League in 2005, noted that within universities, the “exclusion of abounds toward Christianity, the nation’s most HARVARD Christianity on their part is a loss, a loss of real truth.” leading universities also are experiencing the Indeed, many of the country’s leading institutions, espesparks of a spiritual awakening. cially those within the Ivy League, systematically shun ex“God cares for the Ivy League and for the academy,” said pressions of faith within the classroom—and the very Dan Cho, executive director of The Veritas Forum (www.vercanons that served as the bedrock of their foundations. Most itas.org). “I do sense that God is working. There’s a sense of of the Ivy League schools were established movement, working, and excitement that is to train ministers to evangelize the Atlantic very different from 10 or 15 years ago.” seaboard. Associates with the Veritas Forum are on From the 1960s to 1990s, universities the frontlines of witnessing a spiritual resur“almost selected for secular naturalism,” gence at some of the country’s leading, but Kullberg said. “There’s still a poor faculty secular-minded universities. The Cambridge, representation for Christians. There are very Massachusetts-based organization works to few role models, but that’s beginning to corfacilitate university events that involve sturect itself.” dents and faculty in discussions about “life’s Christian students of the 1990s and behardest questions” and the relevance of Jesus yond are beginning to assume pivotal leadChrist. ership posts. “These people grow up and go In the 2008-2009 academic year, Veritas on to do great things,” Kullberg said. helped host some 50 events, including 15 inKelly Monroe Kullberg is At a personal level, Kullberg encounternational forums. Events are scheduled for the founder of the Veritas tered an inhospitable environment toward fall 2009 on campuses including Columbia, Forum. Christ’s Gospel when she entered Harvard Yale, and England’s Cambridge universities. Divinity School as a visiting student in the late 1980s. She Forums also are planned for spring 2010 at locations includdescribed her experiences–and chronicled the birth and exing Stanford, Northwestern, and Brown universities. pansion of the Veritas Forum–in Finding God Beyond HarNational Veritas staff assist local planning teams of campus ministers and students who design and host indivard, published by InterVarsity Press. vidual forums. “By the end of an orientation lunch, I gathered that one “There are some incredibly vibrant communities of was not to speak of Jesus or the Bible without a tone of eruChristians, and there are some incredibly passionate studite cynicism,” Kullberg wrote. “I quickly learned that subdents, staff, and alumni,” said Cho, Harvard ’96, Yale tle mockery trumped reason.” M.Div. ’05. Furthermore, “Ironically, everything was tolerated, exAs a result of spiritual renewal, many believers on camcept that for which Harvard College was founded–In Christi pus have moved from struggling to maintain their faith to Gloriam–Jesus Christ’s glory,” Kullberg noted. contemplating how to present the relevancy of Christ’s “I wondered if worship of God might interfere with the Gospel to their collegiate peers and superiors. They are part university’s worship of itself.” of an effort to “restore these universities to genuine places Later, as a chaplain with Harvard’s Graduate School of learning,” said Cho. Christian Fellowship (www.hgscf.org), Kullberg also enFor young scholars, this is critical because of a “general countered similar resistance when she sought permission to sense that one’s faith is not allowed to be a vital factor in the use the university’s ancient Veritas: Christo et Ecclessiae classroom,” said Kelly Monroe Kullberg, founder of the shield for the campus ministry and to contextualize the emVeritas Forum. bryonic Veritas Forum. Nonetheless, she learned to gently Cho, who attended Veritas’ inaugural forum as a freshpersist.

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INTELLECTUAL • ENGAGEMENT “Harvard had become silent about Jesus–‘the J word.’ It was a bit dicey to raise to the forefront the name that others avoided and to gently make known to a post-Christian university the reason for its very existence.” Three months later, after pointing out that a variety of clubs, including a Frisbee club and a bisexual gay-lesbian group, were adapting and utilizing the historic shield, an administrator relented and allowed use of the emblem, Kullberg wrote. Today, Veritas, which held its initial forum at Harvard in 1992, lists more than 100 affiliate campuses across the nation and abroad. While prioritizing in the United States, a major push for the organization is expansion across Europe and into East Asia. So far, more than 500 apologists have spoken at 200plus forums across more than 100 universities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. As well, Veritas continues to expand its line of Christian literature dealing with issues of key interest to scholars and students. Kullberg wrote the story of Veritas–and her own journey of faith and leadership–in Finding God Beyond Harvard: the Quest for Veritas.

Another of the organization’s signature works is Finding God at Harvard, a collection of 42 inspiring testimonies from staff, alumni, and orators at Harvard. Kullberg edited the 1996 book that debunks the perception that Christianity cannot survive amidst intellectualism and addresses the emptiness that many college students encounter. In 2010, Veritas plans to release a volume that captures significant excerpts from the organization’s forums. As well, the organization plans to revamp its Web site, www.veritas.org, to include more video elements. And, as she introduces the concepts of Veritas to campuses across the country and beyond, Kullberg seeks to clear up misunderstandings about Christianity. Her core message is that the “Gospel belongs in the middle, not the margins, of the most secular incubators of cultural leadership–the universities,” Kullberg wrote. Ultimately, leaders of Veritas want to encourage “united witnessing communities” within leading universities. “Together with them, we’ll encourage cynics to question, seekers to believe, and believers to grow in Christ-like brilliance and love,” Kullberg wrote.

“I wondered if worship of God might interfere with the university’s worship of itself.”

By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

HOW GOD CHANGES YOUR BRAIN Study Shows Positive Effects of Prayer Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are discovering what Christians already know— PENN prayer is good for you. The Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the Penn School of Medicine brings together scholars, chaplains, scientists, and physicians to study the relationship between faith, health, and the mind. Dr. Andrew Newberg, Penn School of Medicine ’93, documents the findings of his research on prayer in his recently released book, How God Changes Your Brain. “Faith is embedded in our neurons and in our genes, and it is one of the most important principles to honor in our lives,” Newberg writes. The goal of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, says Newberg, is to create and design research projects that further advance the field and share the information with the university. For example, the center, in conjunction with the Office

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of Pastoral Care at the hospital, explores the clinical experiences of prayer and healing. One course enables medical students to shadow a chaplain through the night duty shift. “We often have many contacts with trauma patients and their families,” explains the Rev. Ralph Ciampa, director of Pastoral Care. “The single observation these students bring back is how prayer seems to impact these patients and families in time of great crisis.” Newberg’s work as a neuroscientist is specifically focused on documenting what happens within the brain when people engage in such prayer. He uses imaging technology to document the visible changes that occur in the brain while subjects pray, meditate, and speak in tongues. Brain scans show positive changes in the brain’s neurochemistry and areas of the brain responsible for enhanced cognition and memory. They also reveal reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression.

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INTELLECTUAL • ENGAGEMENT Not surprising to many Christians, Newberg reports obical benefits for those who meditate in faith and who attend servable improvement in brain function and mood when subchurch on a regular basis. jects prayed in a contemplative or meditative way for Thus, while some Christians may not agree with Newextended periods of time on a regular berg’s presentation of his research, basis. Most Christians who have seen many agree that this form of study is these positive scans view them as a natuvaluable to Christians and seekers alike. ral result of God’s design to enable com“The great positive of the research munion with him. is that it really helps bring faith into Newberg’s findings, however, are not medical care on a basic level,” says Uniwithout controversy. Some have accused versity Chaplain Charles Howard, Penn him of keeping God in the mind and pro’00. “Studies like this really keep faith moting a pluralistic agenda because he traditions in the forefront with doctors encourages readers to continually exand nurses.” plore new ideas of God. His research Assistant Chaplain Steve Kocher also references similar positive effects in adds, “I’m glad there is another avenue the brains of atheists who practice medto discuss academic study and faith… itation. As a scientist [Newberg] seems to be Newberg denies promoting pluralism taking those responses he’s hearing and admits that the way he presented from believers seriously.” some of his material could lead some to At the same time, both Ciampa and Dr. Andrew Newberg, Penn School come away with a misunderstanding of Howard recommend discernment when of Medicine ’93, documents the what he was trying to convey. reading the book. findings of his research in his recently released book How God “I’m not saying people should reject “I think it would be very unfortunate Changes Your Brain. their beliefs. In fact, one thing people if people of some of the faith traditions have to watch out for while questioning felt the need to have their faith verified their beliefs is not to get into a spiritual crisis where you are by this kind of research. I think the faith claims have their struggling to understand your beliefs,” he said. However, own validity,” said Ciampa. Newberg does encourage believers to continually explore One of the dangers Howard sees is that in the process of what they believe when it comes to God and their faith. quantifying faith, there may be a “squeezing out of room He says he isn’t promoting prayer to a “benign, happy for the mystery of the Holy Spirit.” God.” But along with knowing there are consequences to “We can do a lot of research and glorify God with our going against God’s commandments, one should also medmind,” he said. “It should be engaged with caution and huitate on the forgiving, merciful aspect of God. Newberg also mility. God can’t be boxed in.” points out that his research demonstrates greater neurologBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

“The great positive of the research is that it really helps bring faith into medical care on a basic level. Studies like this really keep faith traditions in the forefront with doctors and nurses.”

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

MISSIONS

PFA STUDENTS TAKE GOSPEL DOWN UNDER Princeton Mission Team Gains Global Perspective ply are unfamiliar with Christ’s plan of salvation. “People Five students with Princeton Faith and Action, would say, ‘That’s fine and well for you, but I just don’t see Christian Union’s leadership development minthat it has anything to do with my life. My life is fine as it is,’” istry, spent nearly six weeks of their summer Jones said. “We really had to lay out the implications of there helping a branch of Campus Crusade for Christ evangelize not being a God and the implications of there being a God.” on an influential campus in Australia. In all, the Princeton team shared Christ’s Gospel with Under the leadership of Scott Jones (Cornell ’04) and more than 200 Australian students. At least thirty of those his wife, Sara, the students from Princeton University were students agreed to follow-up conversations. Many of the among a team of 15 students who participated in a Campus American students were touched by the need for authenCrusade mission trip to three campuses in Australia. The tic Christianity both Down Under trip, held July 1 to August 7, coinand across the globe. cided with end-of-winter break “On a more spiritual level, and the beginning of the second the biggest picture concept that semester for the Australian camGod showed me was simply puses. the need that exists for Him The U.S. students assisted around the world,” said Carola staffers and undergraduates with Hernández-Cappas, Princeton Student Life, Crusade’s university ’11. “Something I learned very ministry in Australia. Early in their quickly was the prominence of trip, the U.S. visitors also joined an attitude of apathy that Ausabout 250 Aussie students in partralians have toward God and ticipating in Student Life’s annual spiritual concerns.” winter-break conference, which “Australia, unlike what I had was held in Albury from July 5-10. Five students from Princeton Faith and Action, thought, was not like the U.S. in Second semester extends from July and Christian Union Ministry Fellow Scott Jones, Cornell ’04 (second from left), and his many ways. It was not full of to November. wife Sara (third from left), spent six weeks in Christians or people who claimed Princeton students spent the Australia this summer evangelizing on to be Christians. Many…didn’t bulk of their time at the University campuses with Campus Crusade for Christ. know the Gospel or even much of Melbourne, while students from about who Jesus was or who God was—nor did they know Virginia Tech, Radford, Liberty, American, and Tennessee what it meant to be a Christian.” universities concentrated their efforts on La Trobe University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Julia Neufeld, Princeton ’10, said she learned to apThe U.S. visitors distributed flyers to promote Stuproach evangelism with humility. “If God hasn’t prepared dent Life, planned outreach events for Crusade, and used someone’s heart to be interested and receptive, there is nothing I can do on my own to generate interest,” she said. “But, print and electronic surveys to witness to Australian sturegardless, the correct attitude to the uninterested person is dents. still to love and to serve them.” As a whole, the American students and staffers were struck by the indifference of most young Australians. “Faith Overall, the U.S. team of staffers and students was imand religion aren’t tied to politics there,” said Scott Jones, pressed by the dedication of their Australian colleagues. a ministry fellow with the Christian Union at Princeton. “The movements we were working with were relatively “There’s not the same emotion behind it. It’s not as controsmall, but they had a lot of leaders who were completely versial. They don’t get as offended. It’s really like they sold on seeing the Gospel spread,” said Dan Newman, a haven’t thought much of it.” Crusade staffer at Virginia Tech and project director for the Australia mission. Along those lines, many of the collegiate Australians sim-

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MISSIONS In addition, members of the Princeton team said a highlight of the trip was helping tutor children of inner-city refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Many of the refugees are Muslim. “As far as the work we did, however, my favorite thing was the tutoring we did for kids in a part of the city called the ‘Estates,’ [the] government housing projects for refugee families,” said Trevor Van Ackeren, Princeton ’12. “They were lots of fun. Ministering at the Estates was wonderful as it takes a very long-term approach to ministering to the Muslim community. It was great to be part of that.” Along related lines, the American students “completely

expanded their world view,” Jones said. “It gave them a sense outside of what they know of North America. There’s a need on a global scale for the Gospel to go forth. That’s such a powerful thing to learn.” Newman agreed. “Jesus is not just here for Americans. The whole world is in need of Christ and not just what they’re used to here,” he said. Most of the U.S. students returned to their campuses eager to share their experiences and Christ’s Gospel. “I’m excited to see how these students translate their passions into fruitful ministry at Princeton,” Jones said. By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

GAINING A NEW PERSPECTIVE Mission Trip Helps Set Spiritual Foundation for Brown Student Humans were created to share their faith and to serve the needs of the people around them. That BROWN was the lesson Ben Kwak, Brown ’12, absorbed when he spent a chunk of his summer break on a mission trip to Costa Rica. “Our purpose on earth is to further God’s kingdom,” said Kwak, who ventured to Central America for a fiveweek trip with Campus Crusade for Christ (www.ccci.org). “I’m here to serve the Lord—I’m not here for myself.” Kwak was one of about twenty students and four Crusade staffers who ventured to Costa Rica in mid-June. The group spent most of its time ministering at the Universidad de Costa Rica, where the American students shared their faith with undergraduates and invited them to events with the local Crusade chapter. About 39,000 students attend the institution, which is located in the province of San Jose and is the oldest and largest university in the country. While at the university, the students assisted three staffers who are part of Crusade’s Short Term International (STINT) team in Costa Rica. The students also helped a team from a church in Seattle construct a church in San Jose, and they assisted the nonprofit Food for the Hungry in running a Vacation Bible School for impoverished children. As part of the camp, the students showed a children’s version of Crusade’s Jesus film to the youngsters. Kwak, who is involved with College Hill for Christ (www.collegehillforchrist.com) at Brown, said he pursued

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a foreign mission trip to obtain a “strong spiritual foundation for the next three years of college. I felt God was pushing me toward ministry for the summer.” The native of Houston, Texas, was the only team member from a New England university; the other students on the trip mostly hailed from colleges in the Northwest, including the University of Washington. Kwak, who also plays rugby at Brown, is a biophysics major. As for ministering in a foreign land, Kwak described the experience as exciting but challenging. “The culture in Costa Rica is [one where] people will talk to complete strangers,” said Kwak. “They wanted to ask about America. They wanted to practice their English.” Although Kwak is fluent in Spanish, he said he found it challenging at times to share his faith in a foreign tongue. Nonetheless, “the Lord spoke through us, even in Spanish,” he said. “Everyone was excited over us. Everyone was so friendly down there.” The major issue the American team encountered was sharing the need for an intimate relationship with Christ in a country where many possess deep religious roots but may lack a personal experience with their Savior. Ultimately, Kwak described the trip as a life-changing venture. “It strengthened my faith,” he said. “I had not been involved in a lot of hard-core Christian activities. I had never really shared my faith like this on a regular basis.” By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer The Ivy League Christian Observer

MISSIONS

‘I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE’ Brown Senior Has Heart for Serving Those Who Need Hope “It’s such a stark contrast,” Wood said. “It’s really sad. While many college students consider frolickThese people stick with the only things they know.” ing in the sun their top priority for the summer, BROWN Indeed, Michael Sylvester, director of the LA Urban ProKatie Wood pursued a vastly different agenda. ject, commended Wood for her compassion toward some of The Brown University senior spent most of June ministhe area’s neediest residents. “She has a love for people and tering in impoverished sections of Southern California a heart for the Lord,” Sylvester said. “She is a very deterthrough Athletes in Action’s LA Urban Project (www.aiaatmined young lady. She has a heart to serve others.” brown.com). Sylvester also noted that Wood “It only takes one person to have provided valuable care and mentoran impact,” said Wood ’10, an urban ing to the children of Nickerson Garstudies major from St. Joseph, Misdens. “She was very loving, patient souri. “The biggest thing I wanted of with the children,” said Sylvester, the summer project was the commuwho also serves as director of Athnity outreach.” letes in Action at the University of Between June 6 and 30, Wood Southern California. joined more than fifty college athAlso during her time in Los Anletes and staffers from across the geles, Wood and the other students country to partner with urban mincompleted much of Athletes in Acistry veterans in some of the grittiest tion’s core summer curriculum, which neighborhoods in Los Angeles, is offered primarily through the minwhich is known for its vast economic istry’s Ultimate Training Camp in disparities. Colorado. In addition, the students As such, Wood spent much of her participated in the organization’s sigtime working in the Nickerson Garnature 24-hour sports marathon, dens section of Watts, a blighted Brown senior Katie Wood spent more which is designed to teach Christian neighborhood recognized as the birththan three weeks this summer athletes to persevere in spiritual prinplace of the Bounty Hunter Bloods ministering in the disadvantaged areas of Southern California. ciples despite physical exhaustion. gang. “These kids don’t have a chance The group also studied and disbecause no one cares about them,” cussed a series of issues related to social injustice. said Wood. “These kids are so hardened by hatred and anger.” Through her time in Southern California, Wood said her During her stint in Southern California, Wood, a varsity awareness of the needs around her increased. “It opened my javelin thrower, and other student athletes put on a sports eyes to how big the world is and how much need there is,” camp for disadvantaged youths and supervised needy chilWood said. “I’m called to love these people.” dren on an excursion to Playa del Rey Beach. They also As a result of her hands-on experience and training, hosted a celebration for high school students from San Wood said she feels motivated to pursue community servDiego who completed a missionary trip to troubled sections ice upon her return to Brown. She especially is interested in of Los Angeles, including crime-plagued Compton. working with Providence’s homeless community. “We need “I’ve always had a heart to help people,” Wood said. to make an impact,” Wood said. “There are so few people to help these kids. The stuff in their On a spiritual level, Wood said her own faith was inlives is real – shootings, beatings, etc. They’re so impacted by creased. “The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the culture around them. They want a different lifestyle away living inside you,” she said. “The capabilities are endless from the culture of poverty…[They] need hope.” when I’m really trusting God. I can make a difference.” Wood was especially struck by the proximity of concentrations of extreme wealth and poverty in Los Angeles. By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

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MISSIONS

CONTINUING A FAMILY LEGACY OF SERVICE Penn Alumna Helps Launch Medical Distribution in Burundi Some of Carol Hanselman’s earliest significant memories are of a nine-month relief trip her famPENN ily took to the Philippines after a high-magnitude earthquake rocked much of the main island of Luzon in 1989. Hanselman was just 5 when her family’s far-flung service and adventures also took her to Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan. As such, it’s not surprising that the recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania spent the summer in Burundi, where she conducted research for LifeNet Medical, the medical service project she is helping to launch. “The need is incredible here for quality medicine,” said Hanselman, who researched in Burundi from June through September. “When I was first working in the capital city, I started to see potential and see that LifeNet could make a difference in end consumers.” Indeed, LifeNet, the pilot project Hanselman began helping to form in fall 2008, reflects her twin interests of medicine and finance and her family’s rich heritage of missionary service. Hanselman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as the oldest child of parents who were raised in Asia as missionary kids. Ultimately, Hanselman and her partners in LifeNet want to use microfinance institutions to help entrepreneurs in impoverished countries. These entrepreneurs will help equip nurses to offer primary healthcare to their villages as visiting home nurses. While at Penn, a Colombian roommate introduced Hanselman, a nursing major, to the concept of microfinance, sparking a keen interest in the provision of financial services, including business loans, to low-income individuals and groups. As such, Hanselman joined Penn’s Microfinance Club, and her father put her in touch with HOPE International, a Lancaster-based nonprofit that focuses on eliminating poverty through microfinance programs. In summer 2008, Hanselman took an internship with HOPE that allowed her to explore a career at the “intersection between healthcare and microfinance.” A few months later, HOPE President Peter Greer put Hanselman in touch with the son of a HOPE adviser. Michael Spraggins, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Spraggins Building Services in Orlando, Florida, also wanted to explore microfinance options to help serve the medical needs of the poor. With help from Spraggins and Jonathan O’Connor, a former investment analyst and a 2005 Trinity Forum Acad-

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emy graduate, the team put together a pilot project to use microfinance arms, including Turame Community Finance, to enable potential entrepreneurs in Burundi to offer healthcare supplies. LifeNet is an affiliate of HOPE, which oversees a network of microfinance programs in more than a dozen countries. Likewise, Hanselman is quick to note that LifeNet is “not a relief organization.” Rather, it is a for-profit model that empowers Burundian nurses to obtain microfinance loans to purchase start-up medical kits that include rapid-result malaria tests, thermometers, medicines, and supplies. The nurses will offer diagnosis, prescriptions, and treatment via home visits. Burundi has just one physician per every 34,000 people, compared to one physician per every 500 individuals in the United States. O’Connor credited Hanselman for her energy and dedication. “She’s really spearheaded the entire research effort,” he said. As for Hanselman, helping to create LifeNet reflects a lifelong and familial interest in medical service. Hanselman’s maternal grandmother served as a nurse in Thailand, and her paternal grandmother delivered babies in addition to linguistic duties that included creating a written language for the Buhid tribe of the Philippines. “These women were the pivotal inspirations to me as I chose a career as a nurse, realizing that it was a career that would transfer to any country in the world, and it was a skill that could directly serve the needs of people as Jesus did,” Hanselman said. Along those lines, Hanselman, who graduated from Manheim Central High in 2004, earned degrees in nursing and economics from Penn in 2009. At a practical level, she noted that the “entrepreneuring ventures of starting businesses can be the wisest leveraging point of an Ivy League education, to have financial freedom to make a big impact for the world in the future.” But, ultimately, Hanselman said her motivation comes from Christ’s example of service. Hanselman said she was touched by “how Christ cared for people’s physical needs…, the commands He left for us to love Him and others using our gifts, and His teaching that to give generously will lead to reaping generously.” Plus, “I love the thrill of blazing new paths and doing things out of the ordinary,” she said. By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

The Ivy League Christian Observer

IN PERSON

SEMPER FIDELIS Marine Writes about Leading Platoon in Iraq You won’t find Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s who would live and who would die. Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood “The weight of two hundred or so lives was heavier than PRINCETON in the Christian section of your local bookstore. I expected,” he writes. So, I prayed a simple prayer over Yet, this compelling memoir of one believer’s experience as and over: ‘Dear God, please don’t let me screw up and get a platoon leader in Iraq evokes the Gospel in the vernacular everybody killed.’” of a warrior, and each page reflects the shadow of the cross. And through the chaos, Campbell, who has been a Written as a “love” letter of sorts to his men, Donovan Christian since he was a teenager, continued to pray. But as Campbell, Princeton ’01 and Harvard MBA ’07, penned the battles got tougher and the injuries more severe, his knowledge of prayer, like his own innocence, was awakJoker One to document the extraordinary valor, honor, and ened to a new reality and resulted in greater maturity. brotherhood of the men in his Marine platoon. “Deep in my heart, I believed “To this day, I love my that prayer would work without Marines with all that I’m capable fail,” he wrote. “What I know of,” writes Campbell, “and in now…was that by praying as I spite of my shortcomings, I want prayed, and hoping what I hoped, to do my utmost to help tell their and believing what I believed, I tale…And I hope and pray that was effectively reducing God to a whoever reads this story will result-dispensing genie who, if know my men as I do, and that just fed the proper incantations, knowing them, they, too, might would give the sincere petitioner come to love them.” (me) the exact outcome desired.” The book is a gripping, rapidWhile Campbell shares such fire account of the events that glimpses of his faith in the book, took place during the seven and a Marine platoon leader Donovan Campbell, it is not the focus. Yet, between half months of 2004, when Princeton ’01, recently published his compelling the lines of what is written, readCampbell and his platoon of 120 memoir, Joker One. ers familiar with the Gospel can Marines, call-sign Joker One, see into the Christian heart of the writer. fought the enemy on the streets of Ramadi—a city known For example, Campbell writes of pretending to be dead as “Iraq’s most dangerous place.” in order to stop worrying about his own life and focus on Originally anticipating a mission that was based upon caring for the lives of his soldiers. In retrospect, he admits the Division motto: “First Do No Harm—No Better Friend. there are parallels between losing a sense of his life for his No Worse Enemy,” the Marines expected to engage in a sort men and the Christian’s call to die to self to serve God. of grassroots community relations’ exercise. “My life is more blessed by serving Christ than life on But soon, they found themselves engaged in unprecethis earth,” he said. And so, as a Christian, he considers his dented urban warfare where the enemy hid behind children worldly life as gone. “It’s the same as battle,” he said, “so and gunmen vanished into a sea of civilians. I can focus on what I do.” Each day, the young platoon was drawn deeper and Yet, despite his deep love for God and his fellow deeper into life and death battles and Campbell felt the presMarines, Campbell also has the heart of a warrior—one that sure of knowing his decisions could ultimately determine

“The sword was given to the state and the state is able to execute justice. When it came to the business of killing, that was how I was able to square it with my faith.” Fall 2009

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IN PERSON didn’t skip a beat at the site of his dead enemies. After one battle, Campbell saw a pile of bodies that was the Iraqis who had been killed during the engagement. And as he went by the makeshift morgue, Campbell writes, he “couldn’t help but smile.” Campbell remains unapologetic for his reaction, and says he doesn’t see his natural response to battle in contradiction to the Christian commandment to love one’s enemies. “One way Christ deals with us is through the consequences of our actions,” he said. “The sword was given to

the state and the state is able to execute justice. When it came to the business of killing, that was how I was able to square it with my faith.” Today, Campbell serves in corporate America, where he leads some 140 employees at PepsiCo in Dallas, TX. And, he brings with him the perspective of what is really important and continues to share his faith. “So, I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other as best as I possibly can,” he concludes in his book, “until my mission on earth ends and God takes me home.” By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

SEEKING HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS Yale Alumna Is Able to ‘See a Need and Fill It’ her to enact change for the future of those in need of adeLike millions of people in the United States, quate medical care. Nkem Okafor has strong feelings about health YALE “It’s my personality,” she says. “If there is something care. And after recently earning a graduate deI can do, then I’m there. I’m not afraid to do something gree, Nkem Okafor, Yale ’09 MPH, is ready to put her about it.” knowledge into action. Although raised in a Christian home, “My passion is in health care inequalities,” Okafor came to a personal relationship with said Okafor, who chose to focus on public polChrist while attending a Fellowship of Chrisicy because of its emphasis on the health of tian Athletes camp in middle school. populations and how it affects communities. “I didn’t know what it meant to be saved,” She picked Yale because of its “unique” apshe said. “God wasn’t in my heart every day. proach to the field with an integration of MBA That was my introduction to an intimate relalevel management courses. tionship with God. I gave my life to Christ and Currently, Okafor is pursuing her career in began reading the Bible every day and walked public health through an executive fellowship with God.” with the Methodist Hospital Health System in Okafor went on to rely upon the Lord Houston, Texas. There, she spends time workNkem Okafor, Yale ’09 throughout her high school years. She became ing in the various administrative areas and MPH, is working to more active in her faith, started a Bible study, gaining more experience in the field—experipromote equity in health care. and became a leader within FCA (www. ence she hopes to use to help fill needs in the fca.org). “I always had God with me in school, lives of others. and He gave me strength,” she said. “I carried Him with me Ideally, she says, she would like to lead an organization to the University of North Carolina and was rejuvenated associated with improving health care and eliminating the again in an environment with other believers.” disparities that currently exist. Working for a government During her freshman year, Okafor became interested in agency or politics are both possible career paths. writing, but was “tired” by what she saw in the publishing Not one to sit back and bemoan a lack of resources, world. “It wasn’t helping my walk with the Lord,” she said. Okafor says she likes thinking about the issues and finding When she was unable to find a publication that addressed her solutions. It was that desire to solve problems and her deneeds as a young Christian woman on campus, she decided votion to Christ that enabled Okafor to see needs and find to start her own. solutions while a student, and it’s what continues to inspire

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

IN PERSON Okafor and four other students launched Virtuous Woman magazine at UNC, and it quickly grew to a staff of 40 people. “[The magazine] became like an umbrella ministry…just to help women at UNC grow stronger in the Lord.” It is still published at UNC and is also circulated on other campuses including Duke University. Okafor admits publishing a magazine while still a college student was a big undertaking, and credits God’s grace for helping her accomplish it. “I was thinking how God worked throughout the entire process, even funding it on a liberal campus,” she said. When she began her graduate studies in public policy at Yale, she brought along her talent for writing and passion for serving the Lord. However, she says, the Yale campus environment was different from UNC. At Yale, she said, passion about her faith was not as well received. “You really have to know it [your faith] well because it will be challenged,” she said. “It’s hard if you are

a baby Christian.” Still, she sought out campus Christian ministries like Yale Health Professionals Christian Fellowship (info.med.yale.edu/yaxis/yhpcf) and participated in a young adult ministry at her church. Okafor was also a regular contributor to the Ivy League Christian Observer, covering a variety of issues and events. She also brought her ability to fill needs to the Yale campus. As she sought out Christian events in the New Haven area, she discovered there wasn’t a local source for Christian information. She has started to develop a Christianevents Web site for the Yale community and may also start one in Houston, where she now resides. Thus, whether it’s a site for the world wide Web, or equality in health care world-wide, it appears Okafor will keep her eyes set upon identifying needs, and her drive focused upon meeting them. By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

BEATING DOWN STEREOTYPES Dartmouth Duo Spreads Conservative Message through Hip-hop Music As the Grand Old Party struggles to regroup say I don’t have a religion, I have a relationship with my Creafter the 2008 elections, the conservative moveator,” he says. DARTMOUTH ment in America is getting support from some The pair sings verses like “I’m rappin’ Jesus Christ and “young cons” that are carrying a different tune—literally. conservative views,” but point out that not all Christians are “If Conservatives are dead, we’re about to pull a conservative and not all conservatives are Christian. Lazarus. We’re motivated, educated, dedicated capital“Jesus is not [just] a central part of conservatism,” Ridists…” dle says, “but the central part of life. All areas of our lives Such are the lyrics of the “Young Con Anthem”—a rap should stem from Jesus and what he has revealed to us song written and performed by through the Bible. I think the Stiltz and Serious C, two Dartteachings of Jesus are clear on mouth students who are taking a issues regarding abortion, indihip-hop stand for conservatism vidual responsibility, and thievwithin the liberal culture of the ery. We believe Jesus wants us to have as much power in our academy and society. lives as possible and allow us The real names of the Young to succeed on our own and give Cons are Josh Riddle ’12, called glory to Him.” Stiltz for his six-foot-nine The Young Cons also say stature, and David Rufful ’12. they ask themselves how Jesus Rufful, a Catholic, calls himself would feel about the current Serious C because he says he’s Young Cons Josh Riddle and David Rufful, state of affairs in this country. “seriously Christian and serisophomores at Dartmouth, performed their “We obviously acknowlously conservative.” Riddle is conservative rap on Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show. edge the fact that we do not non-denominational. “I like to

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IN PERSON know what Jesus would say, no matter how cool that would be,” says Riddle. “We imagine he would be mostly concerned with the state of churches and their missions; encouraging people to spread the word of the Gospel and store their riches in heaven and not on Earth...We believe that Jesus would encourage us to try to live out God’s will through our lives.” The two have received national attention for their selfproduced song and video with gigs on Fox News and shows such as Huckabee. The Young Cons have been written about in USA Today, the Huffington Post, and more. Mike Huckabee said, “I’ve had [rapper] Russell Simmons on my show. And, Russell, eat your heart out. These guys are good.” Not surprisingly, not everyone agrees. Political commentator Bill Maher mocked them and The Dartmouth reported that Rufful received a death threat from a YouTube user who viewed the video. But how the two respond to criticism is summed up in what they sing, “You can say you hate me, but I’m prayin’ for ya still.” In addition to singing together, the two are also members of the Dartmouth basketball team. They were also classmates at Northfield Mount Hermon, a private secondary school in Massachusetts. They said the Dartmouth team would rap during bus trips to games. And that, they say, is what inspired the Young Cons. “I thought it would be fun to make a song and video

about conservatism that we could share with the group we started,” explained Riddle, referring to their 2007 founding of a Facebook group called “Young Conservatives.” So on brief breaks from school, the duo finished writing the song and produced the video with a camera borrowed from the Dartmouth library. Rufful edited the video and posted it to YouTube. One of the first blogs to pick it up was the political site Power Line, which is run by three Dartmouth alumni. “Part manifesto, part declaration of purpose, part statement of faith, Young Cons displays wit and learning in equal parts with a dash of the mandatory braggadocio thrown in for good measure. And Dartmouth Hall has never looked so good,” wrote Scott Johnson, Dartmouth ’73, on his Power Line blog. Riddle calls the Power Line publicity a “huge blessing,” explaining that, as a result, “several left-leaning blogs made some negative comments which quickly started a blogging war, of sorts, among political web-sites. From that point, our internet hits and media attention grew exponentially.” “We never anticipated the type of attention it received, but we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share our views,” he continued. And that is what these young conservatives are all about. “We just want to spread our message and the ideas behind conservative principles to as many people as we can,” Riddle says. By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

TRAVELING THE ‘HIGHWAYS OF HOLINESS’ Penn Alumnus Maps God’s Promises in New Jersey

Penn, Turner also holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His time at Penn was key in solidifying his passion for urban renewal. “The school’s emphasis was on applying social science methodologies to address the needs of America’s urban areas,” explained Turner, who was greatly influenced by Penn instructors Dr. Julius Margolis, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Lawrence Klein, Britton Harris, Dr. Milton Friedman (Columbia Ph.D. ’46), and Edward Banfield. Turner also recalls memorable times of worship and learning at the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in downtown Philadelphia.

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The Ivy League Christian Observer

When Lloyd Turner wanted to become a long distance runner on his high school track team, PENN God used Isaiah 40:30-31 to encourage him: “…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Years later, Turner, Penn Ph.D ’78, is still running the race of faith and is ministering to cities through urban policy and through his book, Highways of Holiness: Preparing the Way for the Lord, which looks at how God’s people may revisit past covenants with Him in order to spark revival. In addition to his degree in Public Policy Analysis from

IN PERSON other metro area intercessors believe that the Since his school days, Turner has served city of Newark is key to restoring prosperity as an assistant professor of urban and regional in the state. Turner and his wife Joanne, Penn planning at the University of Iowa and at the ’75, have partnered with World ImpactGraduate School of Social Work and Social Newark and Dominion Fellowship Ministries Research at Bryn Mawr College. Currently, to create the Adopt-a-Street Initiative he works with British Telecom but remains (www.prayfornewark.org). Through it, streets active in urban policy analysis. in Newark are adopted for daily prayer. The Turner, a Christian from an early age who program’s January 2008 launch was met with was part of ministries such as Campus Cruan unprecedented 43-day pause in murders. sade for Christ during his college years, had Lloyd Turner, Penn By the end of the year, 33% of Newark’s his faith expanded even further five years ago Ph.D. ’78, writes about streets were chosen and the homicide rate when the Lord began to show him the spirithe four Great Awakenings in New dropped by 33%. Currently, 55% of the streets tual significance of towns and communities in Jersey in Highways of have been covered in prayer. New Jersey. Out of this knowledge, he pubHoliness: Preparing This summer, a team of Christian film prolished Highways of Holiness in 2006 through the Way for the Lord. ducers from South Africa spent four days docHarvest Evangelism. umenting the spiritual aspects of Newark’s revitalization. “I went from town to town across northern New Jersey, “When Harvest Evangelism releases the DVD this fall, investigating the communities that God had visited in four Christians around the world will be encouraged to see that Great Awakenings between 1740 and the present day,” said the transformation of Newark can provide hope for changTurner. “I began to realize that many of the prayers from ing the spiritual climate in their own city,” said Turner. past spiritual awakenings have not yet been answered. They remain stored up in the ‘bowls of heaven’ [Rev. 5:8] Highways of Holiness is not just a look at what has ocuntil believers in future generations come into agreement curred in the past; its application is timely. with these unanswered prayers.” “Just as Isaac needed to re-dig the well originally dug by The book also traces the lives of David Brainerd (who athis father Abraham [Gen. 26:18], those who are interested tended Yale), George Whitefield, Francis Asbury, and Jeremiah in seeing a fresh move of spiritual renewal must return to Lanphier and includes testimonies of modern day revival. the ancient wells of revival in their area,” explained Turner. Turner contends that future generations must fulfill their “And just as Isaac’s men needed to remove the dirt the function in the covenants. “When we come into agreement Philistines had used to stop up the ancient wells, the church with the godly covenants made by our ancestors, we reaftoday should study the past in order to determine how these firm God’s divine purposes and blessings for our family, old wells of revival got plugged up.” city, and nation. This reaffirmation of past covenants allows “If we are serious about seeking a new time of refreshment us to achieve a ‘synergy of the ages.’ In doing so, we acin our church, city, or nation, then we would do well to examknowledge that God continues to honor sacred covenants ine both the origins of past spiritual awakenings and the histormade in earlier generations.” ical events that occurred at the end of these awakenings.” In particular, Turner is focused on New Jersey. He and By Rachel Mari, Contributing Writer

“I began to realize that many of the prayers from past spiritual awakenings have not yet been answered.”

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IN PERSON

A PASSION FOR CAMPUS MINISTRY New Aquinas House Chaplain Hopes to Transform Culture One Student at a Time they are and encounter a Christian witness who poses some Dartmouth Catholics have a new chaplain at real truth to them.” Aquinas House (www.dartmouth.edu/~aquinas/); DARTMOUTH Kalisch reflects upon his own time as an undergraduate and while he is new to the Ivy League campus, at Georgetown University, where he says he was active in he is not new to campus ministry. faith in a “countercultural way” through the Knights of Father Jonathan Kalisch, who describes himself as an Columbus. “It was a formative time for me to stand up for evangelical Catholic, comes to Dartmouth from Quinnipiac and deepen my Christian leadership on campus,” he says. College in Connecticut, where he served as chaplain and direcAlthough active as a Catholic on campus, tor of campus ministry for five years. His pasKalisch’s career passion leaned toward politics, sion for campus ministry dates back to 2000 not the priesthood. An American Studies major, when he attended a Tertio Millennio Seminar on Kalisch says he wanted to be president of the the Free Society for a month in Krakow, Poland. United States or at least active in politics in The seminar, which was founded by George some way. Ultimately, while he had particiWeigel, Father Richard John Neuhaus, and pated in some political campaigns, Kalisch Michael Novak (Harvard M.B.A. ’66), among chose to accept a marketing and public relaothers, is designed to “deepen the dialogue on tions position with Pricewaterhouse in Poland. Catholic social doctrine between North AmeriIronically, it was through that position that can students and students from the new democKalisch came to hear his calling and was led to racies of central and eastern Europe.” his vocation as a priest. Kalisch says his passion for student minDuring his time in Poland, Kalisch particiistry was born while attending the seminar and pated in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. And it studying the thoughts and teachings on Pope Father Jonathan Kalisch, the new was there, while standing on a rock in the Sea John Paul II, who was also a college chaplain. chaplain at Aquinas of Galilee, that Kalisch says he had a vision of “It dawned on me that a way to transform culHouse at Dartmouth, his own death. ture and society can be done at the macro level, has a passion for campus ministry. “I saw a vision of my own judgment,” he but the most important way is one-on-one insaid. “It was a conviction. I knew I had to at teraction with college students.” least try the priesthood or my judgment would not be a After returning from Poland, Kalisch, who was still in pretty one.” seminary, worked as an assistant to the chaplain at George Kalisch admits he had been running from the priesthood. Washington University in Washington, D.C. “I think that He had his own plans for his life; and they included a girltime was really important to my growth in my own underfriend, business success, and political aspirations. Yet, as standing of outreach to college students,” Kalisch said. Kalisch acquired each of those desires, he still felt unfulfilled. Finding the answers to tough questions in faith is particIt took the hand of God at the shore in Galilee to “wake him ularly challenging on today’s campuses due to a lack of faith formation, or knowledge of the faith. “For most young up,” as he puts it, to God’s plan for his life. people, especially in New England, faith is simply a culIn time, Kalisch became a priest in the Dominican tural expression,” Kalisch said. Order—an order, which he says, was founded upon preaching and whose early members were sent to the universities in Paris According to Kalisch, many students come to college and Spain. “From the beginning of the Order, we have been thinking they know it all already. They are often dismissive engaged in a rich heritage of intellectual life,” he said. about the possibility of learning more or being transformed Now he’s ready to continue that heritage at Dartmouth.” in their faith at college. “I’m excited to be here,” Kalisch said. “I think being a On the other hand, he says, “some of the most transcollege chaplain is the best job in the world.” forming students I’ve met have come from little faith backgrounds. [They] come to college and ask questions of who By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

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A CRISIS OF FAITH IN THE MODERN ERA Cornell Alumna Traces the Ivy League’s Spiritual Decline Ivy League institutions may have deep biblical up in Singer’s class that he thinks embryos have a higher roots, but the nation’s pinnacles of academic right to life than gorillas? Not many.” CORNELL achievement could be considered unwelcome— Drawing from her own experience, Stearns said a litereven hostile—terrain for Christianity. ature professor threatened to fail her if she did not treat the That was one of the conclusions of a recent study by Old Testament as unhistorical. As such, Stearns said she Hannah Stearns, who served as a fellow with the Trinity dropped the course rather than compromise her integrity or Forum Academy (www.ttf.org) in 2008-2009. In April, grade-point-average. Stearns inked a 47-page paper for the Maryland-based gradMuch of Stearns’ research focused on capturing the spiruate program that strives to train future itual roots of the nation’s top tier of uniChristian leaders. versities. However, “all seem to be having Much of the paper reflected Stearns’ the same crisis of faith in the modern era.” experiences at Cornell University, where Along those lines, Stearns traced the she graduated in 2007 and wrote a colmovement of Ivies away from their spiriumn for The Cornell Daily Sun. tual foundation in favor of the ideals of the scientific and industrial movements. “Within elite universities, it’s pretty Part of the shift was tied to the publication much a well-favored opinion that conserof Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of vative and religious students are subject to different standards,” said Stearns, who Species by Means of Natural Selection, or recently entered Pepperdine University the Preservation of Favoured Races in the School of Law. “Their perspectives are Struggle for Life. not respected.” Likewise, the American Association The history major described the conof University Professors was formed in sistent persecution of Christians on Ivy 1915 to herald the ideal of academic freeLeague campuses as “quiet, private, and dom and elevate the role of scientific research—a movement that caused elite devastating.” She included a quote from The Ivy League is hostile institutions to eschew their religious herJohn Fleming, an English professor territory for Christians, itage and embrace secularization. Today, emeritus at Princeton University, who concludes Hannah Stearns, Cornell ’07. in the name of progress, atheism and agnoted that he could not recall ever hearnosticism serve as the bedrock of the culing an anti-Semitic comment on campus. ture of academe. “On the other hand, I have heard hundreds of anti-ChrisIn her research, Stearns also notes the rich Christian histian slurs,” Fleming wrote for the Daily Princetonian in 2004. tory prevalent in most of the Ivy League schools: As well, Stearns noted that some of the Ivies employ facHarvard‘s founding motto was IN CHRISTI GLORIAM, ulty members who are “so beyond religious faith, that their or “For Christ’s Glory.” But, that soon was changed to “For very presence on campus is a threat to Christians.” In particChrist and Church,” which can be seen as CHRISTO ET ECular, she pointed to Peter Singer, Princeton’s famed bioethics CLESIAE on what is often thought of as the school’s origiprofessor who is reputed for his controversial utilitarian nal seal. In fact, VERITAS, the current motto, and focal point philosophies on abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide. of the modern seal, was not used until 1836. The director of Princeton’s University Center for While Yale University’s motto, LUX ET VERITAS, or Human Values, who also is renowned for his ardent support “Truth and Light,” may not seem entirely religious, Yale of animal liberation and poverty relief, Singer believes anwas founded by the Calvinists in 1701 as a Congregationimals are on a Darwinian continuum with humans. alist school. The motto can be assumed to reflect the Chris“Did I mention that he is chair of an Ivy League ethics tian values of Yale’s founders. department? What Christian kid is going to feel safe piping

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C R U M B L I N G • F O U N D AT I O N S The University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University were the only Ivies established as non-sectarian. However, Rev. George Whitefield, an Anglican minister, played a role in helping Benjamin Franklin found Penn in 1740. Likewise, Christian values are evident in the motto of Penn: LEGES SINE MORIBUS VANAE, or “Laws without Morals are Useless.” Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell, was a Quaker until he was dismissed from the congregation for marrying an Episcopalian woman. Princeton University’s motto proclaims that DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET, or “Under God’s power she flourishes.” Presbyterians laid the roots for the original College of New Jersey, and the Presbyterians naturally chose a theistic motto for their infant school. The seal of the College of New Jersey contained an open Bible and the motto VITAM MORTUIS REDDO, or “I Restore Life to the Dead.” Columbia University may be the only Ivy League School to use an actual Scripture verse as its motto; IN LUMINE TUP VIDEBIMUS LUMEN, or “In thy Light, Shall we See the Light,” comes from Psalm 36:9. Columbia, which was founded in 1754 as King’s College and established by the Church of England, was declared to be Christian.

As for Dartmouth College, Calvinists founded the only Ivy League college started as a missionary school with the motto “A voice calling out in the wilderness.” Today, some interpret the phrase as a reference to Hanover’s obscure location, but it has a more benevolent cause: Founder Eleazar Wheelock designed a seal similar to those of English missionary societies and reflected a missionary aim to the Native Americans in that region. Brown University, founded in 1769 as the College of Rhode Island, claims Baptist roots. The school’s motto claims, “In God we hope.” Finally, Cornell University, the youngest of the Ivies, was unusual in its lack of religious history. It possesses the only non-Latin motto of the eight: “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” According to Stearns, Ivy League institutions need a wakeup call. “Ironically, it can be found by merely looking backwards, to their Puritan, Congregationalist, Baptist, Presbyterian, missionary roots,” she said. By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

STEMMING THE TIDE OF RELATIVISM Author Tells How to Recover ‘Forgotten Foundations’ rise of science, and more. In particular, those interested in the In pursuit of diversity and inclusivity, Western Christian state of the university will find compelling the civilization has sought societal progress that PRINCETON chapter entitled, Christianity and the Idea of the University. seems measured by its ability to strip the culture of its ties to the very foundations Within the microcosm of soupon which it was established. In ciety, Stevenson, the pastor of River Community Church South Forgotten Foundation: How the in Louisiana, demonstrates the Great Ideas of the Christian Faith breakdown of the university’s Became the Foundation of the Christian foundations under the Western World, Rev. Russ Stevenguise of diversity and relativism. son, Princeton ’58, explores this “Around 1900, a change culture quest to decrease or erase began to take place in American faith and reminds readers that conuniversities,” Stevenson writes. temporary progress has its roots in “What had once been an educathe Christian faith. tion system that cherished its The book demonstrates the Christian history had become a Christian foundation of major soIn his latest book, Rev. Russ Stevenson, system which, if anything, had an cial movements such as the emanPrinceton ’58, discusses the forgotten Christian animus against Christianity. Gone cipation of women, the abolition of foundations of Western Civilization. were the openness and freedom slavery, American democracy, the

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C R U M B L I N G • F O U N D AT I O N S of truly liberal education.” For example, Stevenson describes the university reaction to former college professor Mike S. Adams’ response to an email from a former student at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. The alumnus wrote the e-mail immediately after 9/11 and put the blame for the attacks on the U.S. government. Adams took umbrage to the comments and wrote a response. The outrage that followed was not against the student who blamed the victims for the attack, but against Adams, who simply voiced an opposing view. According to Stevenson, the former student filed a complaint with the university against Adams and the university responded by succumbing to the alumnus’ request that the university inspect all of Adams’ e-mails. In time, Adams was vindicated, but the actions of the university left him questioning. In his book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel, Adams writes of his experience with the diversity movement at UNC-Wilmington: “Some call this the multicultural era on our nation’s campuses. Others call it the post-modern era. I call it chaos, because everyone seems to be speaking a different language. And, sadly, there is little interest in universal truths or principles in academia today.” And it is diversity, Stevenson says, that is at the core of the disintegration of Christian foundations in the academy. He cites his own alma mater, where the current president is a self-described atheist, as an example. “There is a sense that atheism…is now a requirement on many college campuses,” he writes. “The logic runs like this: If tolerance, diversity, and relativism are the core values of university life, then one must take great pains to avoid religion, especially Christianity. One can never artic-

ulate an idea that might be considered ‘exclusivist’ by somebody else.” According to Stevenson, one reason he wrote the book was his own experience at Princeton. He said he was unable to incorporate what he knew of Christianity into what he witnessed in society, and neither the university, nor the Christian organizations to which he belonged, could help him better reconcile the two. “There was no help from the university in putting Christian convictions into perspective,” he said. As for the Christian organizations, he said the focus was on piety and evangelism. “There wasn’t much preaching about the Christian faith as it may be relevant to what is going on in society in general.” The combination of the two, he said, caused doubts that led him to lose his faith for a short time after graduation. As a Princeton alumnus and the father of Princeton alumna Liz Green ’84, Stevenson has interacted with the Princeton campus for some time. “I think that the university has continued to slide farther and farther away from the perspectives that I’m talking about in Forgotten Foundations. I think there has been a secular tendency at Princeton that went from a very Christian position at the end of the 19th century to a secular position at the end of the 20th.” So what can be done to slow the tide of relativism in the academy and throughout society? “Plain and simple evangelism,” Stevenson says. “The way out is to go back to the Bible.” But if the nation continues on its current course, Stevenson believes it stands to lose everything. “I believe we are enjoying blessings from the Christian faith,” he said, “and we will lose them if the faith that gave them birth is lost.” By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

“What had once been an education system that cherished its Christian history had become a system which, if anything, had an animus against Christianity. Gone were the openness and freedom of truly liberal education.”

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‘INCLUSIVITY’ IS QUITE EXCLUSIVE AT HARVARD AND YALE Universities Establish ‘LGBTQ’ Chair, Office “What Harvard and Yale have done here is worse than This summer, Harvard University received if Harvard had set up a chair in polysexual and incestuous funding for the first endowed named chair in ALL IVY studies,” said Gagnon, an author and professor at the Pittslesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) burgh Theological Seminary. He substantiates his statement studies in the country. The F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Profesnoting that the drive toward inclusivity of same-sex attracsorship of Gender and Sexuality is the result of a multi-year tion is founded upon what, he says, is the false logic that campaign culminating in a $1.5 million gift from the Harpeople are born “homosexual.” vard Gay and Lesbian Caucus. “[We] can think of loads of examples of congenitallyIn the spring, Yale established the Office of LGBTQ based impulses that we can’t get rid of and (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, that doesn’t make them acceptable,” he Queer) Resources. As more same-sex atsaid. “For example, nobody chooses to be traction-based programs enter the maina pedophile.” stream of campuses Ivy-wide, some So what makes same-sex attraction an Christians and those who promote Judeoincreasing “mainstream” within the culChristian values see the promotion of ture? Guilt, says Gagnon. same-sex attraction initiatives as a failed “There is tremendous residual guilt for attempt at inclusivity on the part of the other sexual misconduct such as sex outacademy. side of marriage,” he said. “If you can Heather Mac Donald, Yale ’85, adprove homosexuality is OK, who can condressed the issue in her March Weekly demn you? By endorsing homosexual Standard column entitled “Victimology practice, we are giving a green light to 101 at Yale: While the rest of the universexual liberalism.” sity tightens its belt, guess who’s exDr. Robert Gagnon, Dartmouth And, the cultural implication of such empted from the austerity campaign?” ’81 and Harvard Divinity School ’87, says the academy is liberalism and inclusivity is the impact Mac Donald writes that today’s univerbecoming increasingly nonupon the academy, which through its sity “allows students to answer the ‘Who tolerant by promoting a graduates, continues to influence society. am I?’ question exclusively, rather than single-issue agenda. Both Gagnon and Mac Donald express inclusively… Identity politics defines the their concerns about the loss of a rich, truly diverse acaself by its difference from as many other people as possible, demic experience. so as to increase the underdog status of one’s chosen iden“They are trying to turn students who don’t agree into tity group…And because the robust growth of the student the moral equivalent of racist and drive out of the academy services bureaucracy depends on the proliferation of idenany tolerance of diverging viewpoints. Institutions promottity groups, administrations busy themselves with identitying tolerance and diversity as chief monikers are now bebased constituencies that might not even exist.” coming increasingly non-tolerant by promoting this The establishment of the Office of LGBTQ Resources single-issue agenda in the face of overwhelming social inundoubtedly helped Yale earn the title of “The Gay Ivy” this fluence. Making us the new racists and driving out the desummer from Yale Alumni Magazine, which cited the unibate,” says Gagnon. versity as a “gay-friendly school.” Rachel Wagley, Harvard ’11, agrees. “It’s not shocking At Harvard, President Drew Faust (Penn PhD ’75) has to have a LGBT chair,” she says. “It’s the natural result of said, “The Matthiessen Professorship is an important miletrying to achieve moral acceptance for gays. If you have stone for LGBT studies at Harvard.” But Dr. Robert values against that, you are labeled. You’re insulted and Gagnon, Dartmouth ’81 and Harvard Divinity School ’87, [verbally] attacked.” likens it, and the establishment of the new office at Yale, to As a leader with Harvard’s True Love Revolution establishing a chair in abhorrent sexual studies.

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C R U M B L I N G • F O U N D AT I O N S (www.hcs.harvard.edu/tlr), Wagley says she has been subjected to profane emails and insults because of her commitment to traditional values and marriage. “I’ve been called so many names,” she said. Mac Donald, who sees the gender identity as a boon for student services offices, pens her concern over derailing academic pursuit in the search of self-identity. She writes, “While the drive to define oneself oppositionally is good for student services administrators, it is not so good for education. Can a student who is furiously itemizing the many ways she has been dissed as a female of color or a lesbian, say, lose herself in the opalescent language of A Midsummer

Night’s Dream or hear the aching melancholy in Wordsworth’s “Intimations” ode? She will have been taught to scour books for slights to, or affirmations of, her own self, but neither the play nor the poem is directly about her carefully cultivated identity.” Ultimately, according to Gagnon, it is society that loses in this absence of true inclusive dialogue. “Whenever you’re eliminating from the body politic voices of differing perspectives,” says Gagnon, “you’re eliminating the possibility of arriving at truth and what’s best for society.” By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

FORWARD IN FAITH Dr. Howell Dedicated to Maintaining Tradition in Anglican Church However, in April, Howell left the Episcopal Church For several years, the Episcopal Church has and became a member of the Anglican Church in North been in crisis, evident in congregational dissenCORNELL America. He said he increasingly saw the church adopting sion on critical issues like the ordination of a mindset that ignored Scripture, or dismissed it in favor of women and non-celibate clergy with same-sex attraction, societal standards. as well as the blessing of same-sex unions. “When there is something that is consistently sinful and However, for Dr. Michael Howell, Cornell Ph.D. ’81, these you now say it’s normal, you open the door for just about issues are simply chronic symptoms of a more severe ailment anything,” he said. For example, “One bishop has said Jesus plaguing the church—the disregard for Holy Scripture. is not the only way to salvation. The ‘gay’ thing is only a A self-described “Cradle Episcopalian,” Howell grew up symptom. It’s clear that the mindset is what allowed secuwithin the church, attending church school, youth group, and lar intervention.” serving as an acolyte. At 14, he attended a Howell remains active in the Anglican youth conference that heightened his Church as a sought-after speaker and as the awareness of what an intimate relationship executive director of Forward in Faith in with Christ really looked like. North America, an organization in the An“There was something about the way glican Communion dedicated to upholding other people would speak about Jesus traditional catholic, apostolic faith in Anthat struck me, in that, they were talking glicanism. “We are about maintaining the about Him as though He was real in their tradition of the church in terms of apostolic lives 24-hours-a-day,” he said. And he reteaching and church order,” he said. alized there was something missing in his The organization was founded more own life. than thirty years ago in response to what “I looked at that experience as the secHowell calls the deviation from traditional ond major step in my faith journey in practice within Anglicanism in respect to terms of making a conscious decision to Executive Director of Forward the ordination of women. Initially, exmodel my life after Christ. The first was in Faith North America, Dr. plained Howell, those differing with the baptism,” Howell said. As a result, prayer Michael Howell, Cornell Ph.D. ’81, attributes the crisis in the unorthodox practices were still considered became a bigger part of his life and he beAnglican Church to a disregard members in good standing in the Episcocame increasingly more involved in the for sacred Scripture. pal Church. Eventually that changed. study of Holy Scripture and in church life.

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C R U M B L I N G • F O U N D AT I O N S “It went from a situation where you were tolerated, to not tolerated, to persecuted,” he said. In response to the official establishment of the Anglican Church in North America this past June, Howell stated, “Instead of focusing on the things that divide us, we as orthodox Anglicans are focusing on the things that unite us.” And those uniters, he says, are the uniqueness of the divinity of Jesus as Lord and the way to truth and light. “In matters related to faith and salvation,” he said, “the Bible speaks with authority. This is what we shape our lives around, and we don’t dismiss sections or important concepts that don’t fit in with popular thinking of society.” Beyond the church, Howell sees the consequences of denying the authority of scripture on society and specifically the Ivy League. “There are entities within academia that dismiss the idea that the church is an important element for our society,” Howell said. “The desire to make societal freedoms the most important thing has led to over emphasis on individual rights.” Because of that, Howell says the university is

put in a situation of dismissing Christianity as “out of touch” with reality; or reducing scripture to historical relevance and believing that society knows better. Additionally, Howell cites two stunning examples of the correlation between erroneous church teaching and its impact on Ivy students. He refers to two statements by Columbia’s Evangelical Chaplain, Rev. Winnie Varghese, in Equipping The Saints: A Crisis Resource for Anglican Laity. Varghese is quoted responding to the question, “Is Jesus the only way to God?” by saying, “I’ll start with no, but then I’ll go back to—I think there is actually danger in idolatry, and making an idol of Jesus…Jesus never actually asks us to worship him…Jesus asks us to follow.” Further, when asked, “Who is Jesus?” the chaplain reportedly responded, “Jesus was a particular character in history…a poor man of questionable parentage…” And those kind of questionable statements are what have believers like Dr. Howell longing for a return to timetested, age-old biblical beliefs. By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

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AN ENGINEER WITHOUT A BORDER Columbia Student ‘Lives out’ Her Faith in Africa

which uses large amounts of firewood and creates a lot of smoke; this is bad not only for the respiratory health of the villagers, but also for the environment. Wang’s research group tested new stoves from India, China, and Tanzania, and conducted surveys to see which stove the villagers liked the most. “The stove from China was the best,” says Wang. “It used about 30-40 percent less firewood and the villagers liked it.” The Millennium Villages Project, the program for which Wang was an intern, is dedicated to improving many different parts of life in poor regions of Africa. The project focuses on raising the standards of living in areas like energy, water, health, and sanitation, and has been working in Mbola for over two years. Undergirding all of Wang’s work in social justice is a strong faith and a vision to see God’s justice brought to the world. “I’m doing what I think it means to actually live out my faith,” she said. “I always think of the verse in Matthew

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Last summer, Columbia senior Jin Wang did what many college students only briefly conCOLUMBIA sider: she spent nearly her entire break in Africa. Wang ’10, an applied math major in Columbia’s engineering school, spent two months in Tanzania working with the Millennium Villages Project (www.millenniumvillages.org), a development program that is part of the Earth Institute at Columbia, and one month in Uganda working with Columbia’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (www.cuewb.org). While many would balk at committing so much time and effort to such a project, Wang, a member of Intervarsity at Columbia, says she wants to be “God’s hands and feet in the world.” During the months of June and July, Wang worked in a group of villages in western Tanzania called Mbola. The primary focus of her research was on testing different kinds of biomass cook stoves that villagers could use. Currently, villagers in Mbola use a stove called the “three stone fire,”

SOCIAL • JUSTICE until someone from Engineers where Jesus says, ‘whatever Without Borders mentioned it to you did for the least of these me. It’s only by God’s grace I you did for me’ (Matthew was able to go to Africa at all.” 25:40). This is how he Wang says it’s one thing to be wanted us to love each other.” While she was in Tanzaworking on projects in New York, but it’s quite another to meet and nia, Wang lived in a house become friends with the people with two other interns in a you are working to help. “It besmall town called Tabora. comes so much more real and so “There was no running water,” much a part of me,” she says. she says, “but the house was very nice.” Wang mostly got Last spring, Columbia’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders around on a bicycle, and says won a grant from the Environmenthat for fun, she and her friends Jin Wang, Columbia ’10 (second from left), spent tal Protection Agency to build would go to the town market the summer in Africa working with the Millennium what Wang called a “multi-functo listen to local music. “The Villages Project and Engineers Without Borders. tion platform” or MFP. “It’s basitown had about three roads, cally a diesel engine that you can connect to different types and there were not many foreigners,” she says. of agricultural equipment,” she says. During August, the But perhaps one of the most interesting things Wang nofinal month of her summer vacation, Wang worked with other ticed about her town was the way different religions intermembers of EWB in Soroti, Uganda to install MFPs in vilacted. “In Tanzania,” she says, “about half the people are lages and train business cooperatives to manage each engine. Christians, and half are Muslims, but they live together very In Tanzania and Uganda, Wang was able to go to church peacefully.” Every week, Christians and Muslims in Wang’s and see how dedicated to their faith the Christians there are, town would even get together to have religious debates— and says that this encouraged her in her own faith. By Wang says it was amazing to see them live alongside each going to Africa to help, Wang says, we live out Jesus’ vision other when there is such terrible religious conflict in other for us as a community. For Wang, service is not just a good parts of the world. thing to do, it’s her faith: “This is my way of being able to For Wang, even going to Tanzania was a gift from God. love people.” “It happened really fast,” she says. “I didn’t even know about the internship with the Millennium Villages Project By Kevin Plybon, Columbia ’11

A UNIFIED FRONT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING Columbia Christians Find Common Ground with Campus Organizations Late last February, over six hundred students in Columbia’s Miller Theatre gave a standing ovaCOLUMBIA tion after a screening of Call + Response, a documentary that exposes the horrors and prevalence of modern-day sex slavery and human trafficking. The film’s director, musician Justin Dillon, was on hand to speak about the modern abolitionist movement, and Jewish reggae-rapper Matisyahu, who was featured in the documentary, played a free concert immediately following the film. The event caught a lot of attention on campus, in part because of the number of students that attended. But per-

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haps more striking was the extraordinary diversity of the students in attendance at an event primarily sponsored by Columbia’s Veritas Forum. As one body, Columbia students of all faiths and beliefs came together to affirm one another in the fight against global human trafficking. This kind of unity in the student body is a primary goal of a new push in Columbia’s Christian community for greater action in many areas of social justice, and the issue of human trafficking in particular. Unity with other students is important to Christians passionate about eradicating slavery for several reasons. First, the sheer size and complexity Page 35

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“According to (the film) Call + Response, there are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today (many of them sex slaves), more than at any other time in human history.” of the problem requires a large number of voices and hearts Special guests included Nicholas Kristof (Harvard ’82), a dedicated to finding a solution—according to Call + RePulitzer Prize winner, and Emmanuel Jal, a former child sponse, there are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world soldier turned musician. today (many of them sex slaves), more than at any other And even after all these events, members of IVSJ are time in human history. looking to become even stronger advocates for justice. “One But getting involved with students outside the Christian of my goals is for IVSJ to become one of the major leaders community also presents a more immediate opportunity to in fighting human trafficking in New York,” Herz says. By learn and grow with students of other beliefs. In many cases, becoming a visible force for social change on campus, Coa dialogue between Christian and non-Christian social justice lumbia’s Christians hope to bring justice to New York and to organizations has resulted in change students’ perceptions strong, productive relationof Christianity for the better ships. “We have made a really by being living examples of strong connection with Christ’s love. Amnesty International, beThis semester, Columcause their focus issue last sebia’s chapter of Intervarsity mester was human trafficking, will also be attempting a funand we’ll hopefully work todamental change in its comgether even more this semesposition. Many students in Social justice issues such as human trafficking are in ter,” says Lucy Herz ’11, one IV have expressed a desire to the forefront of the minds of Columbia Christians. of the leaders of Intervarsity make meetings a place where Social Justice (www.columbia.edu/cu/ivcf) at Columbia. anyone, no matter their beliefs or faith, can come to wresHerz believes that Christians are starting to be seen as leaders tle with claims of spiritual truth. Although members are not in social justice on campus, and that this leadership provides yet sure how to make this happen, they would like to see a unique opportunity to bring a diverse group of students toIV expand to include many non-Christians looking for augether for a common cause. The screening of Call + Rethentic community. sponse, for example, was primarily put on by Columbia’s The social justice arm of IV at Columbia is an important Veritas Forum, but was co-sponsored by Intervarsity Social element in this vision, because it provides opportunities for Justice (IVSJ), Columbia Hillel, Ferris Reel (a Columbia cinservice and spiritual growth that appeal to students of many ema club), and Amnesty International, Columbia’s most wellbackgrounds and interests. “I think social justice is a unique known human rights advocacy organization. All had a area with enormous potential where Christians and nonpassion for social justice, but it was Columbia’s Christian Christians can work together to better each other and the community that provided the catalyst for such a large, visible world,” says Herz. event to happen. Herz believes that there is an overall positive percepThis is just one example of ways the Christians on camtion of Christians on campus, and that their work in social pus have begun to show leadership in the area of social jusjustice is challenging negative stereotypes. Still, she says, tice. Following the screening of Call + Response, there is work to do. “I want Christians to be perceived as people who care deeply about the lives of others,” she says, Intervarsity co-sponsored several other human trafficking “as people who are constantly reaching out and are active, events with Hillel and Amnesty International. Members of compassionate seekers of justice.” Intervarsity were also primary organizers of Freedom Week, a week of events in New York City in September that were By Kevin Plybon, Columbia ’11 designed to raise awareness and combat human trafficking.

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A B O U T • M I N I S T RY

UNDER GOD’S POWER… Anthology Shares Testimonies of Princeton Alumni The Christian Union’s first self-published book God’s Power during an initial press run, and a second press played a major role in the ministry’s outreach to run is planned. The ministry distributed dozens of copies Princeton freshmen. Staffers with the campus during Princeton’s reunion in June and about 400 copies ministry distributed copies of Under God’s Power: Princeduring the fall freshman campaign. A key challenge for the editorial team was selecting a ton Alumni and the Pursuit of Faith during the ministry’s broad range of testimonies of living alumni. “It’s a very annual fall campaign at the university. small snapshot from the thousands of people we could have In the spring, the ministry published the book, which featured,” said Bentch ’91. “It’s not meant to be compreincludes testimonies from thirty-five graduates of Princehensive in any kind of way.” ton, reaching as far back as the class of 1933. The team sought to include testimonies from alumni of “The most compelling way to reach young, inquiring diverse backgrounds, vocations, deminds is to share stories,” said nominations, and ages. The book George Gallup, Jr. ’53, writer of the also includes testimonies from book’s foreword. “Nobody can take Christians who became believers your own story away.” while at Princeton and beyond. Ministry staffers distributed “We wanted to get a broad crossfree copies to students during section,” Bentch said. events for freshmen across campus and at booths in the Frist Campus Under God’s Power includes Center. Gallup, former chairman of profiles of James Baker ’52, former the Gallup Poll, planned to help U.S. secretary of state; Keith Elias fund some of cost associated with ’94, former New York Giants player; providing the book to new students. and Dean Tanella ’83, chief execuThe 119-page book was the tive officer of HarborLight ManageUnder God’s Power, Christian Union’s first brainchild of Gallup; Christian ment; and Sanford “Sandy” self-published book, was distributed to Union Founder and President Matt McDonnell ’44, chairman emeritus freshmen arriving on campus this fall. Bennett, Cornell ’88, MBA, ’89; of McDonnell Douglas Corporation. Manna Christian Fellowship Executive Director David Ultimately, the testimonies pay tribute to Princeton’s reKim, Penn ’94; and Nassau Christian Center Pastor Richard ligious roots, which were strengthened in part by former Linderman. university president and noted theologian Jonathan Edwards. The book’s title, Under God’s Power, is a reference to “We are familiar with the original spiritual heritage of Princeton’s motto Dei sub numine viget, or “Under God’s Princeton,” Bentch said. power she flourishes.” The university opened in 1746 to “There is a very large body of followers of Christ who train Presbyterian ministers. are alumni of these schools. It has increased my faith for The message to Princeton students is that “being a what God can do among the students here today.” Christian is not incompatible with being a Princeton stuCopies of Under God’s Power are available for $6 each dent,” said Lorri Bentch (Princeton ’91), ministry fellow at the Wilson House, Christian Union’s ministry center in with the Christian Union and the book’s editor. “My hope Princeton, or by calling (609) 681-1700, extension 6. is that students will read it or even just read it a little bit.” The Christian Union published 1,000 copies of Under By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

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A BAND OF BROTHERS Harvard Alumnus Helps Lead New Canaan Society When Paul Michalski’s marriage was deterioactive in leadership roles. In October of 2008, he took a rating, he didn’t know what to do. Like many leave of absence from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, HARVARD successful, career-centered men, Michalski, where he was a partner. Michalski used the time to help Harvard ’81 and Harvard Law ’86, spent years building a Founder and President Jim Lane, Columbia MBA ’77, build resume and a portfolio, not personal relationships. the NCS into a national organization. Currently, Lane is on “I thought if I was a good provider, then I was a good fasabbatical and Michalski, who decided not to return to his ther and husband. That was my responsibility, but that waslaw firm after his own leave of absence, has assumed the n’t working too well,” he said. “Our marriage hit a wall in day-to-day responsibilities. 2003. There was no dramatic event, no addiction or infiLane started the original NCS at his home in Darien, CT, delity, just the slow downward spiral of neglect and comafter working with Goldman Sachs for 20 years and realizing munication falling apart.” that in his pursuit of success, he had achieved Michalski admits he gave his wife what a sort of isolation. “[Jim Lane] knew he really time he had left after focusing on work and lacked Christian brothers who would come then the children. As it turned out, that wasaround him in times of need and who could n’t much time at all. Yet, when his wife told lean on him when they were in trouble,” says him she was no longer happy in the marthe NCS Web site. “He wanted to belong to riage, he was shocked and revealed that his something bigger than himself. He wanted a “whole life flashed before his eyes.” He better relationship with his wife and children. thought the distance in their relationship was He wanted more time with God.” just a normal part of marriage. Lane didn’t want to mirror what already Facing the possible end to his marriage existed in local churches, knowing that men aband not knowing where to turn, Michalski sorbed in the marketplace were really pretty cried out to God. And the Lord responded. terrible at deep and lasting relationships—esA friend of his wife suggested he attend a pecially with other men. He knew that they meeting of the New Canaan Society in New “worked hard and played hard, and that those Paul Michalski, Harvard Canaan, Connecticut, and that was where his two elements could provide the soil for grow'81 and Harvard Law '86, ing relationships.” life began to change. is a leader with the New Canaan Society. The gatherings began at Lane’s home. “At its core, New Canaan Society (NCS) Ten years later, that intimate group grew to is a relational ministry where men help each hundreds of men, including author and speaker Eric other build transparent relationships, build a relationship Metaxas (Yale ’84), who helped found the organization; and with Christ, and understand Kingdom perspective and how NBC News Correspondent David Bloom, who died coverliving a Christ-centered life can have an impact beyond ing the war in Iraq, but had come to Christ through NCS. yourself,” said Michalski. Both Lane and Metaxas wrote heart-rending tributes to And it was within that environment that Michalski Bloom, which were posted on the Web site and depicted the found the support and true friendship he needed to transdeep level of friendship and love they had for their “brudform his life and marriage, even in the face of divorce. der,” as those in NCS say. “I believe that what God wanted me to do was stand Over the years, chapters of the New Canaan Society firm for our marriage and stand against anything that would (www.newcanaansociety.org) have informally popped up tear it apart. About a year later, in 2004, God miraculously in various regions of the country, including New York City reconciled our marriage. It was through NCS that I came to and Bergen County, New Jersey, where Tom Lane, Jim’s faith and understanding of what Christ had done,” he said. brother, is the president. The annual NCS national retreat As the marriage healed, Michalski stayed involved with draws hundreds of men and has featured high profile speakNew Canaan Society (www.ncsnewcanaan.org) and became

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A B O U T • M I N I S T RY ers such as Rick Warren and Tim Keller. Metaxas, the author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask) and Amazing Grace (the biography of William Wilberforce), emcees the event, providing wit and comic relief. From September to June, regular NCS meetings are

simple, revolving around breakfast, contemporary worship music, and a speaker. “It really is just men getting connected,” Michalski says. “One thing NCS is good at is getting men together and letting the Holy Spirit take them to deeper levels.” By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

MAKING AN EARLY ‘IMPACT’ Campus Crusade’s Dartmouth Ministry Starts Year with Some New Faces Upperclassmen concentrated their efforts by hanging With a new leadership team in place, Campus welcome posters across campus, dropping off cookies for Crusade for Christ’s chapter at Dartmouth ColDARTMOUTH frosh, and inviting newcomers to attend Christian Impact’s lege is choreographing a major push to reach regular Friday dinner and meeting. As well, they staged a this year’s 1,100 or so incoming freshmen. variety of fun activities, including bridge jumping. In addi“We’re trying to rally our current students to have a tion, about 60 students, mostly freshmen, participated in a heart for reaching out to freshmen, both Christian and noncookout at the Bouton home. Christian,” said Faye Jaffee Gillespie, a staffer with ChrisThis year, Christian Impact is emphasizing involvement tian Impact (www.dartmouthci.org). Gillespie, Brown ’02, is a veteran of Crusade staffs at Brown and Dartmouth universities. This year’s team at Dartmouth includes her husband Jason Gillespie, along with Ryan Bouton and Jenny Conrad Bouton, Brown ’01 and ’02 respectively, and Tony and Kaylene Feiger. Jason Gillespie, a Michigan Technological University grad, previously worked with Crusade to record the Jesus film into new languages. The Feigers previously served as missionaries with a Crusade partnership in Russia. Tony and Kaylene Feiger and Ryan Bouton and Jenny Conrad Bouton are All of the staffers have served on the among this year’s Campus Crusade for Christ ministry team at Dartmouth. Dartmouth campus and will help fill the in small groups for all students. The campus ministry espevoid left by Chris West. The longtime director is stepping cially is encouraging freshmen to participate in Bible studaside from the Dartmouth chapter this year to pursue opies in their dormitories. portunities with Crusade’s Lake Hart STINT program in A particular emphasis for Christian Impact is to encourOrlando, Florida. The program helps veteran ministers disage students to evangelize the campus. “Our focus is not on cern their next moves. recruiting freshmen into Crusade to be fed and built up, but As for its fall kickoff, Christian Impact held a retreat in to reach the campus,” said Faye Gillespie. Vermont to help more than a dozen upperclassmen plan outAlong those lines, upperclassmen are working to “conreach events to coincide with the college’s freshmen oriennect relationally” with the incoming students. “They sound tation from September 15 to 22. Staffers and upperclassmen really excited, energized,” she said. “There’s a really neat gathered at the Ottauquechee Farm in Bridgewater Corners, camaraderie that comes through.” about ten miles from Killington.

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A B O U T • M I N I S T RY On a related note, Christian Impact is providing funds for upperclassmen to treat freshmen to lunch as part of the ministry’s outreach. As for staffers, they spent a chunk of September preparing to welcome freshmen, and they participated in First

Night, an event that showcases campus evangelical organizations and churches. Along those lines, campus ministers are gathering on Tuesday mornings to pray for Dartmouth. By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

PARK STREET CHURCH CELEBRATES BICENTENNIAL Worship and the Word Keep Students Coming Back sity, and Harvard. According to Tammy McLeod, Park For two hundred years, Park Street Church in Street’s director of college ministry, roughly 150 Harvard Boston has ministered to the young and old of HARVARD undergrad and graduate students attend the church. the city. And today, as the church celebrates its But the church doesn’t have such a vital campus connecbicentennial, it remains a vibrant part of the Boston commution by accident. For the past several years, Park Street has nity. Each week, Christ-centered teaching brings nearly maintained an active outreach to the campuses through a part2,000 people through its doors. nership with Campus Crusade for Christ (www.ccci.org) Founded in 1809, Park Street is known as the “church of known as Real Life Boston (www.reallifeboston.com). Pat firsts.” It is where abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison gave McLeod, husband of Tammy, is the director of Real Life his first anti-slavery address, where the Billy Graham CruBoston. sades were introduced, and where Lowell Mason composed “Real Life Boston is an the timeless hymns, “Nearer interdenominational ministry My God to Thee” and “Joy of Campus Crusade for to the World.” It’s also where Christ working with local Christian theology and sochurches to reach out and cial concern were nurtured minister to college students through the establishment of in Boston and to give every the nation’s first prison minstudent the chance to know istry, The American Tempersomeone who truly knows ance Society, the first animal and loves Jesus Christ,” said humane society, and the Allison Frost, Harvard ’08, Boston Chapter of the who serves as an intern with N.A.A.C.P. Additionally, the the ministry. first Protestant missionaries But it takes more than efto Hawaii were sent from Park Street Church in its Park Street Church today fective outreach to keep the here in 1819. original setting. among the bustle of students coming back to But Park Street Church, Boston city life. church each week. During with its famous steeple that Park Street Church in Boston celebrates 200 years of the past decade that Tammy soars above the city, doesn’t sharing God’s Word with Boston. McLeod has been involved merely stand as a relic with the church, she says surveys repeatedly reveal that amidst a city replete with history. It serves as a fount of spiryoung people return because of the teaching of scripture itual nourishment and enlightenment for hundreds of nearby and the music. And that comes from “commitment to college students. preaching and teaching the Word of God. Commitment to Nearly 40 percent of the 1,900 regular attendees at Park the centrality of Jesus Christ and commitment to missions, Street are students from the many campuses scattered both locally and internationally.” throughout the Boston area, including MIT, Boston Univer-

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A B O U T • M I N I S T RY It was that dedication to truth and meeting needs that brought Frost to the church as a student. “I was attracted to Park Street by the quality of the preaching, the variety of programs, and the sense of community that I found there.” And reaching the community through its needs, with Christ at its core, is what keeps Park Street a church of its time, as it was 200 years ago. “Park Street has excellent teaching and remains a missional church, and at the same time ministers to its members with a variety of small groups, speakers, and ministries to specific populations. Although it’s large for this area, members can find a small niche for themselves, while enjoying the sense of momentum that a bigger community provides,” said Frost. That interaction with a larger church community is key, according to Frost. “Boston is a city full of college students with energy,

fresh perspectives, and buzzing social networks. The ability to engage with students adds another generation of life and vitality to the church and ensures that the church remains connected to the city and the people who live in it,” she said. Additionally, McLeod points out that the students will be the future leaders within the church after graduation. “[The students] need to be exposed to the full Body of Christ, not just 18 to 22-year-olds,” she said, “but to little children, twenty-somethings, middle aged, and elderly folks. There is much to learn from their wisdom.” And so, as Park Street continues to commemorate its bicentennial year with celebrations and special events giving tribute to the past, it also celebrates the future through the many lives it enriches and the students who go forth from its doors. By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

A PASSION FOR CAMPUS RENEWAL Jeremy Story Strategically Ministers in the Ivy League and Beyond was prayer that ignited the hearts of believers from differJonathan Wesley, a great societal transformer ent denominations and ministries to come together and and evangelist who also attempted to reach colCOLUMBIA “seek God’s heart for the Austin campus.” lege campuses like Oxford during his day, once “Prayer is what brought the campus together…it cresaid, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in ated a hunger in each other to then reach the campus. By all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the building relationships on campus, we were then able to times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you build community with other ministries.” can.” In 2001, the focus of Campus Renewal Ministries It’s a quote that Jeremy Story can identify with. For the past 14 years, Jeremy and his staff at Campus Renewal (CRM) turned to Ivy League campuses. “[Ivy League campuses] are significantly Ministry (www.campusrenewal.org) have unreached and understaffed compared with been reaching college campuses across the United States with the message of “strategic other universities in our nation…they also have tremendous influence nationally and are change.” That change comes, specifically, by strategically located in unreached portions of helping to build Christ-like communities that the country,” said Story, who lives in Manhatimpact college students. tan with his wife and five children (another A University of Texas at Austin graduate one is on the way). (1997), Story and several others began CamTo Story, reaching future leaders with the pus Renewal as a local prayer and missionJeremy Story, president gospel message helps propel the Kingdom of outreach to reach college students. of Campus Renewal Ministries, is active at God message of Jesus. “Most of the future lead“In the beginning [at Austin] it was about Columbia, Brown, ers of the world are at Ivy schools. If we reach building relationship with others; creating Cornell, and Yale. them with the gospel, they are in a great position community,” said Story, who believes that it

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A B O U T • M I N I S T RY to create ‘Kingdom-like’ change around the world,” he said. Today, at campuses like Columbia, Brown, Cornell, and Yale, CRM uses three main partnerships to reach the community: Partnerships in Prayer, Information Gathering, and Mission Communities. First, “Partnership in Prayer” Fusion Groups help to build the positive spiritual climate needed to reach the lost on a college campus. To Story, “prayer is the beginning to any initiative in reaching a campus.” Second, “Partnerships in Information Gathering” is a venture to solicit information from students and faculty of the current need areas of the campus. Through surveys and focus groups, CRM uses the information to gain a greater perspective of student needs and how best to serve them. CRM even shares the information with other ministries to help them as well.

Third, “Partnerships in Mission Communities” are established in Spark groups, which attempt to build small churches throughout college campuses. According to Story, each college campus has “pockets of students” with likeminded interests. It is the third “partnership” that creates lasting change in the society. “We encourage students to relate with different segments of the college campus with the belief that numbers will be added to the Church,” he said. Story recently facilitated a 40-day prayer initiative and a citywide collegiate gathering with students from across New York City. As he continues to reach all the students he can, by all the means he can, in all the places he can. By Brandon Duck, Columbia, MS (Candidate), Applied Physics, SEAS, ’10

IVY LEAGUE THE

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NEWS-IN-BRIEF ALL IVY Renewing the Evangelical Mission Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, who studied at Yale and received a Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary, was among several participants in Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s fall conference, Renewing the Evangelical Mission.

Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, who studied at Yale, and Charles W. Colson, Brown ’53, were among the speakers at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s fall conference, Renewing the Evangelical Mission. The purpose of the event was “to explore the theological mission of the church in the post-Christian, post-partisan, and global context.” Also among the speakers were Michael Horton, former Yale Divinity School research fellow; Laura Winner (Columbia Ph.D.’97), author and assistant professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School; and Miroslav Volf, professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. Survey: Social Sites Promote Narcissism According to USA Today, a survey conducted by Youth Pulse revealed that social networking makes tweens, teens, and young adults more narcissistic. What’s more, Photo by Pam Traeger those surveyed believe that theirs is the most narcissistic A recent survey indicates young generation. people attribute According to the article, narcissism to Internet 57 percent of the 1,068 stusocial sites like Facebook and Twitter. dents surveyed said social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter were used by their peers for “self-promotion, narcissism, and attention-seeking…Two-thirds said their generation was more self-promoting, narcissistic, overconfident, and attention-seeking than others.”

Fall 2009

2009 John Jay Fellows Include Ivy League Graduates The John Jay Institute (www.john jayinstitute.org) is launching its fall 2009 Fellowship Program, and alumni from Harvard and Columbia are among the 10 college graduates selected as fellows. The fellowships are designed to equip individuals with the spiritual, intellectual, and professional disciplines necessary for effective, faith-informed public service, according to the Institute. The program is specifically geared toward those who aspire to achieve and succeed in the fields of religion, law, public and international affairs, issue service, journalism, and education.

John Balonze, Jr., Columbia ’01, was among the Ivy League alumni chosen to participate in the 2009 John Jay Institute Fellowship Program.

advocacy, social

BROWN Brown Graduates Join New England ‘Crusade’ Two 2009 graduates of Brown University plan to serve as interns with Campus Crusade for Christ (www.ccci.org) for the 2009-2010 year. Lorenna Ellis and Katherine D’Auria ShepRecent Brown graduates pard will assist Campus Lorenna Ellis (R) and Katherine D’Auria Sheppard Crusade’s operational (second from right) will serve branch in Boston, an as interns with Campus office that oversees Crusade for Christ for the 2009-2010 academic year. the ministry’s collegiate outreach to New England. Ellis, who served as a member of the student leadership team at Brown, also will continue to serve the campus ministry as an intern, partially by overseeing Bible studies. “I have a new passion to see other people find the freedom and joy that comes with a relationship with Christ,” Ellis said.

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NEWS-IN-BRIEF Brown Campus Crusade Gains Momentum for New School Year

CHRISTIAN UNION

Key leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ’s outreach (www.ccci.org) at Brown University spent the summer preparing for the school year by atJarrod Lynn (L), Director of tending the ministry’s Athletes in Action at Brown, Missional Team Leaderwith members of his coaching team at Campus ship Training in Fort Crusade for Christ’s Collins, Colorado. Missional Team Leadership Jarrod and Susie Training in Fort Collins, Colorado this summer. Lynn, who assist with faculty and student outreach, attended the training from June 22 to July 17. Topics included evangelism, music, fundraising, and technology. Subsequently, the couple attended Crusade’s biennial National Staff Conference in Colorado. “This year, more of the Brown campus will be exposed to the Gospel,” said Lynn, who is expanding his campus duties and heads Athletes in Action (www.aiaatbrown.com). “There’s a lot of momentum.”

Christian Union Welcomes New Intern

Brown Alumnae Experience ‘Life Change’ at Colorado Project

Ministry Fellow Challenges Princeton Staff to ‘Ignite Spiritual Fire’

Two recent alumnae of Brown University completed Athletes in Action’s Colorado Project this summer (www.aia.com). Lyndse Yess and Amy Ehrhart participated in the camp, Lyndse Yess, Brown ’09, which ran from June 6 to and Amy Ehrhart, Brown August 1 in Fort Collins, ’09, took part in Athletes in Action’s Colorado Colorado. The camp foProject this June in Fort cuses on teaching ministry Collins, Colorado. skills to college athletes and features the ministry’s signature 24-hour sports marathon. Yess described the camp as “life-changing.” Both grads plan to continue their involvement with Athletes in Action. Ehrhart plans to begin graduate studies in the fall at the University of Southern California, and Yess is taking a year off to work in Providence, R.I., before pursuing advanced studies.

In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire started in a small shed, but resulted in hundreds of deaths and four miles of property destruction when it was extinguished two days later. Just as an uncontained fire photo by Pam Traeger can inflict widespread damage, Christian Union God is calling Christians to igMinistry Fellow Quincy Watkins, nite spiritual fires that can draWharton Business matically change the lives and School ’95, was the landscape around them. That recent speaker at Christian Union’s was the message from Minmonthly Princeton istry Fellow Quincy Watkins, Staff Luncheon in Wharton Business School ’95, September. at Christian Union’s September lunch for Princeton University staff at Wilson House. “God is calling all of us to start a fire,” said Watkins. “Wherever we go, there should be some kind of fire going.”

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Justin Woyak, Princeton ’09, is serving as the Christian Union’s intern for the 2009-2010 school year. Woyak, who majored in classics, served as president of Princeton Faith and Action (www.pfanda. com) during his junior and senior years. Princeton Faith and Action is photo by Pam Traeger Christian Union’s leadership develJustin Woyak, Princeton ’09, opment ministry on campus. has replaced “I received so much through David Roberts Christian Union over my four years at as the Christian Union intern for Princeton,” said Woyak. “I believe in the upcoming the ministry and what God is doing academic year. through the ministry and at Princeton.” Woyak, who plans to attend seminary in 2010, replaced David Roberts, Oxford ’08. The Englishman took a position with Teach First, an organization that recruits high-caliber individuals to teach in challenged schools in the United Kingdom.

The Ivy League Christian Observer

NEWS-IN-BRIEF Christian Union President Earns Master of Divinity Christian Union Founder and President Matt Bennett, Cornell ’88, MBA, ’89, recently completed a master of divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. photo by Pam Traeger

Christian Union Founder and President Matt Bennett, Cornell ’88, MBA, ’89, recently completed a master of divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. “The learning of God and study of God have been very helpful in ministering to people personally and giving leadership,” said Bennett, who is considering plans to pursue a doctor of ministry or doctor of philosophy degree. However, the Cornell alumnus quipped that he “packed a three-year [master of divinity] into a 20-year timeframe.” Bennett took divinity courses from a handful of seminaries on a part-time and full-time basis before finishing in August at suburban, Chicago-based Trinity.

COLUMBIA ‘Reproductive Rights’ Lawyer Director of Women’s Initiative Columbia University chose a “reproduction rights” attorney to head its newly re-launched women’s leadership initiative. Kathryn Kolbert (Cornell ’74), former president and CEO of People for the American Reproduction Way, is the first director of the Rights Attorney Athena Center for Leadership StudKathryn ies, which, according to its website, Kolbert, Cornell ’74, was “investigates the styles, methodoloselected as the gies, and ideas that are at the forefirst director of front of the women’s leadership Columbia’s Athena Center movement.” for Leadership Unfortunately, that leadership Studies. will result in more babies being murdered. Kolbert argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Planned Parenthood in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe v. Wade. She also cofounded the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

Fall 2009

Ministries at Columbia Host Veritas Forum The Veritas Forum was held at Columbia University from September 21-23. The event, which is held regularly at Columbia, was sponsored by several campus ministries, including Columbia Students for Pulitzer Prize Christ (www.columbia.edu/cu/ccc), winner Nicholas InterVarsity (www.columbia.edu/cu/ Kristof, Harvard ’81, was one of ivcf), Korea Campus Crusade for the speakers at Christ (www.columbia.edu/cu/kccc/), Columbia’s and Remnant Christian Fellowship. Veritas Forum on September A primary topic for presentation and 21-23. discussion this year was Fighting Modern Day Slavery. Veritas Forums, held on college campuses throughout the nation and abroad, are designed to inspire discussion among students and faculty regarding the complex issues of the day and the relevance of Jesus Christ in their lives and beyond. Columbia Renews Call for Public Service As New York City mourned the tragic anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Columbia also marked the anniversary of the ServiceNation presidential forum that The Columbia campus called for a renewed naremains inspired to reach out in community service in tional commitment to honor of those lost during public service. the September 11, 2001 Keeping with that terrorist attacks. call, the university is continuing to encourage students to participate in Columbia’s “diverse service learning and community engagement initiatives.” A statement released by Columbia read, “The University joins with many others in New York and across the nation in seeing this anniversary as an appropriate moment to encourage a breadth of individual and collective public service that honors those who responded, and those whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001.”

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NEWS-IN-BRIEF CORNELL Cornell Crusade Offers New ‘Lifeline’ Campus Crusade at Cornell (www.cornellcru.com) launched a new ministry on campus this fall. According to Director Adam Simpson, Lifeline is the new outdoor and experiential learning ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. The vision for the Cornell campus, he says, “is to use outdoor trips and experiential learnAdam Simpson, ing to introduce non-believers director of Campus Crusade’s new to Jesus, and the hope of the Lifelines ministry, Gospel.” is making sharing Lifeline members will exthe Gospel a true adventure. tend invitations to campus organizations to attend outdoor adventures such as rafting, rock climbing, canoeing, and hiking. While on the trips, the Lifeline team will use experiential learning to introduce non-believers to Gospel truths, which they say, leads to spiritual discussions and a chance to give testimonies. The Informant is a Distinguished Speaker

Matt Damon stars as Cornell alumnus Mark Whitacre, Ph.D. ’83, in The Informant!

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Mark Whitacre, Cornell Ph.D. ’83, is the subject of The Informant!—a recently-released film about corporate corruption. Actor Matt Damon portrays Whitacre, a high-level executive turned informant during the FBI’s investigation of price-fixing at Archer Daniels Midland. Whitacre recently participate in the Distinguished Visitor Series at The Kings College in Manhattan, where he shared his journey of greed to redemption.

Chesterton House Web Site Celebrates Milestone Chesterton House's Web site has collected over one million downloads and page requests.

Chesterton House at Cornell is reaching far beyond the campus gates, as the organization’s Web site is literally reaching millions. Karl Johnson (Cornell ’89), director of Chesterton House (www.chestertonhouse.org), recently reported that both the number of audio downloads of public lectures, as well as page requests from the site’s science and faith bibliography have each reached more than one million. Page requests for the science and faith bibliography are now estimated at roughly 10,000 requests per month. “We are pleased to extend these resources well beyond the Cornell and Ithaca communities at no charge,” Johnson posted on the Web site.

DARTMOUTH Former ‘Pluralism’ Director Named New Dean Sylvia Spears, former Director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership at Dartmouth is the newly appointed Acting Dean of the College. photo by Joseph Mehling ’69

It’s an example of “pluralism” taken to the extreme. The former director of the “Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL)” at Dartmouth was recently appointed Dartmouth’s Acting Dean of the College. Sylvia Spears will serve as dean for two years. In her previous role, she oversaw the mission of OPAL, which served as “a central resource on issues related to gender, race culture, sexuality, and socio-economic class,” according to its Web site. Among OPAL’s resources and programs are Women & Gender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies, and Diversity Peer Leadership Program.

The Ivy League Christian Observer

NEWS-IN-BRIEF Dartmouth FCA Gets Back in the Game The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is gearing up for its first full year as an official ministry at Dartmouth College after a long hiatus. “We try to go to every campus where we have the opportunity,” said Fouad Faris, FCA’s Denise Dahlberg, pictured with her New England director. husband Kent, will After meeting inforhelp oversee the new mally during 2008-2009, FCA chapter at Dartmouth. Dartmouth recognized the growing organization as an official campus group in the spring. Four volunteers are overseeing the chapter, which is reviving after more than 20 years. They are: Roger Amato, Brown ’81, a senior partner in The Aequitas Group; Denise Dahlberg of Integrare; Steve Spaulding, formerly of Navigators (www.navigators.org); and Rev. Norman Koop of Woodstock, Vermont. Dartmouth Alumnus Continues Battle over Board Election Practices Todd Zywicki ’88 submitted a brief in support of ongoing litigation over governance of Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees in September, five months after the outspoken alumnus was denied a second term on the body. Zywicki’s brief is tied to legal challenges to the body’s 2007 decision to increase the number of board-appointed trustees. Plaintiffs argue the move violated an 1891 board resolution requiring parity between the number of boardTodd Zywicki, approved and alumni-elected Dartmouth ’88, trustees. In 2007, Zywicki, a submitted a legal brief law professor, was reprichallenging the manded for asserting Dartgovernance of mouth’s key administrators do Dartmouth’s Board of not believe in God or country Trustees. during a speech.

Fall 2009

HARVARD HCFA Students Retreat to Beach Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA), Christian Union’s leadership development ministry on campus, held its fall retreat September 25-27. The theme for the retreat was Harvard College “Seeking God.” Faith and Action held its fall retreat Sept. HCFA’s upperclassmen and fresh25 -27 in Madison, men came together, along with the Connecticut. ministry’s leadership team, at a beach house in Madison, Connecticut. “It was a terrific opportunity for the students to bond with each other and with Christ,” said Don Weiss, Christian Union’s director of ministry at Harvard. Crimson Ad Denying Holocaust Sparks Controversy The Harvard Crimson raised controversy by printing an ad that raised questions about the truth of the Holocaust.

In early September, The Harvard Crimson ran an ad paid for by the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, which raised questions about the truth of the Holocaust. The ad prompted controversy and national media coverage. The president of The Harvard Crimson, Maxwell L. Child, reportedly stated the ad was printed in error as it had previously been rejected. Child attributed the content error to a lengthy gap between the ad’s submission and the publication date due to summer vacations. Researchers Say Philanthropy Brings Happiness Harvard Business School doctoral candidate Lalin Anik, along with co-authors, recently released a study researching the benefits of charitable giving. They concluded that giving essentially promotes a cycle of happiness. “We present research from a variety of samples and methods demonstrating that happier people give more, that giving indeed causes increased happiness, and that these two relationships may operate in a circular fashion,” the researchers report. A recent study conducted by Harvard Business School doctoral candidates and professors shows the benefits of charitable giving.

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NEWS-IN-BRIEF PENN

Newman Center Students Participate in Recess Initiative

Couples Join Penn Students for Christ Team Two married couples are joining Steve Baker in overseeing Penn Students for Christ (pennstudentsforchrist.org), Campus Crusade for Christ’s Steve Baker (middle), branch at the University of Philadelphia Metro Pennsylvania. Andy and Crysdirector for Campus tal Young as well as Jason and Crusade for Christ, welcomed new Anastasia Turner are spending members to the the fall preparing to run the Penn leadership campus ministry. team this fall. Baker, Crusade’s “Philly Metro” director, will hand off Penn, Temple, and Drexel universities in January as he transitions to handling special projects and conferences for the Mid-Atlantic region. The Youngs and Turners will recruit additional staff and interns to join them for the launch of a new Crusade team in Philadelphia in fall 2010. Penn Student Serves in India A senior at the University of Pennsylvania spent much of the summer volunteering with the Delhi Bible Institute in northern India. David Rice ’10, a leader with Penn Students for Christ (www.pennstudentsforchrist.org), raised more than $2,000 to fund his trip from June 10 to August 6. Rice spent much of his time performing technology services for the institute, which plants churches and trains pastors and students from its base in New Delhi. Rice, who plans to attend seminary after graduation, also helped teach children in a Bible camp and serve young pastors. David Rice, Penn ’10, shared the Gospel with children in New Delhi, India, where he spent his summer volunteering with the Delhi Bible Institute in North India.

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Newman Center students are serving the community by working with the West Philly Recess Initiative.

Students from the Penn Newman Center, the Catholic campus ministry, are reaching out to West Philadelphia elementary school students and helping to foster healthy recess activities. Through the West Philly Recess Initiative, the Penn students organize games, encourage physical fitness, and teach cooperation, in an effort to reduce bullying and other negative behaviors during recess.

PRINCETON Princeton Faith and Action Oversees 100 Days of Fasting Initiative Members of Princeton Faith and Action, Christian Union’s leadership development ministry, spent their summer in fasting and prayer while drawing nearer to God.

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Members of Princeton Faith and Action (www.pfanda. com), Christian Union’s leadership development ministry on the campus, joined Christian Union staffers spending time in prayer and fasting this summer. The goal was to have 100 days of fasting, according to Dan Knapke, director of ministry for Princeton Faith and Action (PFA). The initiative served to strengthen the students’ faith walks while keeping them connected to their Christian peers at PFA during the summer months. Cassandra Hough on EWTN Princeton alumna Cassandra Hough ’07 recently appeared on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) to discuss the issues of purity and chastity in the campus community with Colleen Carroll Campbell, the host of the Catholic network’s series Faith and Culture. Debenedetto helped found the Anscombe Society at Princeton in 2005 with the purpose of “affirming the imThe Ivy League Christian Observer

NEWS-IN-BRIEF Cassandra Hough (Princeton ’07), Executive Director of the Love and Fidelity Network and founder of the Anscombe Society, was recently featured on the Eternal Word Television Network to discuss purity and chastity on campus.

portance of the family, marriage, and a proper understanding for the role of sex and sexuality.” She is currently the executive director of The Love and Fidelity Network, which provides resources and support to educate and encourage students in their efforts to “live out their sexuality in a way that honors the full meaning and integrity of sex and human relationships.” Princeton Remembers 9/11 Princeton University marked the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with a remembrance service in the memorial garden near Nassau Hall. Participants in the Princeton alumni killed in the service offered prayers, lit canSeptember 11, 2001 dles, and rang bells for the thirterrorist attacks were teen alumni who were killed in honored on campus with a remembrance the attacks. The garden, creservice held in the ated to honor the 13 alumni, Memorial Garden. features a large bluestone plaque and thirteen small bronze stars and is surrounded by plantings, three stone benches, and a bronze bell.

YALE Yale Divinity School Professor Writes Book on Calvin Yale Divinity School Professor of Reformation History Bruce Gordon recently released his new book, Calvin, marking the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Gordon looks at Calvin’s character, his maturing vision of God and humanity, his personal tragedies and failures, Bruce Gordon, professor of reformation history at Yale Divinity School, recently released his new book, Calvin.

Fall 2009

his extensive relationships with others, and the context within which he wrote and taught. The book was also the subject of a New York Times column by Peter Steinfels. Volf Speaks About Community in USA Today Miroslav Volf, director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, recently commented in USA Today about President Barrack Obama’s choice of a church. photo credit Yale Divinity School, courtesy of Kimberly Manz

Miroslav Volf, director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, was quoted in an August 3, 2009 article in USA Today regarding President Obama’s choice of church. At the time of the report, President Obama (Columbia ’83 and Harvard Law ’91) and his family had not selected a church. While some debated the relevancy of church attendance, Volf stated, “Christianity is a communal faith, not a private spirituality…He should live out his faith by being part of a Christian community.” He went on to say the president “shouldn’t instrumentalize his church-going for political purposes.” Yale Removes Cartoons of Muhammad from Book Yale University stirred controversy when it chose not to publish depictions of Muhammad in The Cartoons That Shook the World.

In an effort to avoid potential future threats or retaliation from Muslim extremists, Yale University chose not to publish depictions of Muhammad in the upcoming book The Cartoons That Shook The World, which deals with the uproar that occurred in 2005 after a Danish newspaper printed editorial cartoons of Muhammad. The decision, however, is generating a different kind of backlash. Approximately 25 alumni signed a letter to the Yale Alumni Magazine protesting the removal of the cartoons. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Yale ’70 and Yale Law ’74, has reportedly called the move “intellectual cowardice.” The university has stood by its decision, claiming it was based upon expert assessment of potential threats.

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CHRISTIAN UNION

THE MISSION AND VISION OF THE CHRISTIAN UNION Christian Union Founder Matthew W. Bennett Shares the Vision and Purpose of the Ministry Following is the mission and vision of the Christian Union, which is printed in each issue of the Ivy League Christian Observer to keep new readers informed of the ministry's purpose and passion.

most 50 percent of Americans are in church, however, adding up the involvement of all students every week in all the para-church and local churches combined it would amount to less than 10 percent of the student body.

The mission of the Christian Union, by God’s power and with the help of other ministries, is to change the world by bringing sweeping spiritual transformation to the Ivy League universities, thereby developing and mobilizing godly leadership for all sectors of society.

You may ask, what can be done to bring these universities spiritually in-step with the rest of the country? The most important means to improve the spiritual dimension is to supply enough long-term, capable, godly campus Christian workers. The spiritual vibrancy of the campuses is most directly related to this reality. Yes, we also need It’s an ambitious vision, but it’s effective strategies, and, of what God has called us to give course, we need the Holy our lives to. We have a deep pasSpirit’s presence and power; sion to see Jesus Christ honored however, the Spirit works and exalted at the eight Ivy through people, and without League universities (Brown, campus Christian workers leadColumbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, ing the charge, there is little spirHarvard, Penn, Princeton, and itual life. Take Cornell, for Yale). As you may know, these example. It has 20,000 students, universities were established served by 3,000 faculty and many years ago to bring praise 7,000 staff. That makes a total of and honor to Jesus Christ, but 30,000 university people who have drifted far from their moorneed to be presented with the ings. For example, Yale was Gospel of Jesus Christ and founded in 1701 by the colonists taught the Scriptures. If you of Connecticut, and in 1726, were to count all the full-time Yale College laws, reflecting the Christian workers on campus, it students’ and university’s devoChristian Union Founder and President, Matthew W. would amount to fewer than five Bennett, Cornell BS ’88, MBA ’89. tion to Jesus Christ, ordained people. Even with the Herculean that: “Every student shall conefforts of volunteers and the local churches, there is no way for sider the main end of his study to know God in Jesus Christ the university to be significantly impacted. and answerably to lead a godly, sober life.” The contrast with today could hardly be more startling. The former assistant dean of Religious Life at Princeton stated of all the faculty on campus that he ministered to, evangelical Protestants were the most fearful of disclosing their religious beliefs to others out of fear of discrimination and ridicule. At Dartmouth, the administration tried to ban the distribution of the book Mere Christianity a few years ago until media attention forced them to back down. In spite of all the rhetoric on campus about the “free exchange of ideas,” there is in many quarters, an intense hostility to Jesus Christ. Reflect on the fact that on every Sunday, al-

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Moreover, the few campus Christian workers present are usually not there long enough to become excellent in what they do, nor are they able to establish an institutional memory for the ministry as they transition out. Every few years, most ministries start from scratch all over again through the work of ambitious recent college graduates. After a few years, these dedicated workers usually move and the cycle starts again. The workers move because they see the position as a stepping stone toward other ministry positions, such as the pastorate. What we need are people who see university ministry as a calling in and of itself and not as a step-

The Ivy League Christian Observer

CHRISTIAN UNION ping stone to other ministries. An even bigger reason that people move on is that they get married and have children, and are no longer able to raise the needed support. Living close to campus in these university towns is expensive, and it is difficult to raise the money that’s needed. To provide enough godly, capable, long-term Christian workers and to meet other challenges, the Christian Union was formed in 2002 to trust God for dramatic change on these campuses. A unique aspect of the ministry is our commitment to both help other Christian ministries on campus through fund raising and other means as well as implementing our own direct ministry programs. Our passion is to see these campuses changed, whether or not it happens through one of our particular programs. We only direct our ministry programs to the Ivy League schools because they are among the most hostile to the Gospel, but also among the most influential in our nation. Many of our country’s future leaders will graduate from these schools, and as the leaders go, so goes the country. Thousands of future leaders in business, media, law, government, journalism, medicine, ministry, academia, and the arts are currently enrolled at the Ivy League schools. And when they graduate, they will make an indelible mark on society. Ivy League alumni include the founder of Federal Express, the founder of Amazon.com, the CEO of eBay,

Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Warren Buffet, eight of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, the head of the FBI, the head of the CIA, the head of the SEC, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the National Intelligence Director, Donald Rumsfeld, the head of the World Bank, Madeline Albright, Janet Reno, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Joe Lieberman, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and countless others. The names of those who serve in government are more recognizable than other names, but there is similar Ivy League representation in media, academia, journalism, medicine, and other fields. For the sake of the individual students, staff, and faculty on the campuses who need forgiveness and peace through Jesus Christ and for the sake of the future of our country because of the leadership these people will give, we must do whatever it takes to see these campuses transformed. I want to urge you to pray fervently for these campuses, to give generously to supply more campus Christian workers, and to use your influence in whatever capacity you have to make an impact. By God’s grace and by all of us working together, we can see significant spiritual transformation. Yours sincerely in Christ, Matthew W. Bennett

Advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in the Ivy League

Fall 2009

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P R AY E R R E Q U E S T S B R O WN

HARVARD

• Athletes In Action is starting a nine-week dinner discussion series to answer questions concerning faith, Christ, and life. Pray for each student-athlete who attends, and that these discussions will serve to encourage honest opinion and thought. • Pray for supernatural wisdom and favor for each campus ministry leadership team as they work to share the Good News of Jesus Christ through Bible courses, social events, and discipleship programs.

• Pray for Christian students to renew their vision to advance the Kingdom of God at Harvard. Pray that the whole campus will be turned around as lives are changed by Jesus Christ.

C O L U MB IA

PENN

• Keep in prayer each member of the administration, faculty, and staff at Columbia. Thank God for the gifts with which He has blessed each one and pray that those without Christ will come to know Him. • Korea Campus Crusade for Christ focuses on reaching out to Korean and Asian American students. Pray that together this community can grow in compassion for the lost and learn boldness in sharing their faith.

• Pray for the ministry and staff workers on campus, that they will be used by God in a profound way in the lives of many students as they share the Gospel of Jesus Christ • As Penn Students for Christ small group freshman Bible studies get underway for the semester, pray that their faith in God grows ever deeper as they study and discuss the book of Galatians together. Also pray that they will build strong relationships with each other.

CORNELL

PRI NCETON

• Mott House, Christian Union’s Ministry House at Cornell, is used as a meeting place by many Christian campus ministries. Pray that the house continues to serve as a blessing for the cause of Christ throughout the year. • As students settle in for the fall semester, pray that they would continue to make Christ a priority in their lives and continue to come to Him with their individual needs through the routine busyness that coincides with academics.

• Please pray for the contemporary service held at Nassau Christian Center each Sunday evening. Pray that this will be a great time of praise and worship for students and the Princeton community. • Pray that God will open the hearts and minds of non-believing freshmen to hear and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ as they acclimate to life on the Princeton campus.

DA RT MO U T H

YALE

• Pray for God to lay on the hearts of Christians connected with Dartmouth, as well as those living in close proximity to pray fervently for spiritual transformation of those on campus. • Keep the Dartmouth Faculty/Staff Christian Fellowship in prayer as members meet weekly for Bible study and prayer. Pray this time will refresh and energize them for the job God has called them to do at Dartmouth, and that they will be emboldened to share the Gospel daily.

• Pray for the dedicated Yale campus ministers who make up The Rivendell Institute as they seek ways to motivate and equip Christians to integrate teaching and research with the faith. • Pray for the leadership of Reformed University Fellowship, that they will grow the ministry, as well as provide solid biblical training to students. This year, they will study the books of Ephesians and Daniel.

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• 40 students will be working through a Bible course on the Book of Philippians with Harvard College Faith and Action this semester. Pray that the hearts and minds of the students attending will be opened to a deeper understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

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From the bottom of our hearts, “Thank You!” Through your generous giving, students’ lives are being changed across the Ivy League.

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