NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Volume 161 No. 31 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
AALIYAH ROMAN | SPARTAN DAILY
Two women from a religious organization offer free Bible courses to students walking by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on campus during the Fall 2023 semester.
SJ community addresses recruitment
By Aaliyah Roman STAFF WRITER
Student recruitment on the San José State University’s campus is not limited to just clubs, sports and Greek organizations, but also religious groups. Jehovah’s Witnesses stand near the campus Tower Lawn to offer Bible study courses. A person who identifies as Izai Bummer, a graphic design studies junior, and Veronica Le, business and management information systems junior, also said other religious groups have approached them this fall semester. Jehovah’s Witnesses identify as Christians, but believe in Jesus as one, whereas most Christians believe in a Holy Trinity with the Holy Spirit, God as the Father and Jesus as the Son, according to a Pew Research Center article. Bummer said recruiters on campus come up to her at least once a week and do not leave her alone after she tells them she isn’t interested. “I don’t care for their religion and they take that as a mean thing, but it's the same as (the fact that) they don’t care that I don’t have a religion,” Bummer said. “They’re gonna tell me about their religion anyways.” Bummer said she does not identify with any religion. She said the strict rules of her parents’ Baptist Christian beliefs caused her to move away from religion as a whole. Veronica Le, business and m a n a g e m e nt information systems junior, said a woman once walked up to her while sitting at the Student
Union and asked for her contact information. Le said when she asked what the woman needed it for, the woman said it was for a study. “At that moment, I’m like ‘Oh, so you are a psychology major?’ ” Le said. “ ‘What (is) the study about?,’ and then she looked at me and then thought about it (for) a bit.” She said after the woman insisted on getting her information, the woman finally told her it was a study about Jesus. Le, who is an atheist, said she kindly told the woman she wasn’t interested and then watched the woman pursue other students sitting nearby. “I was honestly mad at the moment because I feel like I'm respecting you, why are you not respecting me and I already refused you like three times now,” she said. Le said she understands the groups have freedom to exercise their religion, but said she believes recruiters should respect students when they say no. Bummer said in her experience, people come up to her saying she looks like she’s having a bad day or that she needs saving. She said she grew up with a degenerative muscular disease that requires her to carry a cane everywhere and said that some recruiters have told her they can pray for her to not use a cane anymore. “It’s very rude and ... angering because they will approach you (based) on assumptions that they have of you and also their religion of ‘We can make you better if you can come
with us,’ ” Bummer said. Eliza Fernandez, San José community college psychology freshman, said she approached students at the tables outside the Student Union last Thursday. She said she was recruiting students for THRIVE, a nondenominational Christian club on campus that offers personal Bible studies to the community, according to a post on the club’s Instagram page.
Francisco State University computer science assistant professor and Chung Tai Zen Center volunteer, said the Zen club at San Francisco State invites a Shifu to speak with students and teach them meditation techniques. Shifu Jiansheng Shih said a Shifu is a Buddhist monk or nun. Wang said she doesn’t know if religious groups need to have a permit to come on campus. She said the Shifu was able to visit
I don’t care for their religion and they take that as a mean thing, but it’s the same as (the fact that) they don’t care that I don’t have a religion. Izai Bummer graphic design studies junior
Fernandez said she enjoys approaching students because it’s more personal. She said that she intends to try and make students’ days by starting conversations with them. Dan Beaudoin, an Open Air Campaigners Missionary evangelist, stood on Paseo de Cesar Chavez last Thursday, handing out religious pamphlets to students walking by. Open Air Campaigners is a mission board focused on public evangelism, according to its website. Beaudoin said SJSU is a public-funded university where he is allowed to exercise free speech as long as he is on Seventh Street and not tabling. Jingyi Wang, San
SFSU’s campus because they were invited. She said the center does not outwardly recruit other students, but instead shares meditation ideas to stressed students who may need it. Most students only come for meditation and rarely do they decide to join the Buddhist religion. “It’s more neutral,” Wang said. “It’s up to (the) students’ decision (if ) they want to be (in) any kind of religious belief so especially when we go to school, (we) just simply share the idea (and) shared values.” Beaudoin said some religious groups and cults are usually more aggressive when trying to get students to join because they are
more local. He said those who are aggressive believe that either people should be a part of their group or “you’re not right with God.” “Something that (they) will use is something called love bombing where they’ll go and you’re their best friend,” Beaudoin said. “They want to do all this cool stuff for you and (be like) ‘Hey, you need to come to our group. You’re gonna love it so much’ and they use that to get their claws into people.” Beaudoin said he shares the gospel with other universities, downtown areas and local malls and has also preached to passersby in the past. He said he’s used to people walking by and ignoring him when he attempts to hand them a pamphlet from his group. The J e h o v a h’s Witnesses have frequent volunteers stationed on campus. Normally, Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for going door-todoor in neighborhoods and inviting people into their religion, according to the Pew Research Center article. Chris Boznos and Franzia Boznos said they are Jehovah’s Witnesses and volunteer to be on campus. Franzia Boznos said they also go to malls and other public spaces. “We care very much for humanity (and) for our neighbor per se,” Franzia Boznos said. “That’s one of the reasons, and we make time to visit you in your home to make this a more personal conversation.” The married couple volunteers to be on campus every Wednesday. Chris Boznos said they do
not go up to students and instead, they wait to see if any approach them first. “The best thing to do is have people come up to us if they have any questions, we would gladly talk with them,” Franzia Boznos said. Other local religious groups such as Congregation Etz Chayim, Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church and San José Buddhist Church Betsuin, said they do not go on campus to recruit students. Nebojsa Pantic, an assistant priest for Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, said the church, however, offers the Orthodox Christian Fellowships to students who are interested in having it at the campus. Pantic said it has been about 10-15 years since they had a fellowship at SJSU. Bummer said it is wrong for religious groups who proselytize to put their responsibility of religion on other people. “A lot of the time, I don’t care about your religion, like go for it,” Bummer said. “Good for you for having religion but there’s also a freedom to exercise it (and) they stop realizing that (the) exercising of their freedom of religion (needs to) stop with themselves.”
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