Winter 2008 Ivy League Christian Observer

THE IVY LEAGUE

CHRISTIANOBSERVER

Volume VI • Issue VII • January 2008

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 theChristian Union, an independent Christian ministry.

Ex-Atheist Praises The SonIn The Cornell Daily SunPage 6

Christian Worldview ConferenceHeld at Princeton

Page 9

Chi Alpha Comes to Brown

Page 37

Penn Students Host Veritas Forum

Page 7

Passion Movement ImpactsHarvard Christians

Page 23

Columbia Students Take Partin World Aids Day Events

Page 24

Dartmouth Grad Dinesh D’SouzaDebates Atheist

Page 5

Christian Union Conference at YaleWill Mobilize Students, Alumni

Page 4

http://issuu.com/action/page?page=11








The John Jay Institute for Faith, Society, and Law is a para-academic center that is committed to raising up a new generation of public leaders who are grounded and established in the political and legal principles of our Judaic and Christian civilization’s heritage.

Our students explore a curriculum of theological, political, and legal studies that is especially designed for rising law, government, and divinity students. Academic fellowships entail a semester in residence in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The residency is followed by a 12-week practicum placement in a public policy related field in Washington, D.C., various state capital cities, or international political centers.

We encourage applications from college graduates who seek to pursue their respective callings in the public square.

THE JOHN JAY INSTITUTE FOR FAITH, SOCIETY AND LAW

A N N O U N C E S I T S

2008 Fellowships

For more information, visit www.johnjayinstitute.org or call (719) 471-8900.

“John Jay was one of the great architects of American liberty. As an author of the Federalist Papers, he played a critical role in winning ratification of the Constitution. As a leading diplomat, he helped to secure the place of the United States in the community of nations. As the first Chief Justice of the United States, he set an example of judicial probity…. I have no doubt that the John Jay Institute will help many of our most gifted young people more fully to understand and appreciate “the blessings of liberty” bequeathed to us by America’s founding fathers.”

Robert P. George, J.D., D.Phil.McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of

the James Madison Program in American Ideals and InstitutionsPrinceton University

Application deadline for Spring 2008 Term – October 15, 2007Application deadline for the Fall 2008 Term – March 3, 2008

A ministry of Christian Union,an independent nonpro�t organizationcommitted to Advancing the Kingdom

of Jesus Christ in the Ivy League.

It is God alone who directs the course of the world and only by His power thatthe Ivy League campuses can be dramatically transformed to re ect Hispresence and Lordship. We believe that when we pray, God hears andresponds. In Luke 11:9, the Lord says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seekand you will �nd; knock and the door will be opened to you.” With the Lord’sencouragement in mind, we are mobilizing people to commit to a daily time ofprayer for spiritual transformation across the Ivy League. Throughout theacademic year, we are providing a monthly email of prayer requests and updatesgathered from many different campus ministries which may serve as a guide toassist you in knowing how to focus your prayers for the Ivy League. For moreinformation, please contact our Prayer Coordinator, Pam Traeger, [email protected].

To learn more or to sign up to pray for the Ivy League visit www.christian-union.org/prayer.

God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! – Psalm 66:19-20

240 NASSAU STREETPRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08542

[email protected]

Please help us get this magazine into the hands of thosewho 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-ChiefMatt Bennett, Cornell ’88, ’89

Managing EditorTom Campisi, College of New Jersey, ’88

Senior WriterEileen Scott, Mount St. Mary, ’87

Field ReportersMary Beth Fender, Penn ’09Biblia Kim, Cornell ’09Ishmael Osekre, Columbia ’09Layne Zhao, Dartmouth ’09Christopher Hampson, Harvard ‘09Grace Chen, Cornell ’10

Photo Editor:Pam Traeger

Letters to the EditorPlease send us your feedback regarding events and topicsdescribed in this magazine at the e-mail or regular mailaddress listed above.

By God’s power and the help of other ministries, the mis-sion of Christian Union is to change the world by bringingsweeping spiritual transformation to the Ivy League uni-versities, thereby developing and mobilizing godly Chris-tian leadership for all sectors of society. Matt Bennett(Cornell BS ’88, MBA ’89) founded the ministry withfriends in 2002 in Princeton, New Jersey. To learn moreabout the ministry, please visit www.Christian-Union.org.

The purpose of The Ivy League Christian Observer (thisfree quarterly magazine) is to inform Christian alumni, stu-dents, parents, staff, faculty, and friends of the Ivy Leagueuniversities about the spiritual activity on the campuses.Our desire is that you would be encouraged to pray forthese universities, give financially to Christian initiativeson the campuses, and use your influence for the cause ofChrist.

INTELLECTUAL ENGAGEMENT

Ivy League Congress on Faith and Action to be Held April 11-13Christian Union Conference Mobilizes BelieversBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

‘Is Christianity the Problem?’Dartmouth Grad Debates AtheistBy Caleb Oakes, Contributing Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Self-Proclaimed Atheist Finds the Truth Cornell Graduate Preaches, Publishes the Good NewsBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Reconciliation in a Divided WorldPenn Students Host Veritas ForumBy Matt Doka, Contributing Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Christian Worldviewand the AcademyPrinceton Conference Examines Evangelical Roots of ScholarshipBy Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Jonathan Edwards Center Makes Writings AvailableCollection is one of the Most Comprehensive By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

SOCIAL ACTION

Passion Comes to BostonEvent Calls Students to Show Christ’s Love to Campuses, CommunitiesBy Christopher Hampson, Harvard ‘10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Safeguarding the FutureColumbia Students Take Part in World AIDS Day EventsBy Jin Wang, Columbia ‘10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Donors BewareCenter for Excellence in Higher Education Promotes ‘Effective Philanthropy’By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

‘Jesus Never Just Walked By’Columbia Students Unite Against Hate, RacismBy Jin Wang, Columbia ‘10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Bringing Fatherhood to the ForefrontPrinceton Faith in Action Hosts Roland Warren ‘83By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

ON CAMPUS

Page 2 The Ivy League Christian Observer












January 2008 Page 3

Student Moms Have a Friend at PennPenn For Life Extends Help Through College Parents FundBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

REVIVAL • REACHING THE LOST

‘The Call’ Goes out for Revival at YaleDocument Signers Pledge Life of Prayer, FastingBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

‘We are right on the edgeof Something’Ministry Leaders See ‘Quiet Revival’ Slowly Transforming BostonBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Planting Churches, Harvesting SoulsKCCE Students Play Role in Venezuelan Church Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Friday Night LiveEvent Introduces Students to The Real JesusBy Behzad Varamini, Cornell Graduate School . . . . . . . 33

A Heritage of FaithProfessor draws encouragement from University’s Christian rootsBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

STUDENT LIFE

Ivy League Leadership ConferenceMakes an ‘Impact’Students Gather for Time of Discussion, Worship, and FellowshipBy Christopher Hampson, Harvard ‘10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

This Time it’s PersonalMinistry Helps Students Connect with their Catholic FaithBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Helping Students Share the Good NewsChi Alpha Seeks to Strengthen Christian Students at BrownBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Running out of Fresh IdeasBattling Plagiarism in the Ivy LeagueBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Do Holly and Ivy Mix?Finals Put Christmas on Hold for Some StudentsBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

IN PERSON

DEPARTMENTS

Eclectic Brown Grad is Elected GovernorBobby Jindal Seeks to Bring Reform to LouisianaBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

The Currency of FaithChase ‘Coined’ the ‘In God We Trust’ PhraseBy John Andrew Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Ryan Anderson Puts ‘First Things’ FirstPrinceton Alumnus Passionate About Defending LifeBy Eileen Scott, Senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Reflections of a Former Intervarsity DirectorOro-Han Helped Launch Veritas ForumBy Ishmael Osekre, Columbia ‘09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Encouragement from the “Bentch”Campus Minister Makes her Mark with Princeton StudentsBy Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Praise Him in the DanceLuce Fellow Explores King David’s Worship StyleBy Gustav Spohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Living the Letter of the LawWriter Looks to Bible in Quest for AnswersBy Eileen scott, senior Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Faith HighwayPrinceton Alum Pays Tribute to Religious Signage in AmericaBy Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

News-in-Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42-48

The Mission and Vision of Christian Union . . . .49

Prayer Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51















Dad

Typewritten Text









I N T E L L E C T U A L E N G A G E M E N TOn Campus


In 2005, the Ivy League Congress on Faith and Ac-

tion made news in The New York Times article “On

a Mission to the Top.” This year’s event promises to

make history as it brings together the largest gathering ever of

Ivy League Christian students, alumni, parents, and others to

“change the world for Jesus Christ.”

The 2008 Ivy League Congress on Faith and Action (ILCFA),

hosted by Christian Union (www.Chris-

tian-Union.org) will take place April 11

through 13 at the Omni Hotel in New

Haven, CT. Approximately 700 people

are expected to attend the event that will

include representatives from the acad-

emy, ministry, medicine, business, law,

and government. In addition, this year’s

congress will include panels on the arts

and media. More than 400 people at-

tended the 2005 Ivy League Congress

on Faith and Action that was held in

Princeton.

“People from all these fields will share

how they are making an impact for

Christ,” said Christian Union’s Founder

and President Matt Bennett. “What’s

exciting is the coming together of this

growing surge of Christian witness in

the Ivy League to encourage each other

to follow Christ.”

However, attendees don’t just participate for their own edifi-

cation and encouragement. According to Bennett, they see

their positions of influence as a God-given responsibility to

help others. Ultimately, the ILCFA encourages them to use

that influence by putting their faith into action in their partic-

ular areas of industry and interest.

Renowned Christian speakers will highlight the event and are

expected to further inspire students and attendees of all back-

grounds. World Vision President Richard Stearns (Cornell ’73

and Wharton School of Business ’75), and Rev. Charles

Gilmer (Penn ’81), president of Impact Movement, are sched-

uled to be the plenary speakers. Both, said Bennett, possess

the personal experience in the fields of humanitarianism and

campus ministry necessary to speak relevantly to the needs

and interests of the participants.

Other speakers include Eric Metaxas, Yale ’84, a well-known

speaker and the author of Amazing Grace: William Wilber-

force and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, and Ken

Costa, Chairman of Lazard International as well as Chairman

of Alpha International.

In addition, eight vocational panels are

being scheduled throughout the weekend

to facilitate interaction among partici-

pants about how to apply Christianity to

their vocations.

The success of the 2005 conference has

led to high expectations for this year’s

edition. Regarding the ILCFA, the April

2005 issue of the Ivy League Christian

Observer noted that “many alumni, stu-

dents, and campus ministry staff said

that the conference was a tremendous

encouragement to their faith, noting the

quality of the speakers and the powerful

times of corporate worship among

Christians from every Ivy school.”

“It was humbling to observe so many

students worshiping and offering prayers

of praise, confession, and intercession

for the campuses,” said Jay Harvey,

Princeton ’95.

That type of acceptance of Jesus Christ and interaction with

other Christians within the Ivy League is what Christian

Union strives for in its daily mission. The conference is the

culmination of that effort.

“The ILCFA showcases the heart of what this ministry is all

about, which is reaching Ivy League students and alumni for

Christ and strengthening their devotion to him,” Bennett said.

The ministry works to reach out to non-believers and believ-

ers within the Ivy League to mobilize them to live for Christ

and impact the world, he explained.

IVY LEAGUE CONGRESS ON FAITH

AND ACTION TO BE HELD APRIL 11-13Christian Union Conference Mobilizes Believers

Richard E. Stearns, Cornell ’73 and

Wharton School of Business ’75, and

Dr. Charles Gilmer, Penn ’81, are two

of the keynote speakers scheduled

for the 2008 Ivy League Congress on

Faith and Action.

I N T E L L E C T U A L E N G A G E M E N T On Campus

January 2008 Page 5

Those interested in attending the April conference can begin

preparing for it now, Bennett said, by praying for God to

move within the midst of the conference.

Christian Union subsidizes student participation for the event.

Others interested in supporting the students or registering for

the conference themselves can visit the conference website at

www.ILCFA2008.com.

By Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

Christopher Hitchens’ best-seller God is Not

Great and Dinesh D’Souza’s What’s So Great

About Christianity are so diametrically opposed

that the audience could have skipped the recent debate at the

New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) and still

have felt the tension. But those who went witnessed a great

show.

The two authors sparred over the question “Is Christianity

the Problem?” in front of a capacity crowd of 800 people.

The event, held October 22, was sponsored by The King’s

College, NYSEC, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and

tothesource.org.

As anticipated, the exchange proved

lively. In the opening comments, mod-

erator and King’s provost Marvin

Olasky, Yale ’71, reminded the audi-

ence of a comment Richard Dawkins

made: “If you’re invited to debate Christopher Hitchens, de-

cline.”

D’Souza, a Dartmouth graduate (‘83) and former policy an-

alyst for the Reagan administration, had debated Hitchens on

two prior occasions and was, nevertheless, up for the chal-

lenge again. His first task, however, was daunting—proving

the benefits of Christianity in ten minutes.

“No nation,” D’Souza said, “reaches out to help those in need

like Christian nations,” citing the abolition of slavery as a

movement with Christian roots.

D’Souza also claimed that the foundation of science is based

in Christianity. It alone, he said, provides a framework for

an ordered universe. “It’s not surprising to the theist that you

have this arrangement; but to the atheist, you can’t take any

of that for granted.”

Lastly, he pointed to the atrocities committed under the athe-

ist regimes of Stalin, Mao, and Hitler–and the resulting100

million deaths. In comparison, he argued, the tragedies of the

Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials were rela-

tively minor, with fewer than 3,000 deaths.

Hitchens, a columnist for Vanity Fair and an intellectual cu-

riosity who eludes classification, proposed three deficiencies

in Christianity, calling it man-made, irrational, and sado-

masochistic–akin to the worst totalitarian regimes.

Hitchens also argued that, since the world has existed for

100,000 years, and God only intervened in the last 2,000, he

must be exceedingly cruel to allow such pain and misery to

go unchecked.

“In order to believe the Christian mes-

sage,” said Hitchens, “you have to be-

lieve that heaven watched that for

98,000 years.”

Both debaters hit-and-missed their op-

ponent’s arguments during the rebuttal. Each claimed the

other was wrongly identifying their group with the horrific

massacres of the twentieth century.

The answer to whether Christianity was the problem was

probably determined more by attendee’s personal view of

Christianity and atheism than by the debate itself. In the opin-

ion of Chris White, a junior at The King’s College, no one

should have gone into the debate expecting a clear cut win-

ner. “That would be absurd,” he said.

Following the event, both men appeared on various cable tel-

evision news shows and continued to make their points. And

with the fall release of D’Souza’s newest book, What’s So

Great about Christianity, one can expect the public debate

over Christianity and atheism to continue. However, if re-

views of D’Souza’s book are any indication, even unbeliev-

ers will have a hard time discounting the truths that lie within

its pages.

“As an unbeliever, I passionately disagree with Dinesh

‘IS CHRISTIANITY THE PROBLEM?’Dartmouth Grad Debates Atheist

DDARTMOUTH

Dartmouth grad Dinesh D’Souza

’83 squared off in a debate

against atheist Christopher

Hitchens.



D’Souza on some of his positions,” said Michael Shermer,

publisher of Skeptic magazine. “But he is a first-rate scholar

whom I feel absolutely compelled to read. His thorough re-

search and elegant prose have elevated him into the top ranks

of those who champion liberty and individual responsibil-

ity. Now he adds Christianity to his formula for the good so-

ciety, and although non-Christians and non-theists may

disagree with some of his arguments, we ignore him at our

peril.”

Stanley Fish, author of How Milton Works wrote, “The great

merit of this book is that it concedes nothing. Rather than en-

gaging in the usual defensive ploys, D’Souza meets every

anti-God argument head on and defeats it on its own

terms. He subjects atheism and scientific materialism to sus-

tained rigorous interrogation, and shows that their claims are

empty and incoherent. Infinitely more sophisticated than the

rants produced by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christo-

pher Hitchens, What’s So Great About Christianity leaves

those atheist books in the dust.”

By Caleb Oakes, Contributing Writer

For Behzad Varamini, a self-proclaimed atheist

and graduate student at Cornell, there was no log-

ical basis for Christianity. Simply put, he said,

“Christianity was a lie.”

His opinion changed, however, once he began to experience

firsthand the truth of God’s grace. That grace changed him so

dramatically that, in his farewell column for the The Cornell

Daily Sun, Varamini unashamedly wrote,

“Christianity isn’t simply another option in a

‘what works for me or you’ world. It is the

truth.”

Varamini’s spiritual journey began early in his

graduate studies at Cornell. Everything was

about him, he said. He studied nutritional sci-

ence with the hope of working for a professional

athletic team. He began writing for Cornell’s

Daily Sun because of the wide readership and

the attention he received.

But after a series of events and “coincidences,”

Varamini came to know firsthand the life-alter-

ing saving grace of Jesus Christ.

In a talk addressed to a combined campus min-

istry meeting at Cornell, Varamini gave his tes-

timony. He told of a series of incidents that left him admitting

that he “didn’t want his life.” He wasn’t suicidal, but he was-

n’t living either.

He described exploring Christianity and Christian literature

to impress a friend who was a Christian. As he began read-

ing Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, his unbeliever’s mind

asked how Lewis’ small book could defend “the biggest lie

ever told.”

He read the Gospels as well. “Jesus says a lot of wild things

in the Bible,” he said. “One of the wildest was: ‘If you ask

anything in my name, then God will grant that thing unto

you.’”

“I was like ‘OK, let’s see what this is all about.’” So he

prayed for the first time. It was a simple prayer

for God to open his eyes to a particular matter in

his life. Soon after, the matter about which he

was unsure became clear, opening Varamini’s

eyes to the truth of God.

The pain of his life didn’t magically disappear,

and his journey of faith was not an easy one, but

Varamini slowly allowed Christ to enter his life.

He participated in a summer Christian fellowship

at Cornell and learned about worshiping God.

Today, Varamini is a devout Christian and is

eager to share the Gospel with others. He is less

focused on himself and is committed to serving

the Lord. As a result of his shift in priorities, he

decided no longer to write for The Cornell Sun.

But he did not leave the paper with a quiet farewell. “I knew

in my final column I had to write about what I thought was

the most important thing to me,” he said.

And so Varamini wrote a column that was decidedly Chris-

tian.

“For years, I could not believe in God because there was a

SELF-PROCLAIMED ATHEIST FINDS THE TRUTHCornell Graduate Preaches, Publishes the Good News

CCORNELL

Cornell grad

student and former

atheist Behzad

Varamini publicly

proclaimed the

Gospel truth in his

final column for TheCornell Daily Sun.


January 2008 Page 7

void of logic, no signs, no evidence, but only a leap of what

appeared to be senseless faith,” he wrote. “But the Bible ex-

plains that God didn’t intend for us to believe based on signs,

wisdom, evidence, only by faith. God has made it so that He

won’t ever be found in a telescope or microscope…”

Ironically, Varamini, who once espoused Christianity as a

lie, wrote: “We can’t know Jesus as the answer until we sur-

render to Him. I couldn’t know Him as the Truth until I gave

my life to Him. Then I knew.”

Not surprisingly, the column generated a mixed bag of blog

responses.

“This is the Sun's third article in the last month preaching

Christianity and/or attacking atheism,” one blogger wrote.

“This is an Ivy League institution, but you would never know

from reading the garbage printed in this paper.”

But Varamini was thankful for all of the responses, he said,

because they generated discussion about Jesus.

“We go to our fellowships and churches, but Monday through

Friday we aren’t engaging people in discussion about Jesus.

We need the Word daily,” he said.

No longer self-focused, Varamini is now considering work-

ing for a ministry in the future and possibly attending semi-

nary. Although still working on his Ph.D. in nutritional

science at Cornell, Varamini is not as focused on the work-

ing of the human body; his priority is now on strengthening

the Body of Christ.

“I can tell you, as a recent hardcore atheist,” wrote Varamini,

“that there is nothing quite like finding joy in God and fi-

nally being made right with Him.”


University of Pennsylvania students recently hosted

the Veritas Forum, a three-day, interactive lecture

event centered on the theme “Reconciliation in a

Divided World.”

The Veritas Planners, led by Dave DeHuff of Faculty Commons

(formerly known as Christian Leadership Ministries), arranged

to have a prominent Christian academician share his or her

thoughts each night on the forum topic.

After each presentation, the speakers spent almost an hour in

question-and-answer with students from Penn’s diverse campus

body, followed by another hour for discussion around food and

refreshments provided by local churches.

Penn Christian students attended because of affiliation with

sponsoring Christian groups, including Campus Crusade for

Christ (www.upennccc.org), InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

(www.pennivcf.org), and the Newman Center (www.new-

man.upenn.edu/ext/). But the target audience of the event was

the non-Christian student body, who generally came because of

personal invitations from Christians and extensive publicity for

the forum. One Campus Crusade student felt comfortable invit-

ing many of her friends because the forum was “tailored to reach

someone interested in global politics, human rights, moral is-

sues, or religious issues.”

The first night’s speaker, former congressman and ambassador

to the United Nations Mark Siljander, was especially appealing

to such a crowd with his message, “Darfur: Resolving Conflict

by Bridging the Muslim/West Divide.” His impassioned dis-

cussion focused on the necessity to build bridges between ap-

parently-opposed culture groups, like Christians and Muslims

in the Middle East.

Siljander spoke of his personal efforts to build a relationship

with the president of Sudan. He said discovering commonali-

ties, such as similar beliefs about God, and extending grace

proved much better tactics than the oft-relied upon condemna-

tion of the president as the leader responsible for the crisis.

Siljander pointed out that such blame had only diminished the

hope for a collaborative resolution of problems in Darfur. He

demonstrated his own method of having genuine interest in the

president as a person rather than a focus on the issue at hand had

allowed a real relationship to be built. His message was espe-

cially encouraging because it was through his efforts to truly ex-

tend love and grace to the Sudanese president and his cohorts

that Siljander’s team was able to bring about the implementation

of UN aid to Darfur.

This event especially helped one student realize that “interact-

ing with other world religions is imperative for my own under-

standing of myself and others.” Another student said, “It was

RECONCILIATION IN A DIVIDED WORLDPenn Students Host Veritas Forum

PPENN



probably the most fascinating talk I have ever heard.”

The second lecture, “The Power of Forgiveness” by Dr. Gayle

Reed took a much more personal tone. Reed, a prominent re-

searcher on the psychological effects of forgiveness, presented

the efforts of years of research in the area of forgiveness coun-

seling with abused women. Her research showed that women

who applied the Biblical notion of forgiveness, irrespective of

faith, experienced dramatic returns of psychological health when

compared with control groups given regular counseling. The

essence of this type of forgiveness was learning to love your

enemy and learning to desire the best for them. Although many

students found the material too didactic for discussion, Dr.

Reed’s message was most helpful to Penn nursing students (she

was a psychiatric nurse) and to those who’ve experienced abuse

themselves.

The final evening’s forum, “Healing the Memory of Evil,”

brought together Dr. Miroslav Volf from the Yale Divinity

School and both a Muslim and a Jewish responder from acade-

mia to discuss the morality of forgiveness and memory. Dr. Volf

shared his own experiences, telling how he struggled to forgive

a general who accused him of being a CIA operative. The gen-

eral subjected Volf to prolonged interrogations during his

mandatory year of service in the Yugoslavian army. Years later,

Volf realized, his memories were sometimes exaggerated and

he was often quick to draw conclusions about the personal, psy-

chological motives of “Captain G,” rather than viewing him as

a military bureaucrat callously doing his job to guard against

“enemies of the state.”

His choice to obey God and extend grace led to the redemption

of his memories; and he believes, as did his fellow responders,

that only in forgiveness can good come from committed wrongs.

The strongest thought Dr. Volf left his audience of 400 was the

belief that true right action to others involves both extending the

grace we have all received to them as well as holding them to the

highest standards of their own beliefs in love. Students had noth-

ing but good things to say about this final evening, such as:

“Without a doubt, Dr. Volf had the greatest impact.” “He pre-

sented his material in a loving tone. He is approachable and kind

while being brilliant and articulate.”

The Forum was definitely a highlight in the cooperative effort

of Penn Christians to engage in a joint dialogue with the rest of

campus. Meeting non-Christians with realistic discussion on rel-

evant topics is a goal that the Veritas Planners and sponsoring

Christian organizations hope to pursue with more vigor after

such an energizing forum.

By Matt Doka, Contributing Writer

Christians and nonbelievers explored “Reconciliation in a Divided World” during the Veritas Forum held at Penn this fall.


January 2008 Page 9

Christian students need to understand the criti-

cal value that both faith and reason play as they

approach their studies on secular university

campuses. That was the message of a recent conference

aimed at strengthening and equipping university students

who may be experiencing challenges to their beliefs.

More than 250 students from Ivy League and peer cam-

puses came away with new per-

spectives on some of the issues

surrounding their Christian beliefs

and approach to scholarship after

participating in a sold-out, inau-

gural conference on November 9-

11. Christian Worldview and the

Academy, sponsored by the With-

erspoon Institute, was held at the

Friend Center at Princeton Uni-

versity. Support from more than a

dozen co-sponsors, including

Christian Union, made it possible

to limit the student price to just

$25 per person for all expenses.

Byron Johnson, co-director of

Baylor University’s Institute for

Studies of Religion, served as con-

ference director.

Leaders at the Witherspoon Insti-

tute decided to host a conference

dedicated to the Christian world-

view, in part, to show frustrated

students the extent of the scholarly

realm’s roots in Christianity and to explain how that foun-

dation remains relevant despite threats from overt secular-

ism. As well, conference leaders said they wanted to visit

spiritual subjects of common interest between Catholics and

evangelical Christians, especially ones involving students.

“There is such an acute need expressed to chaplains by stu-

dents that the Christian faith somehow forces you to com-

promise your commitment to reason,” said Duncan Sahner

(Princeton ’06), assistant director of the Witherspoon Insti-

tute. “We wanted to show them how the Christian faith con-

forms to work of top scholars. The conference was pastoral

in mission, but academic in tone.”

Indeed, students and campus ministry leaders alike say they

were inspired by the conference. And, students were quick

to add that they were pleased to hear their Christian beliefs

receive validation from academic experts.

“I enjoyed this so much. It’s so refreshing to have what you be-

lieve confirmed by a community of believers,” said Caroline

Swinehart, Yale ’11. “Community is

so necessary for believers. That

community can be lacking for be-

lievers.”

During the weekend, more than a

dozen top Christian scholars and

theologians addressed topics in-

cluding: scriptural history and au-

thenticity; secularism; science and

Christianity; bioethics; and sexu-

ality and morality.

Of the conference, Father John

Neuhaus, president of the Institute

on Religion and Public Life, told

the students that “something very

hopeful is happening here.”

“You have been offered a feast of

spiritual and intellectual fare,”

said Neuhaus, also the editor-in-

chief of New York-based First

Things. “There is a very deep

sense that we have been recruited

to a cause that is God’s cause be-

fore it is our confidence. This sense of confidence is not ar-

rogance.”

Neuhaus also told the students that, as Christians, they are

the “great defenders of reason…We are the friends of an

authentic rationalism.”

Along the same lines, Russell Moore, dean of the School

of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,

encouraged the students not to be ashamed of their faith.

“When we are called as Christians to be in the academy, we

are not called to shrink back,” Russell said.

In addition, Nancy Pearcey, scholar for worldview studies

THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW AND THE ACADEMYPrinceton Conference Examines Evangelical Roots of Scholarship

PPRINCETON

The Christian Worldview and the Academy

conference was held at Princeton

November 9-11.



at Philadelphia Biblical University, told the students to em-

brace a comprehensive Christian worldview and not one

that relegates Christian beliefs to the realm of personal val-

ues and surrenders academia to secularism. Christianity is

not a private, mystical experience. Rather, the only world-

view “big enough” to explain and deal with all issues of

morality and science is Christianity.

Indeed, some students said they were encouraged to hear

that Christianity and elite academia are compatible.

“It was refreshing to have true intellectuals discussing some

of the main topics we have going today,” said Gerrit van

den Berg, Princeton ‘11.

Han-wei Kantzer, Princeton ’11, agreed. “I like the way

they brought up arguments I had not heard before, which

were biblically supported,” he said. “It was nice to look at

things from a fresh point of view.”

Kevin Staley-Joyce, Princeton, ’09, said he especially ap-

preciated a “forum for these highly intellectual [Christian]

speakers…There’s a secularist orthodoxy that dominates

the academy.”

Blake Altman, interim director of Manna Christian Fellow-

ship, said the students received critical validation. “The stu-

dents took away an understanding that important issues to

their faith on campus are indeed very reasonable,” he said.

As they departed, Neuhaus told the students they are living

a life of “high adventure,” and they need to remember the

bottom line of Christianity. “The task of engaging the world

with a Christian worldview is one of love,” Neuhaus said.

By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer

Mark Your Calendar... May 29 – June 1

Princeton Faith and Action’s REUNIONS ‘08THURSDAY, May 29Noon – 1 p.m. and 8 – 9 p.m. – “Prayer for Princeton”East Room,Murray-Dodge

FRIDAY, May 30Noon – 1 p.m. and 8 – 9 p.m. – “Prayer for Princeton”East Room,Murray-Dodge

SATURDAY, May 319:30 – 10:30 a.m. – “Prayer for Princeton” Wilson House

10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Brunch and Open House, Wilson HouseCelebrating Christian Life at Princeton.

4 – 5 p.m. (after the P-Rade) – “Prayer for Princeton”East Room,Murray-Dodge

SUNDAY, June 18:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Worship Service, Nassau Christian CenterRev.Kenneth Jasko ’78 (Senior Pastor,Monmouth Worship Center), preaching

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Worship Service, Nassau Christian CenterFeaturing testimonies from Major Class Reunions, including Dr.Archie Fletcher ’38 (Medical Missions,retired) and Roland Warren ’83 (President,National Fatherhood Institute).

For more information contact [email protected] or visit www.Christian-Union.org/reunions


January 2008 Page 11

More than three centuries after his birth, theolo-

gian and revivalist Jonathan Edwards’ writings

are being given new life at the Jonathan Edwards

Center at Yale University.

Nearly 100,000 manuscript pages, making up 26 printed vol-

umes, have been painstakingly transcribed and compiled by

members of the Jonathan Edwards Center (JEC), making

them one of the most rich and comprehensive archives of

work of any American theologian in the United States, ac-

cording to Caleb Maskell, former associate director for the

Center.

Maskell, a Yale Divinity School gradu-

ate who is currently a research editor

with the JEC and a doctoral student of

Religion and American Culture at

Princeton, said the JEC’s mission is to

encourage and promote study of Ed-

wards’ work. To carry out that mission,

Maskell and his colleagues have not

only compiled the printed volumes,

which represent only half of Edwards’

writing, but they are working to make

the additional fifty percent readily avail-

able to students, researchers, and curi-

ous individuals around the world via the

Internet.

Approximately 200,000 people from

150 countries visit the JEC website each

year, said Maskell, and they don’t just

read the works, they interact with the site, asking the most

basic and the most detailed questions about Edwards and his

writing.

Helping answer those questions is another thing Maskell and

his colleagues do at the center. They serve as guides through

the vast manuscripts, sermons, and notes penned by Edwards.

They also serve as translators of the writer’s abbreviations

and shorthand.

This is no small undertaking when one considers that aside

from the sheer vastness of his writings, Edwards wrote many

of his sermons and notes on parcel wrap and virtual scraps

half the size of standard computer paper due to the scarcity

of paper at that time. Transcribing the thin cursive writing of

the day and the abbreviations and notations unique to Ed-

wards’ style is an arduous task, but one the JEC team pas-

sionately accepts.

In addition to translating and compiling Edwards’ work,

Maskell is co-authoring a classroom reader for what is, per-

haps, Edwards’ most recognized work, “Sinners in the Hands

of an Angry God.” The sermon is part of the first unit of study

in American Literature for tenth and eleventh graders,

Maskell explained.

The writers set out to answer the ques-

tions most 15 to 17 year-olds have about

the work. Questions such as, “Why

does Edwards hate people?” and “Does

Edwards’ God hate people?” And in

doing so, they help clarify the misun-

derstandings and preconceived notions

the students have and enable the young

people to see the true meaning of Ed-

ward’s work and learn that neither he

nor his God hate people.

The fact that the sermon is among the

classic American literature studied by

young people throughout the nation is a

testimony to the richness and eloquence

of Edwards’ writing. To have a class-

room reader available to help young

people understand that writing and Ed-

wards’ message is a valuable resource

that can have a positive impact on today’s youth, Maskell ex-

plained.

And making the works of Edwards accessible to people of

all backgrounds and ages is the very essence of what the JEC

is about. The collection is not reserved for the intellectual

elite or the scholarly theologian. Anyone with a desire to

learn about Edwards and his extraordinary work need only

contact the JEC to make arrangements to visit the center and

explore one’s area of interest.

Maskell hopes that those who do explore Edwards’ words

will experience the humanness of his writings. And, Maskell

said, although Edwards lived in another place and time, his

JONATHAN EDWARDS CENTER MAKES WRITINGS AVAILABLECollection is One of the Most Comprehensive

YYALE

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale

contains the largest collection of

works by the famed revivalist and

theologian.

photo courtesy of Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale



thoughts and experiences on revival are timeless and valu-

able to today’s theologians and revivalists.

Some of the most common queries the JEC receives from re-

searchers are in the areas of aesthetics and Edwards’ thoughts

of beauty and God. That theme, in particular, is one Maskell

said is “alive and well in churches in America.”

Other topics of interest include justification and biblical in-

terpretation. Maskell, who called Edwards the greatest the-

ologian of the 18th century, said his writings give today’s

revivalists a base of comparison and of identification with

common themes. They offer a “stamp of intellectual ap-

proval,” he said.

There is something to be learned from the experience and

Excerpt from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

By Jonathan Edwards

…How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! Butthis is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, soberand religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason tothink, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this verymisery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may bethey are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they arenot the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in thewhole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knewwho it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up alamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell?And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this yearis out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quietand secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shallkeep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in allprobability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtlessthe case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appearedas likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect de-spair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. Whatwould not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, andstands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing intothe kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the samemiserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them,and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be leftbehind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing andsinging for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How canyou rest one moment in such a condition?...

process of revival about which Edwards writes, Maskell said.

In effect, there is substance in the nuance and detail of Ed-

wards’ journal of revival, as well as in the bold sermons and

biblical interpretations. Thus, he continues to influence

awakening and revival today through those who come to un-

derstand his work and are challenged by his inspiration.

Edwards could not have known that his words would be pre-

served, studied, and revered for centuries. Nor could he have

foreseen ever taking his cyber place in digital history. But

it seems that the works of the man best know for “Sinners in

the Hands of an Angry God,” have fallen safely into the

hands of passionate scholars who have meticulously and

thoughtfully preserved his work for centuries to come.


I N P E R S O N


He is Brown and Oxford educated, a Hindu

turned Christian, and an Indian American named

Piyush who chooses to go by “Bobby”–a name

he adopted from the Brady Bunch character when he was

four years old.

He is the nation’s first Indian-American governor. And at

only 37, he is also the youngest. An eclectic, well-educated

Louisiana native, Bobby Jindal, Brown ’91,

has forgone the wealth and success of a

business career and has been working to re-

store his home state’s dignity and prosperity.

But Jindal, who was elected in October,

brings more than energetic youth and cul-

tural diversity to the governor’s post. He

brings a confidence to do the right thing, de-

spite the consequences, and a faith that

guides him as he fights to restore ethics and

integrity to a local government long-known

for corruption and incompetence.

Jindal’s willingness to explore issues to de-

termine the right course of action is perhaps

best-embodied by his own personal journey

of faith. Raised in the Hindu tradition, Jin-

dal, in an article he wrote for American

magazine, explains that he participated in

the Hindu customs, ceremonial rites, and

readings of the Vedic scriptures. “Hinduism provided me

with moral guidance and spiritual comfort,” he wrote.

Yet, when a Southern Baptist friend introduced him to Chris-

tianity, he was compelled to explore it, even though he felt

ambivalent toward the faith. That exploration, however, soon

led him to the Bible.

“I began reading the Bible to disprove the Christian faith I

was learning both to admire and despise,” he wrote. “I can-

not begin to describe my feelings when I first read the New

Testament texts. I saw myself in many of the parables and

felt as if the Bible had been written especially for me. After

reading every book I could find on the historical accuracy of

the Bible and Christianity, I was convinced that the Bible had

remained unaltered throughout the centuries and that cir-

cumstances surrounding Christ’s death led to the conversions

of thousands. However, my perspective remained intellec-

tual and not spiritual.”

He describes his journey from Hinduism to Christianity as

“a gradual and painful one.”

“It would require many hours of discussion with a pastor be-

fore I was ready to take that leap of faith and accept Christ

into my life. It would take another two years for me to be

baptized into the Catholic Church,” he stated

in the article.

“My parents were infuriated by my conver-

sion and have yet fully to forgive me…They

were hurt and felt I was rejecting them by

accepting Christianity. I long for the day

when my parents understand, respect and

possibly accept my faith. For now, I am sat-

isfied that they accept me…”

The people of Louisiana have embraced

him, and Jindal accepts the challenge and re-

sponsibility of living up to his campaign

promises in order to raise Louisiana from its

former political blight.

“I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer on

reforming our ethics laws,” he said. “Real

ethics reform is not simply campaign rheto-

ric. It is the lynchpin for change, for regain-

ing the confidence of the voters, for turning our state

around.”

In the eyes of some, Jindal may have started taking that turn,

as he brought God to the podium on victory night.

“I want to thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed

upon me and all of us,” he told the crowd. And when it came

time for his closing remarks, he deviated from the typical po-

litical farewell—good night and God bless America—by stat-

ing “Good night, and may God richly bless you.”

Truth and love are what Jindal said ultimately forced him to

accept Christ as Lord during his journey of faith. They are

also the elements he will seek to use as he works to bring re-

form to the state capital and passionately serve the state he

loves.


ECLECTIC BROWN GRAD IS ELECTED GOVERNORBobby Jindal Seeks to Bring Reform to Louisiana

BBROWN

Brown graduate Bobby Jindal

‘91 is Louisiana’s newest

governor and vows to make

ethics reform a top priority.

I N P E R S O N


Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in

the Wall Street Journal. Used with permission.

Fifty years ago, the phrase “In God We Trust”

first appeared on our nation's one-dollar bill. But long before

the motto was signed into law by President Eisenhower, it

was considered for U.S. coins during the divisive years of

the Civil War.

On Nov. 13, 1861, in the first months of the war, Treasury

Secretary Salmon P. Chase received the following letter from

a Rev. M.R. Watkinson: “Dear Sir, One fact touching our cur-

rency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the

recognition of the Almighty God in some form

on our coins. You are probably a Christian.

What if our Republic were now shattered be-

yond reconstruction? Would not the antiquar-

ies of succeeding centuries rightly reason from

our past that we were a heathen nation?”

The clergyman surmised correctly. Chase was

indeed a Christian.

As a young man at Dartmouth College, Chase

had described himself as skeptical of the Chris-

tian faith. He had written to a friend, Tom

Sparhawk, in 1826: “A [religious] revival has

commenced here [at Dartmouth]. I was not

taught to believe much in the efficacy of such

things but I do not know enough concerning

their effects to oppose them.” Not only did

Chase tolerate Dartmouth's revival of 1826, but he emerged

as one of 12 new followers of Christ. As Chase wrote to an-

other acquaintance in April of that year, “It has pleased God

in his infinite mercy to bring me . . . to the foot of the cross

and to find acceptance through the blood of His dear Son.”

While the thought of a revival at an Ivy League school seems

odd today, they were relatively commonplace back then. Like

his contemporaries, Dartmouth President Bennet Tyler be-

lieved in the importance of integrating faith, virtue and

knowledge: “As the obligations of morality are founded in

religion, so also the only efficacious motives to a virtuous

life are derived from the same source. The man who discards

all religious belief . . . knows no law but his own inclination,

and has no end in view but present gratification.” As Chase

would write to Sparhawk one year later: “Remember too that

the religion of the Bible is the religion I would recommend .

. . and I would wish you to make that book your counselor

and your guide never forgetting to implore the teachings of

the Holy Spirit of Truth.”

Chase’s relationship and trust in God would put him on a

path that would affect both him and the country in the years

to come. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa, Chase became a

lawyer. Believing slavery to be a sin, he defended many es-

caped slaves in his early years of practice in Cincinnati. He

tried to argue, for instance, against the Fugitive Slave Act of

1793 on the grounds that Ohio was admitted to the Union as

a free state and not allowed to have slaves based

on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Chase

eventually gained the nickname “attorney gen-

eral for runaway Negroes.” He embraced the

title (which was intended to be an insult) and

went on to fight the institution of slavery while

serving first as a U.S. senator and then as the

governor of Ohio.

When then-Secretary Chase was chosen by

President Lincoln to serve as chief justice of the

Supreme Court in 1864, he appointed the first

black lawyer to argue before the Supreme

Court. And in an 1865 letter to black Americans

in New Orleans, Chase encouraged “the con-

stant practice of Christian virtues” to combat

“unjust hostility” and “prejudice.”

Given the association of his name with Chase

Manhattan, however, Salmon P. Chase is largely remembered

for his role as secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864.

Seven days after reading the 1861 letter from the Pennsyl-

vania pastor, Chase wrote the following to the director of the

Mint in Philadelphia: “Dear Sir, No nation can be strong ex-

cept in the strength of God or safe except in His defense. The

trust of our people in God should be declared on our national

coins.”

It was several years in the making, but on March 3, 1865,

Congress passed a bill calling for “In God We Trust” to be in-

scribed on U.S. coins. It would be one of the last acts Presi-

dent Lincoln signed into law.

By John Andrew Murray

THE CURRENCY OF FAITHChase ‘Coined’ the ‘In God We Trust’ Phrase

DDARTMOUTH

Dartmouth grad

Salmon P. Chase,

class of 1826, is

largely remembered

for his role as secre-

tary of the Treasury

from 1861 to 1864.

I N P E R S O N


The literary front lines of today’s most hotly con-

tested issues might seem an unlikely place for a

music major from Princeton University; but for

writer and sanctity of life advocate Ryan Anderson ‘04, he is

right where he belongs.

“I majored in music at Princeton knowing full-well that I

would never want to be a professional musician,” said the

Baltimore native. “I viewed undergraduate study as a time to

explore, engage in humanistic study, and develop a passion

I’ll be able to enjoy for the rest of my life.”

It was the courses outside his major—partic-

ularly in religion and philosophy—that fore-

shadowed the path to which he was called.

And his senior thesis—“Twentieth-Century

Catholic Liturgical Music: The Holy See, the

‘Experts,’ and the Liturgical, Theological,

and Musical Debates”—was perhaps the be-

ginning manifestation of his ability to mix

his interests, passions, and intellect into well-

written form.

Since then, he has gone on to pen numerous

articles about critical issues like abortion,

gay marriage, and stem cell research.

Three years after his Princeton graduation,

Anderson has a resume as diverse as his in-

terests that includes junior fellow and now

assistant editor for First Things: A Journal

of Religion, Culture and Public Life; assis-

tant director of the Program on Bioethics and

Human Dignity at the Witherspoon Institute; as well as two

additional Fellowships, one as a 2007 Publius Fellow of the

Claremont Institute and the other, a 2007 Phillips Founda-

tion Journalism Fellowship.

His various works reflect his commitment to the ethical treat-

ment of human beings and he’s not shy about articulating his

views about issues he holds true. In a 2006 column appear-

ing in The Daily Standard, an online publication of The

Weekly Standard, Anderson defended human life against the

assault of television ads denouncing politicians who oppose

cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. He wrote:

These ads are repulsive. They play on the hopes and fears of

million of Americans who are suffering from debilitating dis-

eases, are caring for loved ones, and yearn for something,

anything, to hold onto. They manipulate the public’s emo-

tions in the worst imaginable ways, promising them cures

that are, in fact, quite uncertain, and pressuring them to

forgo their own ethical convictions.

For his Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship, Anderson

is taking a decidedly Christian stand while working on a se-

ries of articles regarding “Reason and Religion in the Public

Square,” where he is exploring the alleged chasm between

faith and reason.

“So many of today’s ‘hot-button’ questions

are presented in the media as clashes between

faith and reason, science and religion. As a

student I became convinced that this isn’t the

case. The best of human reason, experience,

and science confirms the revealed truths of

Christianity,” Anderson said.

Although he covers a breadth of topics in his

writing, at the core, Anderson said, they are

related.

“Most all of the topics I write about are spe-

cific issues of moral and political philosophy

and theology. That’s my real passion, be-

cause it looks at the question of ‘what makes

for a good life,’ ‘how should I live,’ ‘how

should we live as a society’…And, from a

distinctly Christian point of view, it means

‘how am I treating Christ as I encounter Him

in others.’”

Despite the personal reflection, his work is aimed at greater

cultural impact.

“All aspects of our lives are shaped by our cultural environ-

ment, and that environment will either support and encourage

authentic human fulfillment and happiness or it will detract

from it,” he said.

Writing about ways in which culture can support authentic

fulfillment, whether through respecting human life, family

life, or basic civil liberties, all seem to be critically important,

said Anderson.

Anderson sees bioethics in culture as particularly important

RYAN ANDERSON PUTS ‘FIRST THINGS’ FIRSTPrinceton Alumnus Passionate About Defending Life

PPRINCETON

Princeton graduate and

writer Ryan Anderson ’04

champions human rights

through broad writings

that examine current

issues on human life

and dignity.

I N P E R S O N


to address: “We live in an age where new technologies pres-

ent possibilities that weren’t even imaginable a generation or

two ago. And this is coupled with almost no agreement

among the ‘experts’ about what ethical principles should

guide how we deploy these technologies. These new tech-

nologies have the potential to truly serve human dignity and

wellbeing, or to really degrade and cheapen life.”

Anderson considers himself an evangelical Catholic and be-

lieves the issues about which he writes to be universal among

“faithful Catholics” and Evangelicals.

“When we face the challenges that we do in contemporary

America, we need as much unity now as we can possibly

achieve,” he said.

Anderson experienced the fruit of that unity while at Prince-

ton, where, until a year ago, he worked as a ministry coordi-

nator for the Aquinas Institute.

“Relations on Princeton’s campus are remarkably good right

now, as witnessed by the recent conference, the Christian

Worldview and the Academy,” he said. The conference was

co-sponsored by Evangelical, Orthodox and Catholic min-

istries.

As Anderson looks forward in his career, he plans to attend

graduate school and study moral and political philosophy.

From there, researching, teaching and writing are on the hori-

zon.

It appears, however, that whether in the academy or society,

Anderson will stand his Christian ground as he continues to

battle the moral issues of the day with a rapier pen and a pas-

sion for Christ.


Kevin Oro-Han, the former director of New

York/New Jersey InterVarsity

(www.ivcfnynj.org), was very in-

strumental in introducing the Veritas Forum

to Columbia University. Ishmael Osekre, Co-

lumbia ’09, recently asked Kevin a few ques-

tions about his former position and discussed

some of the challenges and breakthroughs he

had on the job.

As the former director of InterVarsity for

New York and New Jersey, you were very

instrumental in introducing the Veritas

Forum to a lot of campuses. What was that

like?

Well, we started Veritas at Columbia and

NYU. It seemed like a great match in both

places. There is a spiritual openness on both

campuses. People are not necessarily looking

for religion or for doctrine, but they are look-

ing for meaning and connection. Veritas brings

together thoughtful people who have a cohe-

sive view of the world, and stimulates dia-

logue by bringing both similarities and differences to the

surface. That’s what the university aspires to be.

There are people of faith, professors as well

as students, who to varying degrees, feel mar-

ginalized on campus because of their faith.

The free exchange of ideas is the ideal, but the

practice is more difficult than the theory. I be-

lieve that Veritas serves a useful purpose with

public forums on a wide range of topics with

cross-disciplinary appeal.

Why did you get into college ministry?

College is, of course, the time when most of

us make decisions about what kind of world

we want to live in, what kind of life we want

to make for ourselves, and with whom we

want to “do life.” I find it highly energizing to

be part of those discussions. These are really

essential spiritual questions.

It’s really a powerful thing when you watch

someone begin to discover his calling. Over

the course of four years, you can watch some-

one begin to understand how they were

uniquely created, and begin to get some ideas about how that

can be tapped in the service of others.

REFLECTIONS OF A FORMER INTERVARSITY DIRECTOROro-Han Helped Launch Veritas Forum at Columbia

CCOLUMBIA

Kevin Oro-Han, Drew ’95,

former director of New

York/New Jersey Inter-

Varsity speaks to the

ILCO about his former

position and the chal-

lenges and break-

throughs of working with

students in Metro New

York City.

I N P E R S O N

Please share your most difficult, challenging, inspiring,

or life-turning experience in your student ministry.

One thing I noticed early on, even in my student days, but I

think more pronounced now, is that the vast majority of stu-

dents want to make a difference in the world. Yes, they want

to build a career and get a good job, but there is a recognition

that life is about being a force for good in some way. This

may get reflected in different ways, service projects or ac-

tivism and causes, or creative ways to pursue their studies.

But my experience has been-and the statistics back it up-

that for many, this desire gets put on a back burner upon

graduation.

I remember one student, a well-known activist on campus,

who sat with me for a couple of hours in the cafeteria and

just voiced his frustration that people he knew who gradu-

ated seemed to have lost their fire to change the world. He

was trying to get them to come back to demonstrate or or-

ganize, without success. A few years later, I saw him again

and he was having some of the struggles he had seen earlier,

and was feeling guilty about it.

I think that was a significant moment for me. I started to pay

closer attention to some of the spiritual giants throughout his-

tory. The question became less about how we can get stu-

dents to do some good stuff now and more about how we can

ground the desire to do good in the world. Can we tie the en-

ergy of idealism to some spiritual practices that empower and

sustain us over a lifetime?

You’ve made a transition to work with a church that fo-

cuses on a part of the population that doesn't receive

much attention. Tell us a little more about your new min-

istry.

The River Church is focused on downtown Manhattan, a bor-

ough that doesn't see too many people go to church, particu-

larly compared with the rest of New York City, or the rest of

the country. Our focus is really to reach those folks who

haven’t connected well with church before.

There is a great quote from an early saint, Irenaeus of Lyons,

who said, “A person fully alive is the glory of God.” It en-

capsulates, I think, something unique about Jesus. It's quite

easy to find religion that says, “you have to serve God” or

“you have to obey God.” But Jesus claimed that God's de-

sire is to empower an impossibly great life inside of us.

What does it look like to have an impossibly great life? How

can our relationships, our work and career, our philanthropy,

all become fully alive? Helping people work out those kinds

of questions is really the focus of The River.

By Ishmael Osekre, Columbia ’09


When she was a junior at Princeton University,

Lorri Bentch felt a calling to both get serious about

her relationship with Christ and to dedicate her life

to ministry.

Some eighteen years later and after more than a decade of

ministering abroad, Bentch (‘91) has come nearly full circle

by taking on new duties as a ministry fellow with the Chris-

tian Union, where one of her main assignments is to disciple

female students at Princeton.

“I’m learning how to best reach out to the students, expect-

ing that God will allow me to be a part of what He wants me

to be part of on their campus,” said Bentch, who joined

Christian Union (www.Christian-Union.org) on a part-time

basis in January 2007 and stepped into full-time responsibil-

ities in July.

Bentch’s main goal is to encourage students to lead a Christ-

centered life.

“My goal is to equip these girls with the foundation of the

Scriptures, to encourage their relationship with God,” said

Bentch, who graduated from Princeton with a degree in po-

litical science. “As they go from here to whatever grand, glo-

rious, or mundane callings are ahead, I want them to face the

challenges of life and be vibrant witnesses for Christ.”

Bentch, who accepted Christ at age twelve, initially allowed

her faith to “backslide” after entering Princeton.

“On a personal level, I have a real heart for campus ministry

because I really floundered during my first few years as a

Princeton student,” said Bentch, who grew up on a dairy farm

in Pennsylvania’s Amish country.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE ‘BENTCH’Campus Minister Makes her Mark with Princeton Students

I N P E R S O N


Princeton students say they have been touched by Bentch’s

efforts. Auxilia Munhutu ‘10 described Bentch as the “first

person who made me feel like I could actually make it at

Princeton if I tried.”

Student Ana Gonzalez ’11 echoed Munhutu’s comments.

“Her love for others and for Christ is evident,” Gonzalez said.

“I admire her for her gentleness of heart, understanding,

strength, wisdom, and ability to see and relate to people no

matter where they’re coming from.”

Reaching college students is especially critical because “this

is the point in your life where you decide if your faith is

going to impact how you

live,” Bentch said.

Bentch recalls that her own

defining moment came dur-

ing her junior year. One

evening, while composing a

term paper in her dormitory

room, she said she heard a

“distinct voice from the

Lord. He had called me into

ministry, and I would miss

His best for me if I did not

follow.”

Bentch responded by reded-

icating her life to Christ and

by becoming involved with

Campus Crusade for Christ–

a decision that led to active

Bible study, new friendships,

and a desire to share the

gospel.

After graduation, Bentch’s hunger to minister took her across

the globe, first on an eighteen-month mission to Mexico in

1992 and then on an eight-month trek to Russia in 1994.

Between those trips, the former Lorri Rutt also became en-

gaged to Tim Bentch, an opera singer with a forte for evan-

gelism. The couple married in November 1994 and

immediately relocated to Hungary, where they spent a dozen

years as missionaries with Eastern Mennonite Missions–

and tackling some notable spiritual and occupational pur-

suits. Among them, Tim, a heralded tenor, landed a position

with the Hungarian State Opera and performed extensively in

celebrated opera houses and with major philharmonics across

Europe.

Shortly after arriving in Hungary, Tim combined his twin

passions for performance and preaching when he launched A

Song for the Nations, an outreach to fine arts professionals.

And while Lorri Bentch quips that she spent most of her life

being “known as Tim Bentch’s wife,” she is not short on spir-

itual and professional accomplishments of her own.

Bentch earned a master of constitutional law from Hungary’s

Central European University, where she also led a Bible

study for graduate students. After graduating in 1996, Bentch

helped edit and translate

documents for a professor

who specialized in human

rights law and now serves as

a judge. But Bentch’s main

devotion remains one-on-

one ministry. “I realized that

what I really enjoyed doing

was seeing lives changed,”

she said.

After twelve years abroad,

the couple decided to return

to the United States as they

saw spiritual growth in many

of the people they had disci-

pled. As well, the Bentches

were ready to send their

three young daughters to

English-speaking schools.

In 2006, they relocated to

Lorri’s hometown of Quarryville, Pennsylvania. Bentch now

rejoices in noting that Princeton is swiftly becoming home.

As well, Bentch feels a motherly devotion to the students she

disciples through Christian Union’s undergraduate ministry.

In the fall semester, Bentch led Bible courses for thirty-four

freshman and sophomore women, oversaw weekly gather-

ings of Princeton Faith and Action, and organized outreach

events.

The students are “all at the stage where they’re asking really

good questions,” said Bentch. “They want reasons to be-

lieve.”


Christian Union Ministry Fellow Lorri Bentch, Princeton 91,

strives to encourage students to lead Christ-centered lives.

I N P E R S O N


Kathleen S. Turner, Yale ’08 M.Div., has a lot of

questions. And as a recently named SARTS Luce

Fellow, she plans to find some answers.

Turner, who came to Yale Divinity School after a decade of

teaching dance at Hunter College in New York

City, plans to use her fellowship for a writing

project entitled If David Had Not Danced. As

part of her work, she will examine the Book of

Psalms and explore such questions as, “If King

David was free enough to demonstrate his praise

of God through dance, why can't the modern-day

Christian?” “If David had not danced, what im-

pact would that have had upon the writing of the

psalms and the call to dance unto the Lord?”

“Why did David dance and why are not more

congregations dancing as a form of worship and

praise today?”

Her goal is to elucidate how King David paved

the way for the 21st century Christian Church to

heed the holy call to “praise the Lord with danc-

ing.” Long-term, Turner hopes to encourage the

use of liturgical dance in Christian worship settings.

“My desire is to expose liturgical dance to interested people who

are called to utilize this creative tool within Christian liturgy and

to pastors who are uncertain of its value within the Christian

corporate worship experience,” she wrote as an entering student

in 2005. At the center of her plan is the creation of a curriculum

for liturgical dance for use in seminary settings.

Turner is long steeped in the tradition of dancing and the arts,

having begun her formal dance training at the Gloria Jackson

Dance Studio in New York at the age of five. She graduated

from the New York High School of Performing Arts and earned

a bachelor of fine arts degree from SUNY Purchase. She then

earned a master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence Col-

lege and ventured into some postgraduate work at Columbia’s

Teacher’s College.

At her home church, The Greater Allen Cathedral

of New York, she was founding director of the

300-member Allen Liturgical Dance Ministry,

which she directed for 25 years. According to its

mission statement, “the primary function of the

Allen Liturgical Dance Ministry is to utilize

dance as a praise and worship tool to honor the

holiness and supremacy of God.”

Turner received one of only two SARTS Luce

Fellowships available to students across the coun-

try. The Luce Fellowships, funded through the

New York-based Henry Luce Foundation, are in-

tended to advance knowledge of the intersections

between theology and the arts by supporting the

research of graduate students and faculty and en-

couraging the creation of networks of persons working in those

areas.

Based upon her area of study and writing, one can expect Turner

to dance through that intersection of theology and art with a

heart for Christ, a passion for dance, and a greater understand-

ing of what it meant for David to dance and of the liturgical

legacy he subsequently inspired.

By Gustav Spohn, Yale Divinity School ’73

PRAISE HIM IN THE DANCELuce Fellow Explores King David’s Worship Style

YYALE

A.J. Jacobs (Brown ’90), known as “The Know it

All” from his New York Times best seller of the

same name, recently released another book. In it,

Jacobs immerses himself in the Bible on a unique and witty

quest for answers that inevitably leads him to more ques-

tions—and a bit closer to God than he had thought possible.

“The Year of Living Biblically is about my quest to live the ul-

timate biblical life—to follow every single rule in the Bible as

literally as possible,” Jacobs says about his latest work.

The book is like Seinfeld, Mad about You, and Yentl morphed

into an odd, yet real, personal story of one man’s journey

through scriptures. It is filled with firsthand accounts of wear-

LIVING THE LETTER OF THE LAWWriters Looks to Bible in Quest for Answers

BBROWN

Kathleen S. Turner, Yale

M.Div. ’08, is working on

a project entitled “If

David had not Danced.”

I N P E R S O N


ing only white clothing and carrying a staff in the middle of

Manhattan, and of his learning ancient laws and traditions

from Orthodox Jews and Christians from Israel to Tennessee.

Jacobs embeds himself with the Amish, Hasidic Jews, and a

fundamental Baptist congregation in order to learn how the

Bible is lived out in practice and tradition. He begins by fo-

cusing on the Old Testament where the majority of laws and

commandments are found.

Because the Book of Numbers commanded those taking the

Nazirite vow not to shave one’s beard, Jacobs grows a small

bush of facial hair that he describes as “a

temporary home to cappuccino foam and

lentil.” During his experiment, he builds a

hut in his living room, blows a horn at the

start of every month, plays a ten-stringed

harp, and adopts a modern version of “ston-

ing” Sabbath breakers and adulterers.

Both Christians and Jews can find humor in

the writing and in the concept of trying to

observe ancient laws in the heart of Man-

hattan.

Jacob’s book recently inspired a similar proj-

ect in another U.S. city. Volunteers from

Park Street Church in Boston will “Live

Levitically” for one month to explore the

laws of Leviticus and determine whether

they can or should be followed today. At the

end of the month-long experiment, the

church plans to create a short documentary.

In Living Biblically, Jacobs ponders social laws, such as killing

magicians, sacrificing oxen, and stoning Sabbath-breakers.

Ultimately, he leaves the magicians alone and finds an alter-

nate means of stoning–pebbles.

Intent upon following the rules, Jacobs considers pelting an

Avis counter employee who he deems a Sabbath-breaker.

However, unable to bring himself to toss even one stone, Ja-

cobs opts to “accidentally” drop them on the unsuspecting sin-

ner’s shoe.

He also pebbles an elderly adulterer after an elementary

school-like fight breaks out between them over the “queer-

ness” of Jacobs’ biblical attire. Living Biblically in modern

New York is challenging, indeed.

Jacobs spends a couple months of his biblical year attempting

to follow some of the teachings of Jesus. He writes that to not

explore the New Testament would be telling “only half the

story.” But the situation raises the question: Should he con-

tinue following the Old Testament laws while following Chris-

tianity?

Jacobs decides to maintain his Old Testament practices as he

moves into the New Testament phase of his biblical year. But

he admits to readers, “Overall, it will be much less do-it-your-

self than my trip through the Hebrew Scriptures. It’ll be more

like a guided tour.”

For his foray into what Jacobs called fundamental Christian-

ity, he chose a fringe sect charismatic serpent-

handling service in Tennessee; the self-described

Red Letter Christians; and Thomas Road Bap-

tist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia (founded by

the late Reverend Dr. Jerry Falwell).

Interestingly, Jacobs remained determined to not

lie while living biblically but when he arrived at

Thomas Road Baptist Church, he instantly

crumbled into a heap of lies about why he was

there, where his wife was, and even his marital

status. He finally came clean after the service

when he met one-on-one with a church member.

Throughout Jacobs’ biblical journey he im-

merses himself in scripture. He reads Bible com-

mentaries and many translations of the Bible.

Jacobs possesses boundless educational re-

sources via the Internet and his team of spiritual

advisors. What he lacks, however, is faith.

He is meticulous about keeping the ritualistic laws of the Old

Testament, but cannot embrace the greatest commandment—

“Love the Lord your God.” Jacobs hopes for a spiritual

epiphany, yet his unchanged heart prevents him from having

a life-altering encounter with Christ.

However, that’s not to say that Jacobs was not impacted or

changed by his Biblical quest. Clearly the door that was once

shut to matters of religion and God is now open. He enjoys

giving prayers of thanks and is a more compassionate, in-

volved society member.

But it would seem that for Jacobs, only time will tell if one

year of living biblically will eventually lead to him to accept

God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.


A.J. Jacobs, Brown ’90,

takes biblical literalism to

the streets of Manhattan in

his recent book, The Yearof Living Biblically.

I N P E R S O N


From forsaken, winding backroads to gritty

inner-city neighborhoods, Sam Fentress

crossed the country for decades in search of an

unlikely subject to help tell the visual story of religious ex-

pression in the United States.

The Princeton University-educated photographer (’77)

spent twenty-five years capturing more than 3,000 images

of roadside signs of faith—some left as weathered, hand-

painted messages on a rustic barn and others

illuminated in high-voltage, retro neon let-

ters atop an urban street. The most poignant

of the results are published in a 160-page,

distinctive hardback that features a mixture

of eclectic pictures snapped across forty-

nine states.

“I want to appeal to people who are not nec-

essarily religious believers as a document of

what goes on in the American landscape,”

said Fentress of his recent book, Bible Road:

Signs of Faith in the American Landscape.

“It’s a particularly American phenomenon

and a particularly interesting one.”

In 1981, while teaching at the University of

Arkansas, Fentress became intrigued by re-

ligious-themed road tributes when a student

submitted a stunning snapshot of a barn cov-

ered with scriptures.

“It sort of became a series,” said Fentress.

“A few years after that, I started to think

there was enough for a book.”

Ultimately, Fentress showcased 147 titled entries in Bible

Road, which contains scenes ranging from inspiring, hu-

morous, quirky, strange, and intense to even scary. Some of

the images frame simple messages, while others highlight

fervent religiosity mixed with art or commerce.

“Everybody seems to have something different they con-

nect to in [the book],” said Fentress, an architectural pho-

tographer in St. Louis. “It was sort of an artistic project and

a documentary at the same time.”

On a personal level, the photographer notes that his quest to

chronicle drive-by evangelism appeals to both his intellec-

tual and spiritual interests. “As a believer, I’m willing to go

further and pick up the Bible and get some inspiration,” said

Fentress, who is Catholic.

One of Fentress' favorite photographs contains an element

of irony. It features “Matthew 6:33” stenciled on the win-

dow of a Maryland beauty parlor just below a sketch of a

woman with a short, snazzy hairdo. In Matthew 6, Jesus in-

structed his followers to seek first the kingdom of Heaven,

rather than worry about food, clothing, and

other earthly matters.

In contrast, one of his essay’s more intense

images–a black-and-white shot of “Obey

God or Burn” scratched as graffiti on a rock

outcrop in Harlem–was nearly eliminated by

one editor who wanted to pitch the book as

humorous and thought readers might find the

photograph and its moralistic admonition as

too serious.

Nonetheless, most of the collection trumpets

uplifting refrains, and Bible Road tells a

quintessentially American story; the photos

originate from all states, excluding Hawaii.

“The book shows a lot of what America

looks like from the road while blended with

commercial messages,” said Fentress, adding

that his wife, Elizabeth, and their six children

helped locate many of the scenes for his col-

lection.

The images show that “religion is alive and well in the

United States,” he said.

Fentress, who graduated with an independent major in pho-

tography, said his own faith was deeply shaped by his years

as a Princeton student.

Courses in the philosophy of religion and even studio pho-

tography led Fentress, who was raised Methodist, into a

deep contemplation of his spiritual views. Eventually, he

was moved by Roman Catholic theology and teachings and

converted to Catholicism.

After his stint in the Ivy League, Fentress earned a master

of fine arts from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1980.

FAITH HIGHWAYPrinceton Alumnus Pays Tribute to Religious Signage in America

PPRINCETON

Sam Fentress, Princeton

’77, offers snapshots of

faith in America in his

recently published book,

Bible Road: Signs ofFaith in the AmericanLandscape.

I N P E R S O N


Today, his photographic compositions are

part of collections at The Los Angeles

County Museum of Art, Saint Louis Art Mu-

seum, Mississippi Museum of Art and Bib-

liotheque nationale de France as well as the

private collection of film producer Bruce

Berman.

While at Princeton, Fentress studied under

Emmet Gowin, a master photographer who

is renowned for his black-and-white com-

positions of his wife and children. Gowin, a

professor in the Center for Creative and Per-

forming Arts, recalled Fentress as a student

who “set a kind of standard.”

Regarding Bible Road, Gowin said, “There’s

a mastery that comes with pursuing some-

thing for 25 years, having thought about a

particular thing so passionately. The photos

were composed with articulate visual wis-

dom and illustrate photographic craftsman-

ship.”

Not surprisingly, Fentress said he is still

moved by the time he spent documenting a

slice of spiritual signage on the landscape

of American highways.

“Over the years, I’ve been inspired many

times by the chutzpa of the people with the

property, the risks they took,” Fentress said.

“These people are not afraid to put religion

out in the public square and let it be seen at

50 to 60 miles per hour.”


Photos from Bible Road, a

collection of roadside

faith pictures by Sam

Fentress, Princeton 77.

S O C I A L A C T I O N On Campus


Over 1,300 college students gathered in Boston

University’s Agganis Arena October 12-13 as the

Passion Conference came to Boston, one of six

cities on its current tour. The main speakers were Louie Giglio

and John Piper, and worship was lead by Chris Tomlin, Char-

lie Hall, and Steven Fee. “Finding in Christ all we need and

spending our lives to make Him famous… that’s what Passion

is all about,” says the Passion website.

Several Harvard students attended part or all of the conference,

and departed greatly excited and encouraged, especially for

the opportunity to worship with people from a variety of back-

grounds. Jordan Baehr, ’08 remarked, “It was, in many re-

spects, like a rock concert, but one in which the conference

attendees were performing, rather than spectating.”

“I had always envied the disciples, the crowds who saw Jesus,

the people alive 2,000 years ago who could see Christ, expe-

rience His miracles, feel His power, and hear His words…

[later] I realized how privileged we are, of all generations in

history, to see with our eyes Christ’s ridiculous prophecy about

His global Body realized.”

Behind the music and the talks was a spiritual symbolism that

also left a mark in the memories of attendees. Two simple

crosses were brought to the bottom of each of the aisles, with

cards on which to write prayers. Conference prayer teams were

continually praying for the conference, the attendees, and the

requests that had been left with the crosses.

The service aspect was also very significant for the students

who attended. “Their commitment to giving was astounding,”

said Ona Streikas, ’08.

Part of the mission of the conference is to be a blessing to each

of the cities in which it is held. The Boston conference together

gathered 610 towels and 3,400 pairs of socks for Boston’s

needy, $18,476 for six wells in Africa, and $15,334 for stu-

dents around the globe through the Passion World Tour.

“We are called to show the love of Christ in us, and bring that

love to our community here in Boston, to our hometown, and

to our campus,” said Streikas.

In 2008, Passion Conferences (www.268generation.com) will

be held in Los Angeles (January 25–26), Dallas/Ft. Worth

(February 15-16), Washington, D.C., (February 22-23), and

Atlanta (April 11-12).

By Christopher Hampson, Harvard ’09

PASSION COMES TO BOSTONEvent Calls Students to Show Christ’s Love to Campuses, Communities

HHARVARD

More than 1,000 students, including several from Harvard, attended the Passion Conference held at Boston University this fall.

S O C I A L A C T I O NOn Campus


While the sun was still rising on the frigid morning

of November 30, a group of Columbia students

from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (www.co-

lumbia.edu/cu/ivcf/) and Korea Campus Crusade for Christ

(www.kcccusa.org) began their weekend by traveling to Fifth

Avenue Presbyterian Church for the conclusion of a 24-hour

global event to raise awareness about the international AIDS cri-

sis. World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, spon-

sored the Global Vigil which began November 29 at 9 a.m. in

Toronto, continued with back-to-back vigils in seventeen cities

around the globe, and concluded with a final vigil in New York.

AIDS activists, students from

the New York and New Jer-

sey area, and many others

gathered for the event, which

began with an introduction

by Bwalya Melu, a native of

Zambia and a World Vision

employee who lost all three

of his brothers and their

wives to the AIDS virus.

Melu set the tone for the

event: “This disease is killing

millions and destroying the

lives of millions more; but

each [one] of those millions

is a real life. My brothers and

their wives had real children

who feel the tragedy of their

loss every day. We must safe-

guard their futures as well.”

The event featured performances by the Christian band Shane &

Shane and the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Cho-

rus. In addition, the names of 300 African children who had lost

a parent to AIDS were read aloud. During each vigil around the

world, participants read names to honor the estimated 6,000 chil-

dren who lose a parent to AIDS each day. The last of the day’s

6,000 names were read in New York City and also featured on

ABC’s Good Morning America.

“I thought the name-reading really helped give an identity to the

mere statistics and numbers on the page,” Ki Hoon Kim, a first-

year student at Columbia College, observed afterwards. “The

symbolic significance behind it was very moving. I think God

spoke to me and showed me that this was my duty, my privilege,

to be in a position of service.”

Participants in the event also assembled AIDS Caregiver Kits

to supply volunteer caretakers in communities affected by the

pandemic with vital and often scarce supplies. For each kit, par-

ticipants wrote a note of encouragement and prayer for the care-

givers.

Jonathan Walton ’08 closed the vigil’s formal program with an

invitation for the college students in the audience to participate

in the Student Advocacy Campaign.

“You can see all that has hap-

pened in Africa as an obsta-

cle or [as] an opportunity,”

said Walton. “[You can] save

a generation of Africans and

the generations to come in

China and India, or you can

stand back and let history re-

peat itself. That's the choice

we have today.”

The campaign challenged the

students to collect 6,000 sig-

natures from around the city

as part of a petition asking

Congress and President Bush

to reauthorize the President’s

Emergency Plan for AIDS

Relief (PEPFAR) program.

Students canvassed the city, collecting signatures in Times

Square, Penn Station, and their respective campuses. Jordan

Davis, a Columbia College senior, was one of those who went

to Times Square.

“Obtaining signatures was definitely a challenging experience,”

he said, “but it was really wonderful to see the way the words

‘AIDS relief’ broke through people's hardened New York fa-

cades. Some people were already past me by the time I said

those two words, and [they] actually came back to lend their

support by signing the petition.”

Students gathered again December 1 at Columbia University

Teacher’s College in recognition of World AIDS Day and lis-

SAFEGUARDING THE FUTUREColumbia Students Take Part in World AIDS Day Events

CCOLUMBIA

Columbia Students work together to prepare kits for World

AIDS Day in New York City.



tened to Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., speak

about the organization’s response to the deadly disease. Stearns

said AIDS is a social and humanitarian problem, not just a med-

ical problem. An entire continent’s professional class of lawyers,

teachers, and engineers is being terminated; and children are left

to take care of their younger siblings once their parents have

passed away, he said.

The results of the signature drive were also announced. Colum-

bia University collected 950 signatures–the most of any partic-

ipating campus. In total, over 4,000 signatures were gathered

during the event. On December 2, President Bush committed to

renewing the PEPFAR Bill with plans to double the funds ear-

marked for PEPFAR program implementation, from $15 billon

to $30 billion for the next phase (2009 -2014).

By Jin Wang, Columbia ‘10

Christians affiliated with Ivy League institutions

have another option for matching their financial

contributions with their interests.

A new nonprofit organization seeks to hold U.S. colleges and

universities accountable for the gifts they receive. A group

of philanthropists, individually known for targeting substan-

tial gifts to higher-education institutions, re-

cently founded the Center for Excellence in

Higher Education to help donors safeguard

the intent of their contributions within tax,

legal, and academic constraints.

John M. Templeton, a Yale (’62) and Harvard

Medical School alumnus (’68) and a physi-

cian who served as professor of pediatric sur-

gery at the University of Pennsylvania, is a

key investor with the Indianapolis-based or-

ganization. The Center’s chairman of the

board is Mike Leven, an honorary member of

the Cornell Hotel Society, a former hotel

franchiser, and a former executive with Hol-

iday Inn and Days Inn.

Of the more than $300 billion spent annually

on higher education in this country, more

than $28 billion originates from alumni and

other donors, according to statistics compiled

by the Center for Excellence in Higher Edu-

cation.

The organization asks a question of interest to many Chris-

tian donors: are donors to higher education getting their

money’s worth? The center asserts the answer often is “no,”

and it also warns donors that some of the nation’s nearly

4,300 universities have violated the intent of some gifts.

“Given the way that universities have secularized, a Christian

donor who is contemplating a major gift needs to be very

careful about how he or she structures that gift to avoid it

being used for the general purposes of the universities rather

than the specific intent,” said Frederic Fransen, executive di-

rector of the Center for Excellence in Higher

Education.

Among its services, the center helps donors

draft program proposals, negotiate details

with university officials, and provide due

diligence after a gift has been placed.

However, representatives of universities say

many institutions already have systems in

place to monitor the use of donations; and

they point out that most sizeable gifts are

handled through carefully negotiated,

legally-binding agreements.

“When there are issues, they are isolated,”

said Rae Goldsmith of the Council for Ad-

vancement and Support of Education.

“Donor confidence remains at an all-time

high.”

Nonetheless, the center was formed on the

heels of a growing trend for alumni to con-

tribute to specific university projects, assert a louder voice

in those ventures, and demand detailed reports on results.

And donors as well as administrators are watching with keen

interest a lawsuit involving Princeton University and a fund

that has flourished to more than $880 million, according to

news reports.

DONORS BEWARECenter for Excellence in Higher Education Promotes Effective Philanthropy

IALL IVY

John M. Templeton, Yale

’62 and Harvard Medical

School ’68, has joined

forces with other business

leaders to safeguard donor

intentions.



In 2002, several family members of the late Charles and

Marie Robertson filed suit against Princeton and sought to

sever the Robertson Foundation’s ties with the Woodrow

Wilson School of Public and International Affairs after ques-

tioning spending practices and claiming few graduates actu-

ally took jobs in government service, news reports said.

However, in a lengthy letter to The Wall Street Journal in Oc-

tober, Princeton Secretary and Vice President Robert K. Dur-

kee defended the university’s use of its bequeathal from the

Robertson’s A&P supermarket fortune. Princeton has “al-

ways used the funds given by Marie Robertson solely for the

purpose for which she made her $35 million gift in 1961,”

Durkee wrote.

Overall, when it comes to the philanthropy involving higher

education, what’s at stake is not pocket change. According

to New York-based Council for Aid to Education, financial

contributions to the eight Ivy League institutions alone

topped $4.1 billion in 2006. Harvard was first on the list with

$594.9 million, followed by Yale ($433.4 million), Univer-

sity of Pennsylvania ($409.4 million), Cornell ($406.2 mil-

lion), Columbia ($377.2 million), Princeton ($207 million),

Dartmouth ($158.4 million), and Brown ($126.4 million).

As such, Fransen said his organization is particularly inter-

ested in working with donors who want to target gifts to Ivy

League campuses.

“We want to work with philanthropists who want to make a

difference,” he said.

For believers, the issue of the soundness and security of their

contributions is especially relevant. Christians “need to be

especially cautious about their giving to higher education,”

Fransen said. “There is the possibility that they are giving to

purposes they don’t support.”

Specifically, evangelical donors should be concerned about

Christians being “marginalized” on university campuses,

Fransen said.

“We believe, in general, that universities, including the Ivy

League schools, if left to themselves, are not moving in a di-

rection that is beneficial to the country,” Fransen said.


Two instances of racial bigotry occurred at Co-

lumbia’s Teacher’s College within weeks of each

other this fall. First, a noose was put on the door of

Madonna G. Constantine, an African-American professor at

the college. Just weeks later, a swastika

was painted on the door of Jewish profes-

sor Elizabeth Midlarsky. Both professors

are faculty of the Teacher’s College Coun-

seling and Clinical Psychology Depart-

ment.

Chris Colombo, dean of Student Affairs for

Columbia College and the School of En-

gineering and Applied Science, sent an e-

mail to students after the incidents. “While

immediate steps have been taken to re-

move the vandalism, the impact of this

hateful act can not be removed as quickly.”

In recent years, some bias crimes on campuses throughout the

United States were later revealed to be hoaxes, but the inci-

dents at Columbia appear to have been committed with racist

intentions. No arrests have been made.

In response, Columbia InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

(www.columbia.edu/cu/ivcf/) decided to

display its support and consolation for

Constantine and Midlarsky. Students

signed plates containing the inscription

Ubuntu on them. According to ministry

leader Ashley Byrd, the essence of the

word Ubuntu is “to say my humanity is

bound up in what is you. I am because you

are.” The students also included the pas-

sage from Corinthians referring to when

one part of the body is hurt, everyone

hurts. “We are part of Columbia’s campus

and when someone on the campus is being

discriminated against, we want to stand in solidarity with that

person. That is what it means to live with integrity,” said Byrd.

Students also reflected upon the incidents at several events on

‘JESUS NEVER JUST WALKED BY’Columbia Students Unite Against Hate, Racism

CCOLUMBIA

A noose and a swastika were found

over the doorways of two Columbia

professors. InterVarsity responded

with solidarity and compassion.



campus. Based on the success of his poetry slam (poetry with

a hip-hop flair) at Teacher’s College last year, Columbia in-

vited Jonathan Walton ’08 to organize Action Against Apathy,

a poetry slam against hate and violence on November 30.

Walton echoed the sentiments of Byrd when he emceed for the

night: “When one is affected, all of us should be affected. We

are many members, but one body. This is something that's fun-

damental to our faith, and this principle could be a powerful

testimony on our campus if we chose to support those who are

marginalized. Jesus never just walked by. What if we had the

same mentality, the same compassion? The world just might be

a different place.”

The event was co-sponsored by InterVarsity and included spo-

ken word performances by members of the fellowship, Walton

and Jessica Schenk Luwandaga ’04, as well as poetry and hip-

hop dance performances by other Columbia students. Lisa

Harper, director of New York Faith and Justice Mission, joined

the students with her own poetry performance. The night

ended with a musical performance by Virginia Tim Be Told, a

Christian band from Charlottesville, Virginia, whose music is

a blend of pop, soul, and blues.

Kathryn McCaleb ’11 said, “The evening was a great time of

reflection. The event drew attention to the apathy of those

around us and increased my awareness of the world in a

broader sense.”

While Professor Constantine and Professor Midlarsky were

unable to attend the event due to conflicting schedules, gifts

were given at a later date to the professors who appreciated

the show of support.

By Jin Wang, Columbia ’10

In the early 1980s, Roland Warren was an unlikely

candidate to become a national spokesman for fa-

therhood.

Over the Christmas break of his junior year at Princeton Uni-

versity, Warren, learned that his girlfriend, Yvette Lopez, was

pregnant. Despite rejection and urges for abortion, Warren

decided to keep the child, marry Yvette, who was a sopho-

more at Princeton, and break the ugly cycle of fatherlessness

that is prominent in the community.

Warren, who grew up without a father, is now the president

of the National Fatherhood Initiative. The 46-year old

African-American shared about the significance of father-

hood during the November 28 meeting of Princeton Faith

and Action, Christian Union’s undergraduate ministry. War-

ren, the father of two, also met with nearly a dozen Prince-

ton students and ministry staffers during a dinner sponsored

by the Christian Union earlier that evening.

Participating students said they were touched by Warren’s

presentations and by his devotion to promoting the impor-

tance of fatherhood–a rare topic on college campuses.

“Mr. Warren told us to think about fatherhood as a vocation.

It is a part of what you do,” said Robert Haraway ’10. “In

our culture, it’s something that happens to you. He suggested

a shift in the general perspective to see that it’s a calling, just

like anything else.”

Robert Krause ’10 said he felt inspired by Warren, especially

by his desire to reach men before they become fathers.

“It encouraged me to do what I think is important for soci-

ety,” Krause said. “I love to hear about people who are try-

ing to make a core, substantive social impact. It’s exciting to

hear someone who left a lucrative career to do something

more valuable for society.”

Indeed, Warren spent nearly two decades circulating in cor-

porate powerhouses before taking the helm of the National

Fatherhood Initiative in 2001. Warren, who earned a master

of business administration from the University of Pennsyl-

vania in 1996, previously served as a financial consultant for

The Goldman Sachs Group in Philadelphia and held man-

agement positions with IBM and PepsiCo.

He also served as the associate director of development for

Princeton University, where he earned a degree in psychol-

ogy in 1983 and played running back for the Tigers.

But a desire to help children hurt by the harsh realities of fa-

therlessness, led Warren, a board member since 1998, to exit

the business world and join the National Fatherhood Initia-

tive as executive vice president. He assumed the role of pres-

ident a few months later.

Today, the 14-year-old organization maintains an annual

budget of $6 million-plus and about 40 employees. The Na-

BRINGING FATHERHOOD TO THE FOREFRONTPrinceton Faith and Action Hosts Roland Warren ’83



tional Fatherhood Initiative provides programs and resources

for a variety of fatherhood issues, though most center on ed-

ucation for new and expectant dads. The National Father-

hood Initiative also strives to work with teens and young men

to prevent unplanned pregnancies and to en-

courage responsibility in crisis pregnancies.

As well, the National Fatherhood Initiative

celebrates the contributions of “great” dads,

including military parents, and spotlights

corporations that encourage dads to be com-

mitted to their children’s lives. The

Gaithersburg, Md.,-based organization has

nominated Cuba Gooding Jr. to receive one

of its trademarked “Fatherhood Awards” in

2008.

Overall, the number of children living in

“father-absent” homes stands at about 24

million, according to the National Father-

hood Initiative. As such, about one in three

children will “go to sleep in a home where

their father does not live.” Those children

are more likely to be “suspended from

school, or to drop out; be treated for an emo-

tional or behavioral problem; commit sui-

cide as adolescents; and be victims of child

abuse or neglect.” As well, they are more likely to experi-

ence poverty or commit violent crimes, according to the Na-

tional Fatherhood Initiative.

Equally as disturbing, about two-thirds of African-American

children grow up in households without a dad—a scenario

Warren and his team desire to change.

Warren hopes his own story will inspire young men facing

unplanned pregnancies to become committed fathers. The

baby at the heart of Warren’s crisis is now 25, married and an

arts and entertainment writer for The Wall

Street Journal.

Jamin Warren, who earned a degree in so-

cial studies from Harvard University in

2004, described his father as “attentive” and

“intensely interested.”

As for the former Yvette Lopez, she earned

a psychology degree from Princeton in

1985 and a medical degree from Temple

University in 1993. She practices family

medicine in Maryland. Youngest son Justin,

22, is a senior at the University of North

Carolina, where he is majoring in commu-

nications and previously played tailback for

the Tar Heels.

And, as for Warren, he remains committed

to inspiring “our nation that kids need in-

volved fathers.” And, he has taken his mes-

sage across the nation and to major media

outlets and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

“I’m impacting the future,” Warren said. “One of the most

powerful things you can do is be a good father and leave a

good legacy.”


Roland Warren (Princeton

’83), president of the National

Fatherhood Institute, met

with members of Impact

during a dinner sponsored by

Christian Union. Warren later

addressed students at

Whig Hall.

Penn For Life (www.pennforlife.com) is better

known for championing the lives of the unborn,

but its College Parents Fund shows that it also

has a heart of compassion towards students with children.

Through the College Parents Fund, this pro-life organization

offers support for students who are also parents and are work-

ing to meet the demands of raising children and achieving an

Ivy League education.

According to graduate student Shannon Martino, the College

Parents Fund (CPF) is dedicated to supporting Penn students

and their children by providing need-based scholarships to

pregnant and parenting students. The vision of this non-par-

tisan, non-sectarian organization, she states, is to create a

supportive environment on campus for mothers and families

so that “students are not forced to choose between their ed-

ucation and their child.”

“I do think that these kinds of resources are incentives for

students not to have abortions,” Martino said. She also

STUDENT MOMS HAVE A FRIEND AT PENNPenn For Life Extends Help Through College Parents Fund

PPENN



pointed out that it sends a balanced message that as a pro-

life organization, they are not only concerned for the chil-

dren, but also for the parents.

“If a woman is going to have a choice, she

should have a choice for life as well,”

Martino said. And CPF is a way of help-

ing student parents ensure a richer life for

themselves and their children by continu-

ing their education and pursuing their ca-

reer goals.

The program was started a year ago with

an extensive fundraising campaign. Chris-

tian Union, through its grant program, was

one of the original donors to the organiza-

tion. To receive funds, students needing

assistance must complete an application to

CPF. Once the funds are awarded, students

will receive confirmation and can then

purchase the necessary items and submit a

reimbursement form to receive the funds.

Support is open to all undergraduate and

graduate students who have children or are pregnant.

There are no restrictions as to how the funds are used, as long

as they are used in the raising of the children, Martino said.

Intended uses are diapers, childcare, doctor visits, etc.

According to Martino, there are approximately 200 grad stu-

dents alone at Penn who have children. Requests for funds

have been sparse, so far, but Martino attributes that to the

newness of the program. She said the organization is making

a concerted effort to increase awareness about the fund

throughout campus with initiatives such as a

new link to CPF through the Penn For Life

website.

However, one student who has benefited from

the program wrote a letter of thanks to the or-

ganization. In that letter, the student expressed

her surprise at the lack of support the univer-

sity offers students with children.

“We were utterly dismayed when we learned

that the university had no method of finan-

cially assisting student parents, particularly

when other schools offer daycare subsidy or

vouchers,” the student wrote. “Not only is this

grant of financial benefit, but it acknowledges

our presence at the University of Pennsylva-

nia.”

Perhaps the essence of what Penn for Life and

the College Parent Fund are all about can be

best articulated through the words of Susan B.

Anthony—words that are displayed on the Penn for Life

website: “Sweeter even than to have had the joy of caring for

children of my own has it been to me to help bring about a

better state of things for mothers, generally, so that their un-

born little ones could not be willed away from them.”


The College Parents Fund

offers financial assistance to

graduate and undergraduate

students with children and

those who are pregnant.

R E V I V A L • R E A C H I N G T H E L O S T

From the Ten Commandments to the Declaration

of Independence, throughout history God and

man have put into writing the tenets, laws, and

beliefs integral to human morality and advancement.

In 2006, attendees at The Institute of Campus Revival and

Awakening at Yale University also were inspired to pen a

document that would be a call to action and Christian living

and ignite the flames of revival through personal example

and accountability.

The New Haven Call, according to its framers, is “a docu-

ment being used by campus ministers, faculty, students, and

Christians in general to mobilize campus communities for

another Great Awakening on our college campuses.”

In effect, the New Haven Call (NHC) is a shout to all Chris-

tians with a heart for revival to commit themselves to a

‘THE CALL’ GOES OUT FOR REVIVAL AT YALEDocument Signers Pledge Life of Prayer, Fasting

YYALE

R E V I V A L • R E A C H I N G T H E L O S TOn Campus


lifestyle of prayer, fasting, unity, and purity to help prepare

the way for the manifest presence of God on campuses, ac-

cording to David Warn, founder and director of Collegiate

Impact and director of the Campus Insti-

tute of Revival and Awakening.

“We felt that our week at Yale was such an

historical time. We felt like God met with

us,” Warn said. Although it was not their

intent to craft a document such as the

NHC, Warn recalled that participants of the

Institute came to him saying, “We really

believe, in light of what God has done here,

we should issue this call to the campus

community.”

And that the call should sound from Yale

was no coincidence, according to Warn.

“Yale has a more prevalent and punctuated

revival history than any campus in the

United States,” Warn stated.

He also believes that “God wants his cam-

puses back,” and that Yale and the other Ivies will play a role

in the next Great Awakening.

It is with the intent to help prepare the way for God to re-

claim the nation’s campuses that the Call harkens ministry

leaders, students, and others to sign the document. It calls

signers to commit to “a lifestyle of prayer, fasting, and other

spiritual disciplines to invite the Kingdom of God in revival,

awakening, and transformation.”

The document also calls signers “to live the prayer of unity

issued by Jesus in John 17:23 and to dedicate each Monday

as a national day of prayer and fasting.

Many committed themselves to the Call during their time at the

Institute at Yale and signed the document while there, according

to Warn. Others have obtained the document

by downloading it, or ordering multiple copies

through the Institute of Campus Revival web-

site at www.lifeaction.org/collegiateimpact/in-

stitute/.

It’s important for those signing the docu-

ment to add their names to the New Haven

Call e-mail list while online, Warn said. By

doing so, signers receive a regular e-mail of

encouragement to help them fulfill the com-

mitments of the Call and to stay focused.

“One of the things I’m most excited about

is how God is going to use the NHC in the

individual lives of people. We are doing this

for campus transformation, but also the lives

of the signers,” Warn said.

For those with “eyes to see and ears to hear,”

Warn hopes the New Haven Call will be a steady voice to

guide and encourage those hearts, despite the current spiritual

state of the country and its campuses.

“A lot of campus ministry leaders are tired and see the dark-

ness of our nation,” Warn said. “I want leaders to lift their

eyes up and embrace things like the New Haven Call. I want

us to have hope. I believe that God wants to move and is

going to move in our day. I hope the New Haven Call gen-

erates that kind of faith.”


The New Haven Call assists in

the mobilization of campus

communities for another Great

Awakening.

“There are all of three Christians in Boston.”

That’s what one student from Boston told a

Princeton ministry leader.

However, while some describe Boston as spiritually bleak,

others are inspired by a “quiet revival” taking place in the

city. To them, it’s clear the city is on the spiritual move.

Some people may perceive a lack of faith in Boston because

of a decline in Catholic and mainline churches, according to

Jeff Bass (Princeton ’81). Bass is the executive director of

the Emmanuel Gospel Center, a church research and con-

sulting organization in the Boston area. He noted an abun-

dance of church planting among smaller denominations and

within a number of immigrant groups that have brought their

faith with them to Boston. Their members are reaching out to

their community with the love of Christ and producing a lot

of good fruit in the city, Bass stated.

‘WE ARE RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF SOMETHING’Ministry Leaders See ‘Quiet Revival’ Slowly Transforming Boston

HHARVARD

R E V I V A L • R E A C H I N G T H E L O S T On Campus


This is part of what Bass considers to be “the long-term re-

newal of Christianity in Boston, as the Quiet Revival growth

has been steady for over 30 years and it is having a transfor-

mational impact on our communities.”

“There is certainly a quiet move of God, especially among

the poor in Boston,” said Pat McLeod, director of Boston

Metro Campus Crusade for Christ and a chaplain at Harvard

University. “People are responding to and following the lead-

ership of minority pastors in the city who seem to have the

anointing of God upon them.”

Tammy McLeod, also a Harvard University chaplain, agrees.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re in revival because the numbers of

people coming to Christ are still

low,” she said; but “it feels like we

are right on the edge of something

just exploding here.”

Mrs. McLeod is the wife of Pat

McLeod and the director of college

ministry at Boston’s Park Street Church. She believes God is

pulling the body of Christ together in anticipation of a future

revival.

One indicator, she believes, is the number of church planters

and workers moving into the Boston area and the unity with

which the various churches and ministries work together for

the Kingdom.

“Students are really important in all this,” according to Bass,

who cites the “caliber” of the students in the Boston area and

their potential to impact the future of the country and the

world as they become leaders.

According to Mrs. McLeod, ten percent, or 600 to 700 of

Harvard undergraduates are evangelical Christians–a high

number that she says would surprise most people.

“Boston churches, leaders, and events do have an impact on

Harvard students," said Chris Hampson, Harvard ’09. “The

spiritual climate of the Boston area is the backdrop against

which Harvard Christians live out their faith; and although it

may not be easily sensed, change in Boston does permeate

the Ivory Tower.”

Despite this, the McLeods and Bass agree there is a discon-

nect between the local communities and the students.

“Students are a big part of the population, but [they] tend to

be in their own world. There needs to be better pathways,”

Bass said.

To help build those pathways, one local church is reaching

out to students at Harvard, MIT and others through cooper-

ation with Campus Crusade and InterVarsity.

Park Street Church, a historical fixture in the city, has taken

an innovative approach to reaching undergraduate students

by putting their resources into a direct partnership with Cam-

pus Crusade for Christ known as Real Life Boston.

Real Life Boston is currently on twenty-

six campuses in the area and has the goal

of providing every student with the op-

portunity to hear the Gospel. Currently,

there are about 300,000 students in the

area, with approximately 500 under-

graduates attending Park Street alone,

according to Mrs. McLeod.

But Park Street isn’t simply trying to increase its own atten-

dance, she explained. This is a case of the Body of Christ

working together to increase God’s Kingdom. “We want to

partner with other churches,” she said.

“Boston is a particularly critical area because it is a hub for

internationals, especially students,” said Hampson.

And, with 25 percent of all heads of state having graduated

from a school in Boston, according to Mrs. McLeod, the po-

tential to carry the Gospel message worldwide is a key fac-

tor in the emphasis on Boston revitalization and revival.

But all that makes Boston great insofar as its esteem for ed-

ucation and its attraction to so many future leaders, could

also slow the momentum for revival, suggested Pat McLeod.

“God resists the proud, and I do think the Achilles heel of a

college city that has more of the nation’s top 40 universities

than any other city will be the feeder sin of pride,” he said.

“Revival only comes when there is brokenness; and that, of

course, is the opposite of pride.”


Harvard Chaplain Pat

McLeod anticipates great

movement in New England

as more and more Christians

migrate to the city and build

the Body of Christ.



The Korean Church at Cornell, English ministry

(KCCE) has supported teams to Venezuela since

2005. Commonly referred to as “MTV” (Mission

Team Venezuela), the number of Cornell students who have

seen God’s work abroad firsthand through this program is

growing—and they have also seen their own lives changed.

KCCE members Jeffrey Bae ’07, Virginia Nam ‘08, and

Thomas Rho ’08 guided a fourth MTV group during a two-

week mission last summer. Bae and Nam have served in min-

istry to Venezuela since the initial MTV trip in 2005, which

focused on ministry around

Caracas. Three subsequent

trips, however, have been to

the city of Maracaibo to sup-

port the congregation of La

Comunidad Cristiana: El

Señor es Nuestra Victoria

(“The Christian Community:

The Lord is Our Victory”).

Plans for a spring 2008 trip

are already underway.

Led by Pastor Danilo Mon-

tero, both the young and the

old of La Comunidad Cris-

tiana have demonstrated the

love of Christ to every visit-

ing team thus far. Christopher

Kim ’07 observed, “I thought it embodied the description of a

true church–one that acts as one body and follows the Bible in

fellowship and family to the letter, like that one passage [in Acts

2] that talks about even eating with your brothers.”

La Communidad Cristiana was planted eight years ago when

Rev. Montero felt God calling him to start a small group, even

while he was part of another congregation. Though he did not

like the idea at first, he obeyed and eventually was led to plant

the church.

KCCE (www.kccem.org) coordinated its first MTV trip

through Youth with a Mission (YWAM), assisted by mission-

ary and translator Hector Chirinos. It was Chirinos who later in-

troduced KCCE to La Communidad Cristiana after praying

about how to encourage Rev. Montero’s fledgling congrega-

tion. The relationship between the two churches blossomed,

and Danilo asked KCCE in early 2007 to partner with them in

planting a new church in Los Altos Tres, a poverty-stricken city

on the outskirts of Maracaibo.

The new church is springing from a 40-member cell group

which began meeting after a Vacation Bible School session led

by the winter ’07 MTV team. Although the adults were not the

focus of the team at that time, God planted seeds in them

through the children that afternoon. Now there is a tangible de-

sire for change and a passion for spreading the good news of

Christ throughout this sprawling 100,000-person district.

Rev. Montero sees God’s

work in Los Altos Tres as

humbly addressing the needs

that accompany poverty. He

hopes to build not only a

church, but eventually a

Christian school, a clinic, and

a place where children can

eat. Despite enormous finan-

cial hindrances, Danilo still

has joy and trusts that God

will provide whatever is

needed. Indeed, Hector com-

ments, “One of the greatest

changes I see in Pastor

Danilo’s church is that they

are no longer a small group,

but rather a big church with big plans to advocate the Word of

God.”

The church body at La Comunidad Cristiana and its plant in

Los Altos Tres are brothers and sisters in Christ with whom

KCCE is building long-term relationships. With the projected

ground-breaking for the church in Los Altos Tres scheduled for

the summer of 2008, there will definitely be the potential for ad-

ditional partnering between the churches for years to come.

And although KCCE is a student church, its congregation be-

lieves the effectiveness of the MTV projects and the fellowship

between the congregations are affirmations that God uses the

weak and gives much grace to the humble—all so that their

boasting may be in the Lord.

By Biblia Kim, Cornell ‘08

PLANTING CHURCHES, HARVESTING SOULSKCCE Students Play Role in Venezuelan Church Growth

CCORNELL

Korean Church at Cornell, English ministry has been work-

ing to assist with Venezuelan church planting since 2005.

R E V I V A L • R E A C H I N G T H E L O S T On Campus


In an effort to debunk the multitude of colorful

opinions about Christianity and Jesus, Campus

Crusade for Christ, Chinese Bible Study, and Fel-

lowship of Christian Singaporeans held a joint event at Cornell

University on October 12 called “Friday Night Live” (FNL).

The goal of the event was simple: to share the biblical life and

person of Jesus Christ, to debunk myths regarding his life and

death, and to answer the questions: Who is Jesus? Why should

anyone care?

The event was borne out of a realization by ministry leaders

that views on Jesus are largely scattered and inaccurate. It is

difficult for people to see Jesus as

worthy of investigation, even more

so worthy of praise, when the general

view of the person of Jesus is so mis-

construed.

FNL opened with a praise team com-

posed of Campus Crusade and Chi-

nese Bible Study members. The

musical selection was wide, with

both classical hymns (“In Christ

Alone”) and modern rock (David

Crowder Band’s “Glory of It All”) to

suit all tastes.

Two emcees welcomed the audience

and introduced the first speaker, a

Cornell student described as a “hard-

core-athiest-turned-Christian.” He shared his testimony of how

he went from an adamant and outspoken unbeliever to a hun-

gry and needy believer through a series of difficult and life-

transforming events by the power of the Holy Spirit. The

testimony brought laughs as well as silent moments.

Next, a brief video was played in which a number of Cornell

students were interviewed during the preceding days and asked

the following questions: Who is Jesus? What do you think of

when you think of Jesus? Who do you think Christians think

Jesus is? The question “Who is Jesus?” garnered some of the

most interesting answers:

“A good idea”

“A good guy who had a lot going for him, who was right on

about a lot of stuff…but not right on about a lot of other things.”

“A man who died for sin, right? … I think his death had some-

thing to do with sin.”

“The second part of the Trinity.”

The video ended and a short message was delivered by a stu-

dent member of Crusade. The message began by describing

Jesus as the most popular person in human history; more songs

have been sung about him, more paintings painted of him, and

more books written about him than any other person. Jesus is

prevalent in pop culture, the speaker described, most notably

proven by the large number of students and even celebrities

who can be found wearing a cross

around their necks.

But what does the cross really mean?

The message continued by describ-

ing Jesus’ life, who he said he was,

and how he died a gruesome death

on the cross. The speaker described

what the cross achieved: reconcilia-

tion between God and man and the

absorbance of God’s wrath for man

poured out on his only Son. Histori-

cal evidence was also presented

which described Jesus’ life, death,

and resurrection. Numerous authors

have written that more evidence ex-

ists for Jesus’ life than Julius Cae-

sar’s. Students listened as the Gospel was laid out in simple and

plain terms, as the life and death of Jesus was described as hav-

ing more weight than the life and death of just another teacher.

At the end of the event, the emcees invited everyone to Hans

Bethe House, a nearby residential program house, for snacks

and board games.

While it is unclear and impossible to detect the direct result of

such an event on people’s hearts, one thing is clear: it is im-

portant to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to believers and

non-believers, to know Christ and help make him known. It is

the hope and prayer of Crusade, Chinese Bible Study, and

Christian Singaporeans at Cornell that FNL and future events

like it help achieve just that.

By Behzad Varamini, Cornell Graduate School

FRIDAY NIGHT LIVEEvent Introduces Students to The Real Jesus

CCORNELL

Cornell’s Campus Crusade for Christ, Chinese

Bible Study, and Fellowship of Christian

Singaporeans hosted “Friday Night Live”

to debunk myths regarding the life and

death of Jesus Christ.



Like most schools in the Ivy League, Dart-

mouth’s roots are steeped in Christian her-

itage. Established in 1769 by Eleazer

Wheelock, a Congregational minister, the college sought

to educate the local Native American community and

share the Gospel with them. More than 200 years later,

the spreading of Christianity is no longer a hallmark of

the institution. But a handful of Christian staff and fac-

ulty remain committed to integrating faith with their ac-

ademic lives and to reaching out to students in the name

of Christ.

Dartmouth’s Faculty/Staff

Fellowship is a group of

Dartmouth educators, staff

members, and their spouses

who share the organiza-

tion’s vision to “cooperate

with God in the advance-

ment of His Kingdom, both

in our personal lives and at

the college as a whole.”

The Fellowship’s constitu-

tion goes on to state, “We

would like this group to be a visible expression of our

unity and common commitment to Jesus Christ. We be-

lieve that such unity expresses the heart of God.”

“I think that it’s a combination of ministry to us and

mission to people outside of us,” said Richard Denton,

a research professor in physics and one of the ministry

founders.

According to Denton, the members meet to encourage

one another in the unique, intellectual environment of

the university. They also work to reach out to students

by sponsoring and participating in events such as the

panel discussion “What’s Important to Me?” and by as-

sisting with the creation of the Apologia, Dartmouth’s

student Christian journal. The ministry has hosted a

number of receptions and barbeques for students as

well.

“One thing we think is important,” said Denton, “is to

have some kind of presence so people know there is a

Christian group visible—that there are such things as

Christians [on campus].”

Although Denton works in the science field with others

who do not share his Christian beliefs, Denton said that,

for the most part, his colleagues are not openly antago-

nistic toward him or his faith; however, their attitudes

are not seemingly open to religious belief.

Still, he said, “It’s not as

hard to be a Christian as

some people think at the

university. It’s not usually

like people are waiting to

pounce on you when they

find out you’re Christian.”

But simply to be tolerated

isn’t what Denton strives

for, either.

“I think for me, Dartmouth

has been a mission,” Denton said. “I feel like this is

where my interest has been in reaching out more than

any other place…I pray a lot here.”

Dartmouth’s founders created a university environment

that would educate the mind and strengthen the soul.

Denton said he too has a vision for God to do something

at Dartmouth. That “something”, he believes, goes be-

yond meetings or efforts on the part of individuals.

“What we do [in the ministry] is nice,” he said, “but I’m

looking for the Holy Spirit to do a much greater thing

here at Dartmouth in terms of awakening.”

Eileen Scott, Senior Writer

A HERITAGE OF FAITHProfessor draws encouragement from University’s Christian roots

DDARTMOUTH

“Dartmouth’s founders created auniversity environment that wouldeducate the mind and strengthenthe soul. Denton said he too has avision for God to do something atDartmouth. That “something”, hebelieves, goes beyond meetings orefforts on the part of individuals.”

S T U D E N T L I F E On Campus


On Friday, October 26, fourteen Harvard stu-

dents set their coursework aside and took a trip

to the other end of Boston Metro’s “Red Line”

to attend the Ivy League Student Leadership Conference,

hosted by Christian Union (www.Christian-union.org) at

the Radisson Hotel in Rockland, MA. These students,

members of Harvard’s Christian Impact Fellowship

(www.harvard.edu/icb), had the opportunity to spend time

both together and with

students from other Ivy

League schools, engag-

ing in worship, discus-

sion, and hang time. The

music team from City

Life Church, with sev-

eral members from the

Berkeley College of

Music, led worship dur-

ing the event.

According to Daniel

Lorenzana ’09, the pur-

pose of the conference

was to enable interns

and staff with Campus

Crusade to talk about

their experiences and to

help college students

sort through the plethora

of concerns that often

accompany thinking about the future, including finances

and relationships with parents. The theme of Lordship was

central to helping students think about full-time ministry

and put their future into a helpful perspective, Lorenzana

said. Questions addressed included: What does it mean

that Christ is the Lord of our lives? What does it look like?

Carol Green ’09 related that one of the most meaningful

aspects of the conference was a profound yet hilarious talk

given by Rick James, a national speaker and a publisher

with Cru Press (Campus Crusade for Christ). James spoke

on being a child of God, being forgiven by God, and plan-

ning for the future. He encouraged the students to think

far ahead when planning their lives—“nothing less than

10,000 years,” said Green. This concept moved the focus

beyond the individual: “campuses don’t need us, they

need Jesus,” Green said, citing one of James’ talks.

After several of the talks by other featured speakers, the

students broke into small groups and answered questions.

Students from colleges in different locales, but with so

many similar characteristics, were able to share perspec-

tives, encouragement,

and challenges. Com-

mon challenges at Ivy

League schools include

pressure to achieve and

overzealousness for

time, remarked Loren-

zana. Comparing notes

with people from other

schools is particularly

helpful in the light of the

particular character of

Ivy League culture.

Even more time spent

with students from other

schools would have

been useful, noted

Green.

At the same time, noted

Lorenzana, part of the

helpfulness of the week-

end was in its distance from the business of normal col-

lege life. “It took me out of the busy work atmosphere of

Harvard and gave me time to interact with my fellow lead-

ers,” he said. A designated “campus time” gave students

the opportunity to huddle with their peers and spend some

time communicating about the current issues on their cam-

puses.

For the group from Harvard, communication and evan-

gelism was a theme, and the extra time spent off-campus

working through group direction and group dynamics was

extremely helpful.

By Christopher Hampson, Harvard ’10

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE MAKES AN ‘IMPACT’Students Gather for Time of Discussion, Worship, and Fellowship

HHARVARD

Students from around the Ivy League attended the Ivy Student

Leadership Conference in Massachusetts to explore ministry

leadership and work after graduation.

S T U D E N T L I F EOn Campus


How do you take the enormity of the Catholic

Church and make it personal to roughly 6,000 stu-

dents? By bringing the faith home.

And that’s what Penn senior Luly Trevino and the Penn New-

man Center are doing through informal groups that meet weekly

in student dorms on campus. The Newman Community Groups

are designed to help students explore their faith and build a

closer relationship to Jesus Christ, Trevino said. The meetings

allow time for students to ask personal questions about their

faith, discuss issues, and share

their experiences as Christians at

Penn.

Trevino spearheaded the effort to

reach out to help the nearly 6,000

self-described Catholic students at

Penn and help them reconnect

with their faith about two years

ago.

She said it’s easy for students to

feel somewhat isolated or distant

since the Newman Center is lo-

cated at the edge of campus. In

addition, she said, depending

upon what Mass students attend

on Sunday, they might not get to

know other Catholic students.

Father Charles Zlock, chaplain and director of the Newman

Center at Penn, (www.newman.upenn.edu), explained that

Trevino was among a group of Catholic students who estab-

lished the community groups to reach out to their fellow

Catholics on campus and make connecting easier.

“I’m in awe of these young people,” Zlock said, “I continue to

be incredibly moved by their commitment and the depth of their

inquiry.”

According to Zlock, the students have lots of questions. The

Community Groups provide a safe, open environment where

those questions can be asked. The students are then encouraged

to seek answers for themselves.

The groups are not a substitute for mass, nor are they classes

where students are provided pat answers. “Questions are part of

the faith experience,” Zlock explained. “We give them permis-

sion to live in the question and wrestle with the discomfort.”

While the groups are open to all students on campus, regardless

of their religious background, the discussions are decidedly

Catholic. It’s not ecumenical, Trevino explained, and students

don’t talk about similarities of varying faiths. They discuss the

Catholic faith and what it means to be a Catholic Christian.

Catholic students commonly face challenges from others about

their beliefs, and the community

groups provide a forum where

those tough questions can be ad-

dressed. It’s also an opportunity

for students to reaffirm their own

beliefs and to identify with other

intelligent, like-minded believers,

Trevino explained.

Faith can place a student at the an-

tithesis of academic culture;

Trevino noted that she does sense

a bias against Catholics on cam-

pus.

“What I feel from students is that

they think we are judgmental,”

she said. Students sometimes

avoid talking about certain things

[in front of her] because they know she is Catholic and assume

she would look down on them, she explained.

“In classes, it’s an impression that we don’t think for ourselves

because of the Vatican,” Trevino said. “Professors look down on

people who are very religious.”

Zlock said the Community Groups also provide a solace for the

students. They afford an opportunity for them to be “spiritually

searching” and provide an atmosphere where they are not ex-

pected to know all of the answers. This, he said, stands in con-

trast to the academic environment at Penn where many believe

it is the place to come to get all the answers.

This effort to reach out to fellow Catholics is not unique to Penn.

In fact, according to Zlock, Newman Centers have been estab-

THIS TIME IT’S PERSONALMinistry Helps Students Connect with their Catholic Faith

PPENN

The Newman Community Groups at Penn offer

Catholic students the opportunity to connect with

each other and grow deeper in their faith.



lished worldwide as part of a movement on the part of the

Catholic Church to reach Christians on a more personal level.

“The Catholic Church is big. It’s a big, institutional Church,”

said Zlock, who noted how the church comes to the aid of peo-

ple in need when a disaster strikes. “We’ve built a well-oiled

machine. Where I think we have fallen short in the last several

years is that at its core, the Catholic Church is about personal re-

lationship[s]. That’s where we come up short.”

Zlock said the Church has not been known in the past for its

hospitality, but things are changing. Grassroots efforts like the

Newman Community Group and parish small groups are bring-

ing the Church to the homes and dorms of Catholics worldwide,

uniting them through a spirit of hospitality which is grounded in

the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ.


There’s a new family in the ministry community

at Brown, and its name is Chi Alpha (www.chial-

pha.com). Also know by the Greek letters XA,

the ministry takes its name from the Greek phrase christou

apostolio which means “Christ’s sent ones,” and it “seeks to

reconcile students to Christ.”

While its name may sound like a fraternity, this is no mere

social club. XA is dedicated to

“following Jesus Christ and

making Him famous around

the world,” said ministry di-

rector John Michaelson.

Founded in 1953 at Missouri

State University, XA is lo-

cated on more than 200 cam-

puses worldwide. Although an

Assemblies of God ministry,

the organization is very inter-

denominational, said Michael-

son, who cares more about the

hearts of the students than

their denominational affilia-

tions.

Michaelson and his wife

Lynne, who works with the ministry part-time, came to Prov-

idence from Texas where they served at the University of

Texas-Austin. They had previously ministered at Ohio State

University.

“The climate at Brown is challenging,” said Michaelson. “In

Texas, the students assume that they are in a culture where

there are a lot of Christians. To be a Christian [at Brown] is

different. It’s very different.”

Adding to the challenge of being a Christian at Brown, said

Michaelson, is the preconceived notion many non-believers

have of Christians, particularly evangelicals. Many tend to

associate Christianity with conservative politics.

“(The term) ‘evangelical’ now has a political, red-state

image,” said Michaelson.

“Colleges are blue-state.”

It’s hard, he explained, for stu-

dents who don’t have a back-

ground in the church to

understand that there is a dif-

ference between faith and pol-

itics.

Christians at Brown run into

students who may never have

been inside a church or had a

conversation with a Christian,

Michaelson explained. As a

result, he believes Christian

students often feel like they

have to be on the defensive,

ready to defend their faith.

“If you’re Christian, you’ve

got to be strong to make it,” he said.

“A lot of what we feel like we’re doing right now is damage

control,” he said. “That’s kind of sad, but it also gives us an

opportunity to preach what we believe.”

And helping students share that Gospel is what XA is about.

“We feel our goal is to help students to be Christ’s ambassa-

HELPING STUDENTS SHARE THE GOOD NEWSChi Alpha Seeks to Strengthen Christian Students at Brown

BBROWN

Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship may be new to the Brown

campus, but ministry leaders are working to give the

ministry a permanent home.



dors,” said Michaelson. “God is using us as tools of recon-

ciliation between Himself and others and impacting the uni-

versity, the marketplace, and the world.”

Chi Alpha also takes a special interest in ministering to in-

ternational students. When they return to their home coun-

tries and become leaders, according to Michaelson, that

impacts the world.

Although XA only has about a half-dozen student members,

they are working toward being an officially-recognized cam-

pus ministry. They can’t host outreach events on campus to

encourage further growth until they receive that recognition,

due to university requirements.

Once the ministry is established, Michaelson and his wife

plan to firmly plant XA on the campus. He said they had been

looking to serve in an area that had a spiritual void and a

need. By many accounts, New England certainly fits that de-

scription.

“When we told people that we were going to New England,”

Michaelson said, “they were like, ‘Wow, they really need

God’.”

In addition, there are many Christians who believe that de-

spite the current spiritual void, New England will be the site

of revival. Michaelson is among them.

“It’s exciting to be here,” he said. “I really believe that some-

thing is going to happen here in New England…another

Great Awakening.”

And XA stands ready with Brown’s other campus ministries

to work toward making way for the Lord to bring that Awak-

ening.

Michaelson said that XA has had a good reception at Brown

and that the other Christians they’ve come to know are “ex-

cited” there is another group there. He admits that he’s sensed

a sort of competition among student ministries on some other

campuses where he’s served. And that competition is some-

thing Michaelson said ministries on Ivy League campuses

can’t afford.

“The work is so great and the people are so resistant to the

Gospel that if you don’t have a spirit of cooperation and unity

you’re not going to do any good,” he said.

Unity is a bit of a buzzword among students on campuses,

Michaelson said, and many of them talk about being on the

same team. “But we really feel it here. We feel like we’re not

trying to create one group, but we are all one body—the body

of Christ.”

In other words, as the ministry family at Brown continues to

grow, there is a shared desire to bring Jesus to into the hearts

of students and prepare the way for the Lord’s awakening.


The Eighth Commandment simply states, “Thou

shalt not steal.” Most would agree this com-

mandment set down by God through Moses is

pretty straightforward. The taking of another’s property is

usually a clear-cut case of right and wrong. But when it

comes to the pilfering of the ideas, thoughts, and words of

others, the ensuing ambiguity can make this commandment

seem more like a request than an order.

Merriam-Webster defines plagiarize as “to steal and pass off

(the ideas or words of another) as one’s own” and “to com-

mit literary theft.” And while its occurrence is not rampant

within the Ivies, the student, professor, or alumnus who is

caught with a hand in the idea cookie jar attracts wide atten-

tion and public scrutiny.

Harvard suffered a particularly troublesome episode last year

when an undergraduate student, lauded for her first published

novel, was later exposed as a plagiarist as portions of her

book mirrored those of a previously-published work. As this

academic year began, the issue of properly citing work was

raised throughout the Ivy League to help dissuade would-be

plagiarists from lifting others’ thoughts and words.

For example, university websites dedicate sections to defin-

ing the terms and conditions of plagiarism and the conse-

quences associated with them. Some schools, like the

University of Pennsylvania, offer expansive resources to both

students and faculty, including faculty tips for informing stu-

dents about plagiarism as well as links to various cites that

might be used by cheating students.

RUNNING OUT OF FRESH IDEAS Battling Plagiarism in the Ivy League

IALL IVY



Other schools such as Yale have offered “integrity aware-

ness” events to bring the issue of original work to the fore-

front of students’ minds.

“It is unethical in every discipline and not permissible,” said

Jon Butler, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

at Yale. “We want our students to be aware of the ethical stan-

dards within the school. These standards are prevalent in in-

dustry and academia. Whether at Merck [Pharmaceuticals]

or the University, they are going to be in trouble for plagia-

rizing. It’s simply wrong.”

But this “literary theft” goes beyond industry and academia;

even those with a “higher-calling” have been felled by the

lure of plagiarism. As author Thomas G. Long writes in The

Christian Century, “Pulpit plagiarism may not be new, but

there is plenty of evidence that the practice is spreading and

that the kerosene on the fire is the Internet. Not only are thou-

sands of sermons available for the snatching on church Web

pages, but scores of commercial sites hawk complete ser-

mons, illustrations, outlines, images, and PowerPoint ac-

companiments for a fee.”

Students, too, are faced with the digital temptation of pre-

written reports and papers found on such boldly named web

sites as the Evil House of Cheat and eCheat.com (where “It’s

not Cheating, It’s Collaborating”) and many others.

Although called e-Cheat, the site states it was created to “pro-

vide a reference for students writing papers.” As long as you

cite the paper, it’s not really cheating, the e-Cheaters claim in

their FAQs. Yet, according to Valerie Ross, director for the

Critical Writing Program at Penn, these “paper mill” docu-

ments would not be acceptable documentation as a source.

“The papers are dreadful,” she said. “The caliber of writing

at papermills isn’t good.” Ross said the papers are either

poorly written or they are “too knowing,” meaning the lan-

guage would make it too difficult to have been written by an

undergraduate.

However, even if a student could pull the wool over the eyes

of an instructor, e-cheaters may be doing battle in their own

domain as campuses begin using plagiarism detection soft-

ware such as turnitin.com. Currently available at Harvard

and Penn, this software enables instructors to electronically

scan papers for common sentences and phrases that are avail-

able in on-line works.

But the particulars of digital cheating or digital detection fall

short of the fundamental question around plagiarism, which

often lies in the intent.

“There are students who don’t know they are cheating,” Ross

contends. “For the most part,” she said, “the students who

are plagiarizing are writing under a great deal of stress. They

tend to be doing it under duress.” Still, she admits there are

those “frauds who have found ways to get by with cheating.”

One student from Cornell echoes those sentiments: “It’s im-

portant to combat plagiarism in general, in order to maintain

academic integrity and, not to mention, the creative rights of

the original author(s). But it’s also equally important not to

be so quick to define all those who do plagiarize… as crim-

inals. Plagiarism may be considered a crime in certain

places, but it is really unfortunate for a stressed-out college

student to be permanently labeled as a plagiarizer on their

record just for misciting a quotation in a final paper.”

Even if the act is not criminal, a sampling of students ques-

tioned by the ILCO about plagiarism still considered it to be

sinful, immoral, and unethical. And for Christian students

committed to following Jesus Christ, honoring God means

honoring University honor codes regardless of the conse-

quences.

Dan Knapke, director of undergraduate ministry for Prince-

ton Faith and Action, recalls an incident last semester when

a senior at Princeton came to believe that he had cheated

Students, professors and graduates all wrestle with the challenges of authentic writing and proper citation when producing

academic public works.



early on in his classes. Despite the potential ramifications of

admitting to violating the honor code, the student notified the

professors for those classes. In the end, upon in-depth dis-

cussion with the professors, it was determined the student

had not, in fact, cheated. The situation, however, exemplifies

the struggle some students have with clearly understanding

the guidelines for the honor codes, and more importantly

epitomizes that one’s values and faith do not stop at the class-

room door.

However, for Valerie Ross to plagiarize or not to plagiarize

is not necessarily the question. Rather, she questions the con-

cept of owning ideas in the first place.

“None of us has an original idea,” Ross states. She explains

that much of what we know has come from our life experi-

ences such as our parents, the books we read as children, and

so forth. “You’d need a history of your subjectivity before

saying whose idea it is,” she said. “There is nothing new.”

Or as French moralist and essayist Marquis de Vauvenargues

(1715-1747) put it, “Every thought is new when an author

expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself.”


If there is one thing that keeps Christmas cheer

at bay throughout the Ivy League in early De-

cember, it’s the intensity of thousands of stu-

dents working diligently to finish final papers and exams

and get home for the holidays. This is true even at Har-

vard and Princeton, where finals aren’t taken until after

Christmas.

“In general,” one student said, “I think the average Chris-

tian Harvard student is extremely busy wrapping up pa-

pers-essay papers, not wrapping paper-right up to our

break… and then we all leave to celebrate Christmas with

our families. I’m afraid that you’ll find that the time that

feels Christmas-like [before the break] is a very short

piece of time. It doesn’t feel like Christmas to me until

I’ve left school, and I’m pretty sure most of my friends

here feel the same way.”

But even if the students had time to look up from their lap-

tops during the Christmas season, they may see “holiday”

trees and “holiday” decorations, but what they wouldn’t

see—despite the Christian heritage of most of the

schools—are more overt symbols.

At Cornell, Dean of Students Kent Hubbell stated, “Indi-

vidual students are free to express themselves as they

wish. Institutionally, we don’t set up nativity displays in

consideration for those in our population who do not ob-

serve Christmas. However, holiday decorations, trees, etc.,

are present in many locations throughout the campus.”

In recent years, the Christmas season has ignited nearly

as many political issues as spiritual ones. Who can say

Merry Christmas at what store, and what interfaith sym-

bols of the season peacefully co-exist on municipal lawns

around the country tend to take the headlines.

Around the Ivy League, however, students and ministry

leaders reported that anti-Christmas sentiments seen else-

where in the country are not seen as a big issue at the

schools. Although, that may once again be due to the

“blinding” effect of studies.

Brodie Herb, a staff member with Brown’s College Hill

for Christ, said that most students are too consumed with

finals to be concerned with the effort of some in society to

keep Christ out of Christmas.

According to Clay Daniel, director of Yale’s Reformed

United Fellowship, “Holiday events are tough with cam-

pus ministry…as most students are home during the

salient times.” Daniel and his wife did host a gathering at

their home for Reformed United Fellowship (RUF) lead-

ers on December 8 and a campus-wide Christmas party

for RUF was also held.

However, in spite of the many demands of the academy,

and the absence of some Christmas symbols, the spirit of

Christ’s birth and the altruism of the season still twinkled

amidst the clouds of work as students and staff of the uni-

versities brought the season to life through song, worship,

and selflessness.

Cornell hosted the annual Sage Chapel Christmas pro-

gram, which according to Hubbell is one of the most pop-

DO HOLLY AND IVY MIX?Finals Put Christmas on Hold for Some Students

IALL IVY



ular and well-attended events during the season. The pro-

gram included music by the Cornell University Glee Club

and Chorus and readings from the Bible by prominent

members of the Cornell community.

On December 6, Music of the Season at Yale was held.

The annual event featured the Yale Glee Club Chamber

Singers, the Yale Collegium Players, the Yale College

Chamber Singers, and members of the Yale Concert band.

Additionally, Princeton’s University Chapel was the site

of an Advent Concert by the Chapel Choir.

At Dartmouth, holiday giving started in early November

when the Church of Christ at Dartmouth opened its annual

“Christmas Market with a Difference.” What makes this

market different is that all profits from the market are re-

turned to the non-profit organizations that participated in

it. In addition, each year, the church also purchases gifts

and clothes for families, children, and adults in the Upper

Valley.

The Dartmouth newspaper reported that the University’s

Center for Advanced Learning put a new twist on office

giving by pooling money usually spent on intra-office

gifts to purchase a goat from Heifer International, a non-

profit organization working to end world hunger by con-

necting animals with struggling families worldwide.

Students involved in Cornell’s Fellowship of Christian

Athletes (FCA) participated in Operation Christmas Child,

a project of Samaritan’s Purse. FCA members coordinated

the effort at Cornell, where students shopped for items to

fill shoeboxes that were distributed to needy children. In

addition, some Cornell’s FCA members sent Christmas

cards to U.S. military members overseas.

So, despite political correctness and busy schedules, the

sentiments and gestures of Christmas were present in the

Ivy League to some extent. And despite studying into the

wee hours and missing nativity scenes, it wasn’t a totally

“Silent Night.”


Exam preparations delay Christmas cheer for a lot of Ivy League students. Nonetheless, some ministries find time to

celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

photo by Pam Traeger

N E W S - I N - B R I E F


Boston University Conference Highlights

‘Evangelical Intelligentsia’

Christian Union Founder

and President Matt Ben-

nett joined several Ivy

League alumni, students,

and faculty at Opening of

the Evangelical Mind, a

conference sponsored by

Boston University’s Insti-

tute on Culture, Reli-

gion, and World Affairs

(CURA). The confer-

ence, held in December,

was designed to “illumi-

nate the development, contributions, and cultural conse-

quences” of the emerging evangelical intellectual elite, or

“evangelical intelligentsia,” according to CURA.

Participants in the event included: Nicholas Wolterstorff,

Ph.D., Harvard, and former Noah Porter Professor of

Philosophical Theology at Yale, Andrew Schuman, Dart-

mouth ’10, founder and executive editor of Dartmouth’s

Apologia, and D. Michael Lindsay, Ph.D., Princeton, and

author of Faith in the Halls of Power, among many others.

Christians Seen as ‘Cool’ at School

According to a November article by

Reuters News Service, it’s “cool to

be Christian on campus.” Reporter

Andrea Hopkins determined that

“while public colleges in America

were once considered hostile terri-

tory for religious students, a revival

among both evangelical and tradi-

tional churches on campus has made

it safe–and even cool–to be a college

Christian.”

The article also cited a 2004 Univer-

sity of California-Los Angeles sur-

vey which concluded that “8 of 10

college students attend religious

services, 90 percent discuss religion

or spirituality with friends, and 69 percent pray.”

“There’s an increasing acceptance that intellectualism and

Christianity go hand in hand,” stated Christian Union

Founder and President Matt Bennett in the article. Bennett,

Cornell ’88, said between three and nine percent of Ivy

League undergraduates now participate in various Chris-

tian activities each week.

Study: Parental Involve-

ment Benefits Student’s

College Experience

According to an article in

Family Edge, the National

Survey of Student Engagement

determined that involved par-

ents are beneficial to the qual-

ity of life of college students.

“Compared with their coun-

terparts, children of ‘heli-

copter parents’ [termed so

because they hover closely

near their children] were more

satisfied with every aspect of their college experience,

gained more in such areas as critical thinking, and were more

likely to talk with faculty and peers about substantive top-

ics,” survey director George D. Kuh said in the article.

College Parents of America President James Boyle said in-

volvement of college parents is a natural offshoot of the em-

phasis put on the benefits of parental involvement during

grades K-12.

Christian Union Board of Directors

Names New Member

Lolita Jackson, Penn ’87, was recently named to the Chris-

tian Union Board of Directors. Jackson is in her second

year serving as president of Christian Union’s New York

City ministry. Jackson is also the Manhattan director for

Mayor Bloomberg’s Community Affairs Unit in New York

City.

“Lolita has such a heart for the Ivy League and New York

City,” said Carol Fausnaught, vice president for City Chris-

ALL IVY

Christian Union Founder and

President Matt Bennett,

Cornell ’88, joined other Ivy

League alumni and students

for the Opening of the Evan-

gelical Mind conference in

Boston.

An article by

Reuters News

Service deter-

mined that “a re-

vival” among

churches on

campuses has

made it “cool” to

be a Christian on

campus.

Children of so-called

“helicopter” parents,

those who hover over

their children’s lives,

were more satisfied with

their college experi-

ences, according to the

National Survey of Stu-

dent Engagement.

CHRISTIAN UNION



tian Unions and director of Public Affairs for Christian

Union. “She is a tremendous asset.”

Students Put Faith in Action at Princeton

Enthusiasm from a group

of Princeton University

students interested in

sharing their faith

prompted leaders of

Princeton Faith and Ac-

tion (pfanda.com), the

Christian Union’s under-

graduate ministry, to hold

evangelism training ses-

sions in November.

About 25 students at-

tended the first session

on Nov. 17, and 15 or so

returned for the second session on Dec. 1. Princeton Faith

and Action Director Dan Knapke led the training, which

took place in three-hour sessions on Saturdays at the Wil-

son House.

“It’s part of the larger initiative to equip and motivate the

students to reach out and share their faith with their

friends,” said Lorri Bentch, a ministry fellow with the

Christian Union.

Persevering with Prayer and

People Is Theme at CU

Luncheon

Tom Campisi, managing editor of

the Ivy League Christian Ob-

server, delivered the devotional

message at Christian Union’s

monthly luncheon for Princeton

University staff members on No-

vember 13 at Wilson House in

Princeton. His message, “Perse-

vering with Prayer and People,”

referenced the “Hall of Faith” found in Hebrews 11. Camp-

isi shared his testimony about coming to Christ at the Col-

lege of New Jersey through InterVarsity and encouraged

the Princeton Faith and Action campus ministry team with

Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good,

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not

give up.”

Brown Featured in PBS Segment:

‘Religion vs. Spirituality’

Public Broadcasting

System featured Brown

University during its

November 9 segment of

Religion and Ethics

Newsweekly. “Religion

vs. Spirituality” included interviews with some evangelical

Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and others who are Brown stu-

dents. The show differentiated between an observance of reli-

gious traditions and an authentic faith that is deepened by

practice.

Brown was depicted as a place where religions can and

should be challenged because such tests can strengthen the

faith of true believers. Two students discussed the trials

they faced when they arrived at Brown because of their

Christianity and their need to defend their faith.

University Extends Compassion to

Children of Fire Victims

Brown University is among sevenRhode Island colleges and universi-ties pledging to provide scholarshipsand financial aid to seventy-six chil-dren who lost a parent in The Stationnightclub fire of 2003.

The institutions are offering a varietyof tuition and aid services. Specifi-cally, Brown plans to open its sum-mer college preparatory program tothe children. The offer to students willremain in effect until 2024, in orderto include the youngest child whowas an infant at the time of the fire.

Lolita Jackson (Penn ’87), president of

New York City Christian Union, was

recently named to the Christian Union

Board of Directors.

Dan Knapke, director of

Undergraduate Ministry for

Christian Union, talks with

Princeton students about

sharing the Gospel during

evangelism training at Wilson

House in Princeton.

Tom Campisi,

managing editor of

the Ivy LeagueChristian Observer,spoke about

perseverance at

the November

Christian Union

staff luncheon.

BROWN

Students and Chaplains at

Brown University were the

focus of PBS’s “Religion and

Ethics Newsweekly.”

Brown University

is offering schol-

arships and

assistance to chil-

dren who lost par-

ents in the tragic

nightclub fire in

Rhode Island.



Holiday Events Encourage Service and

Stronger Relationships

Brown’s College Hill for Christ

(www.collegehillforchrist.com)

and Athletes In Action

(www.aiaatbrown.com) held

their annual fall retreat in mid-

October, challenging students

to live out the Gospel through

growing in their relation-

ships with each other, with

God, and with non-Christ-

ian students on campus.

Additionally, as the holidays approached, students hosted a

Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas party to encourage

service and stronger relationships among those within the

ministries and with other students on campus. Nearly half

of the 50 people who attended the Christmas party were non-

Christian, providing opportunities for outreach and cama-

raderie among the students. Christian Union provided grant

money to help support these ministry efforts.

Upperclassmen Serve Freshman

Columbia Students for Christ

(www.columbia.edu/cu/ccc/)

held a class dinner on Oc-

tober 16. Upperclassmen

cooked a homemade meal

for attending freshmen, giv-

ing them a respite from din-

ing hall food. Icebreakers

were used to help encour-

age interaction and the din-

ner also included a time of

prayer and worship.

According to the event’s coordinators, the purpose

was to connect with freshmen and develop deep and

meaningful relationships with them. The event was

partially funded by a Christian Union grant.

Columbia Student Wins Religion Reporting Award

Tina Shah, a graduate student at Columbia’s Graduate

School of Journalism, won the 2007 Chandler Award for

Student Religion Reporter of the Year. The award is part

of several contests sponsored by the Religion Newswrit-

ers Association (RNA) that aim to honor excellence in re-

ligion reporting in mainstream media. Shah received her

award at the 2007 RNA Annual Contest Awards Banquet,

September 29, in San Antonio, Texas.

Ministries Reach out at Thanksgiving

InterVarsity, Columbia Stu-

dents for Christ, and Korea

Campus Crusade for Christ

came together for a Thanks-

giving outreach activity that

focused on inter-ministry

bonding through serving the

community. On November

17, students volunteered

with the Latino Pastoral Ac-

tion Center in the Bronx.

Groups spent time praying,

serving Thanksgiving dinner to homeless people, and tak-

ing part in the Homeless Plunge, an activity in which stu-

dents went into the surrounding community to befriend the

homeless and share a meal with them.

God is the Constant at Concert

Measureless and aRise, two Christian performing arts

groups on Cornell’s campus, held a joint program themed

God is the Constant on November 4. Measureless demon-

strated its a capella ministry and performed accompany-

ing skits; aRise, a group founded during the spring ’07

semester, shared the Gospel story through dance. Directed

toward believers and non-believers alike, the semi-annual

College Hill for Christ

and Athletes in Action

teamed up to host a va-

riety of outreach events

for Brown students.

COLUMBIA

Columbia Students for

Christ hosted a class

dinner for freshmen

this fall with upper-

classman cooking the

meal.

Tina Shah, a student at Columbia’s

Graduate School of Journalism, received

the 2007 Chadler Award for Student

Religion Reporter of the Year.

At Thanksgiving,

Columbia students

prayed together and fed

the hungry in the Bronx

and Manhattan.

CORNELL



concert gathered members of several campus ministries

and their friends.

Cornell Christians go Into the Streets

Into the Streets, a program estab-

lished by Cornell students in 1992

through the Cornell Public Serv-

ice Center, focused on clean-up

efforts in the Ithaca area on Octo-

ber 27. The program is designed

to promote a lifetime of commu-

nity service. Into the Streets

caught the attention of Christian

campus ministries and churches in

the Cornell area, which saw its

ability to tangibly serve and love

others in the community. The out-

reach was expanded to span three

New York counties in 2006.

Campus On A Hill Leaders’ Forum

Leadership from various Cor-

nell ministries met December 1

to exchange ideas, share prayer

requests, and provide ministry

updates to Campus On A Hill

(COAH) leadership. COAH, an

umbrella organization for Chris-

tian groups on the Cornell cam-

pus, desires to unify and

strengthen efforts make Christ

known at the university. The

forum was in addition to the

weekly COAH meetings at-

tended by one representative

from each participating ministry.

Trustee: University Leaders

Don’t Believe in God, Country

Dartmouth Trustee Todd Zywicki ’88

generated controversy and criticism

from fellow alumni and the Dart-

mouth community when he spoke

October 27 at the John William Pope

Center for Higher Education Policy

in Raleigh, N.C.

In his speech, Zywicki accused

donors to the academy of “buying in-

dulgences for being rich,” referred to

former Dartmouth President James

Freedman as an “evil man,” and de-

clared that those who control the uni-

versity “don’t believe in God or

country.”

Zywicki later told Higher Education

Online that he was speaking in an in-

formal manner and “didn’t mean

many things to be taken literally.”

Presidential Candidates Vague

about Bible References

During a major Democratic presidential debate at Dart-

mouth College, participants were asked to name their fa-

vorite Bible verses. None responded with a specific chapter

and verse. Hillary Clinton cited: “The Golden Rule – ‘Do

unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ I think

that's a good rule for politics, too.” Barack Obama re-

sponded, “The Sermon on the Mount, because it expresses

a basic principle that I think we've lost over the last six

years.” And John Edwards said, “What you do unto the

least of those, you do unto me.”

Cornell’s Christian music groups,

Measureless and aRise, performed

a concert for believers and non-

Christians at the University.

Cornell Christians

took to the streets

to help with clean-

up efforts in the

Ithaca area as part

of the Cornell

Public Service

Center’s Into the

Streets program.

photo by iStock

Leaders from Cor-

nell’s various Chris-

tian ministries met

December 1 to share

prayer requests and

provide ministry

updates. L-R COAH

Core Team. Josh

Lequieu, Raymond

Li, Henri Wen,

Behzad Varamini.

DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth

trustee and

graduate Todd

Zywicki’88

generated

criticism and

debate when he

accused donors

to the academy

of “buying

indulgences for

being rich,”

among other

statements.

Barack Obama, Columbia ’83 and Harvard Law

School ’91, joined other Democratic presiden-

tial hopefuls for a debate at Dartmouth that

touched upon the candidates’ beliefs and faith.



Dartmouth Hosts Poverty

Awareness Events

As part of National Hunger and

Homelessness Awareness Week, No-

vember 11 - 17, Dartmouth hosted

programs to increase understanding

and action about poverty issues. The

Upper Valley Educational Task Force

on Homelessness and Poverty and

Dartmouth’s Economic Equity Initia-

tive offered the events.

Grace Outreach in West Lebanon,

New Hampshire was the site of “Try

My Life,” where participants role-

played what life is like for people liv-

ing on low incomes by interacting

with human service agencies, bill col-

lectors, and grocers. Moore Hall was

the venue for a seminar by poverty expert Jodi Pfarr enti-

tled “Bridges Out of Poverty.”

Harvard Law Professor Named

Vatican Ambassador

President George W. Bush has

nominated Harvard law profes-

sor Mary Ann Glendon as am-

bassador to the Vatican.

According to the Boston Globe,

Glendon is “an anti-abortion

scholar and an opponent of gay

–marriage who has written on

the effects of divorce and in-

creased litigation on society.”

Pope John Paul II appointed

Glendon to the Pontifical Acad-

emy of Social Science in 1994,

and in 1995, she led a 22-member delegation of the Holy

See to the Fourth U.N. Women’s Conference in Beijing.

Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard

and has authored numerous works in the fields of human

rights, comparative law, constitutional law, and legal the-

ory.

Harvard Dinner Promotes Religious Literacy

On October 17, The Cambridge

Roundtable on Science, Art & Reli-

gion (www.cambridgeroundtable.org)

and the Harvard University Commit-

tee on the Study of Religion presented

a dinner and discussion at the Harvard

Faculty Club. The event featured

Stephen Prothero and the topic of re-

ligious literacy.

Prothero is the author of Religious Lit-

eracy–What Every American Needs to

Know–and Doesn’t. During the round-

table, he discussed his theory that

Americans need to have knowledge of

the world’s religions to have proper

insight into the major issues of the

day.

“Through Prothero's essential points and the discussion, it

became clear how potentially conflicted the interpretation

and implementation of that idea might be,” said one partic-

ipant.

Harvard Honors First Woman

President with Thanksgiving Service

Harvard marked the inau-

guration of its first woman

president, Drew Gilpin

Faust, with a Service of

Thanksgiving at the Memo-

rial Church at Harvard on

October 12.

The Reverend Professor

Peter J. Gomes; Bernard

Steinberg, president of Har-

vard Chaplains and presi-

dent of Harvard Hillel; and

the Right Reverend G.P. Mellick Belshaw, Faust’s cousin,

attended the service.

“We have come to pray for the happy and useful adminis-

tration of our twenty-eighth president, Drew Gilpin Faust,”

said Gomes, in the Harvard University Gazzette. “We are

mindful of her gifts, and we pray that they may be both sus-

tained and increased in our behalf.”

Dartmouth

hosted pro-

grams to in-

crease

understanding

about poverty

issues as part

of National

Hunger and

Homelessness

Awareness

Week.

photo by iStock

HARVARD

President George W.

Bush, Yale ’68, nomi-

nated Harvard law

professor Mary Ann

Glendon as ambassa-

dor to the Vatican.

The Roundtable

on Science, Art &

Religion was

held at Harvard

on October 17.

Stephen

Prothero was the

featured speaker

and discussed

religious

literacy.

Drew Gilpin Faust

(Penn '71 and *75), the

first woman president

at Harvard, was honored

with a Service of

Thanksgiving.

photo courtesy of Harvard University



CCC Holds Fall Retreat

Campus Crusade for Christ held its fall retreat from

October 5-7 at Camp Innabah in Spring City, PA.

The speaker for the event was Alec Million of

Wycliffe Bible Translators. The focus of the retreat

was on individual and corporate spiritual growth and

unity.

According to retreat coordinators, this is a time

when “freshmen get deeply involved and develop

stronger relationships with upperclassmen.” In ad-

dition, taking a weekend off campus to spend time

together enables staff and students to refresh the

ministry’s vision for outreach.

Penn Graduate Joins Faculty at

Southern Seminary

Christian author and lecturer

David Powlison recently ac-

cepted a visiting professorship

in the Biblical Counseling Pro-

gram at Southern Baptist The-

ological Seminary in Louisville,

Kentucky. Powlison received

an A.B. in Social Relations

from Harvard (’71), an M.

Div. from Westminster Theo-

logical Seminary (’80), and an

M.A. (’86) and Ph.D. (’96)

from the University of Penn-

sylvania.

Powlison, the author of Speak-

ing Truth in Love, Seeing with

New Eyes, Power Encounters, and Competent to

Counsel?, is a faculty member at The Christian Coun-

seling and Educational Foundation in Glenside, Penn-

sylvania, and a visiting professor at Westminster

Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Ugandan Pastor Speaks of

Transformation in Africa, U.S.

Ugandan pastor and transformation

leader John Mulinde spoke at

Penn’s Houston Hall on November

3. He addressed college students in

the Philadelphia area to help equip

them for a revival like the one that

occurred in his homeland. Before

the revival hit, the Ugandan people

were oppressed and the country’s

government was corrupt. However,

a researcher describes the African

nation as one of the most trans-

formed nations on the face of the

earth. The Ugandan leaders believe God is now leading

their hearts to pray for this type of transformation in the

United States.

Anscombe Society Threat Is a Hoax

The Anscombe Society, a pro-abstinence, pro-marriage

group at Princeton University, received national atten-

tion in December after one of its members was allegedly

attacked and others received threatening e-mails. How-

ever, a police investigation revealed that Princeton Uni-

versity student and Anscombe member Francisco Nova

’09 sent the e-mails and also inflicted injuries on his

own body while fabricating a story of being beaten and

threatened. Princeton University did not make an im-

mediate decision regarding disciplinary action. Nova,

who committed a similar act while at the Groton School

in Connecticut, could also face charges for filing a false

police report.

Manna Christian Fellowship Supports World AIDS

Day, Orphaned Children

Manna Christian Fellowship (www.princeton.edu/~manna/)

participated in World AIDS Day by selling T-shirts to

highlight the plight of orphaned children in sub-Saha-

ran Africa.

Students in the ministry sold the shirts, labeled “OR-

PHAN,” to about five percent of the student body at

PENN

Penn alumnus David

Powlison *96 was

recently named

visiting professor in

the Southern Baptist

Theological

Seminary’s Biblical

Counseling

program.

Ugandan pastor

and transforma-

tion leader John

Mulinde spoke to

college students in

the Philadelphia

area about revival.

PRINCETON



Princeton University to help demonstrate that one in 20

children in sub-Saharan Africa is orphaned by AIDS.

Over 200 students wore the bright orange shirts on De-

cember 3 in coordination with campus events scheduled

across the nation by World Vision.

Respect Life Week Highlights

Pro-Life Stance

Respect Life Week 2007 was

held at Princeton from October 7

-12. The events began with Pro-

Life Sunday, which included an

inter-faith service held at Uni-

versity Chapel. Other events in-

cluded a pro-life, pro-family

evening of dessert, coffee, and

conversation with Professor

Robert P. George and other

Princeton faculty members, and

a message from Karen Shablin of Feminists for Life, who

addressed her experience with abortion and how she be-

came pro-life. The week concluded with a candlelight vigil

on Frist Lawn that included five minutes of silent mourning

for the lives lost to abortion and euthanasia. The event was

sponsored by Princeton Pro-Life.

Worship CD to Fund Missions’

Efforts

“Driven,” the worship team at

Yale Christian Fellowship, re-

cently released a CD featuring

music from Africa and Latin

America, gospel tracks, and con-

temporary Christian music. Ac-

cording to Yale Christian

Fellowship (www.yale.edu/ycf),

all proceeds from the CD will go

toward missions trips to help restore the Gulf Coast,

fund inner-city youth initiatives in New England cities,

and serve the poor in the Dominican Republic.

The CD producers “hope that by raising awareness for

God’s ministry and mercy, the Driven CD will further

help to glorify God’s Kingdom.” The students also plan

to send copies of the CD to China and Morocco through

a grassroots distribution within those nations. The proj-

ect was partially funded by a Christian Union grant.

Yale to Host Institute of Campus

Revival and Awakening

Yale University will once again be

the site for the Institute of Campus

Revival and Awakening this sum-

mer. Scheduled for July 13 through

19, this annual event helps to edu-

cate attendees on past awakenings,

as well as current events, and helps

equip them for transforming cam-

puses today.

Among the scheduled presenters

are: Walt Kaiser, author of Revive

Us Again: Your Wakeup Call for

Spiritual Renewal, Rhonda Hughey, director of Fusion Min-

istries and author of Desperate for His Presence, and Dr. J.P.

Moreland, speaker and Distinguished Professor of Philoso-

phy at Biola University.

Seminar Explores Christianity

and Career Scholarship

The Rivendell Seminar: Becoming aBiblically Faithful Scholar was heldat Yale this fall.

The event, sponsored by the Riven-dell Institute at Yale, was an explo-ration of the challenges andopportunities facing the believeraiming to become a faithful followerof Christ as a scholar and teacher.

The seminar consisted of a series of related themed eventsthat were held from September to November and includedtopics such as Scholarship as a Christian Vocation, EssentialVirtues, and Three Critical Turns for a Faithful Life.

Manna Christian Fellowship sought raise aware-

ness about orphaned children during World

AIDS Day.

Respect Life Week

2007 raised

awareness of pro-life

issues such as

abortion and

euthanasia.

photo by iStock

YALE

Yale Christian Fel-

lowship’s worship

team, Driven, re-

leased a music CD

which features a

variety of genres.

Dr. J.P. Moreland is

one of the antici-

pated speakers for

the 2008 Institute

for Revival and

Awakening to be

held at Yale July 13

through 19.

The fall Revindell

Seminar, Becom-

ing a Biblically

Faithful Scholar,

explored the chal-

lenges of the be-

liever in academia.

C H R I S T I A N U N I O N

Following is the mission and vision of the Chris-

tian Union, which is printed in each issue of the

Ivy League Christian Observer to keep new read-

ers informed of the ministry's purpose and passion.

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 lead-

ership for all sectors of society.

It’s an ambitious vision, but it’s

what God has called us to give our

lives to. We have a deep passion to

see Jesus Christ honored and exalted

at the eight Ivy League universities

(Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dart-

mouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton,

and Yale). As you may know, these

universities were established many

years ago to bring praise and honor

to Jesus Christ, but have drifted far

from their moorings. For example,

Yale was founded in 1701 by the

colonists of Connecticut, and in

1726, Yale College laws, reflecting

the students’ and university’s devo-

tion to Jesus Christ, ordained that:

“Every student shall consider the

main end of his study to know God

in Jesus Christ 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 Protes-

tants were the most fearful of disclosing their religious be-

liefs 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 at-

tention 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, almost 50 percent of Amer-

icans 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.

You may ask, what can be done to bring these universities

spiritually in-step with the rest of the country? The most im-

portant means to improve the spiritual dimension is to sup-

ply enough long-term, capable, godly campus Christian

workers. The spiritual vibrancy of the campuses is most di-

rectly related to this reality. Yes, we

also need effective strategies, and,

of course, we need the Holy Spirit’s

presence and power; however, the

Spirit works through people, and

without campus Christian workers

leading the charge, there is little

spiritual life. Take Cornell, for ex-

ample. It has 20,000 students,

served by 3,000 faculty and 7,000

staff. That makes a total of 30,000

university people who need to be

presented with the Gospel of Jesus

Christ and taught the Scriptures. If

you were to count all the full-time

Christian workers on campus, it

would amount to less than five peo-

ple. Even with the Herculean efforts

of volunteers and the local

churches, there is no way for the

university to be significantly im-

pacted.

Moreover, the few campus Chris-

tian workers present are usually not there long enough to be-

come 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 usu-

ally move and the cycle starts again. The workers move be-

cause 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

THE MISSION AND VISION OF THE CHRISTIAN UNIONChristian Union Founder Matthew W. Bennett Shares the Vision and Purpose of the Ministry

Christian Union Founder and President,

Matthew W. Bennett, Cornell ’88, ’89


C H R I S T I A N U N I O N

and not as a stepping stone to other ministries. An even big-

ger reason that people move on is that they get married and

have children, and are no longer able to raise the needed sup-

port. Living close to campus in these university towns is ex-

pensive, and it is difficult to raise the money that’s needed.

To provide enough godly, capable, long-term Christian work-

ers 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 commit-

ment to both help other Christian ministries on campus

through fund raising and other means as well as implement-

ing 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 in-

fleuntial in our nation.

Many of our country’s future leaders will graduate from these

schools, and as the leaders go, so goes the country. Thou-

sands 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, Don-

ald 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 Rums-

feld, 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 in-

fluence 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

Founder and President of

the Christian Union


P R A Y E R R E Q U E S T S

• Pray for the Christian students as they renew their vision to

advance the Kingdom of God at Columbia. Pray that the whole

campus will be transformed as Jesus Christ changes lives.

• Pray that Christian students at Columbia would impact not only

their campus, but New York City as well.

• Pray that as a result of the Veritas Forum, the campus will have

truly been exposed to Jesus Christ and many people will begin

asking questions about Christianity.

• Pray that the meeting space and reference room at Christian

Union’s Mott House will continue to serve as a blessing for the

cause of Christ.

• Pray for even greater unity among the ministries and Christian

faculty at Cornell.

• Cornell’s Chosen Generation gospel concert in December brought

out 750 people. Pray for each member of the choir as they strive

to expose the Cornell community, through song to God, and in-

spire them to walk closer to Him.

• Fifteen new students became actively involved in Christian

Impact at Dartmouth as a result of their fall outreach. Please

pray that these students will continue to grow in their faith and

love of God and serve Him with passion all the days of their

lives.

• The Dartmouth Christian Graduate Students are soon to start a

weekly discussion of ‘Mere Christianity’. Pray that this will

promote much in-depth discussion and spiritual growth and stu-

dents will challenge each other to live out what they believe.

• Be in prayer for Harvard-Radcliff Christian Fellowship as they

meet each Friday evening for a time spent glorifying God together

in prayer and worship.

• Pray for the members of the different Christian campus ministries,

as they take time out from their busy schedules to meet with God,

in a time of worship and prayer each weekday morning. Pray that

they will be strengthened and prepared to face the day God has

given them, no matter what challenges they are met with.

• Pray that students who participate in the Penn Campus Crusade

for Christ large group meetings (“Cru”), will continue in their

desire to share their faith with confidence with their friends.

• Pray that Catholic students would find grace and peace at the

college’s Newman Center.

• Pray for increased excitement about Athletes in Action, where

students learn how faith in Jesus Christ can impact theirs lives

in the midst of the challenges and demands of sports and col-

lege life.

• Be praying for the Ivy League Congress on Faith and Action in

April, specifically that many will attend, that much will be

learned and that God will be glorified.

• Princeton Pro-Life joined the March for Life in Washington DC

in January. Pray that their efforts continue to promote and fos-

ter a culture of life at Princeton, and their presence in DC will

increase their effectiveness.

• Pray for the lasting fruit from the Princeton Faith and Action

week-long Ski Trip to Vermont this winter.

• Keep the leadership of The International Church at Yale in prayer,

as they continue to minister to about 40 students from different na-

tions, through Bible teaching, worship and Friday evening din-

ners. Pray that the students attending would find meaningful fel-

lowship and friendships.

• Pray for students’ hearts to be more of a match to their talk, for

intellectual substance to their faith . Pray that they would love

God with all their heart, mind and soul. Pray for clarification of

calling for students.

COLUMBIA

CORNELL

DARTMOUTH

HARVARD

PENN

PRINCETON

YALE

• Pray for the ten students involved in College Hill for Christ,

who are starting their training and preparation for a mission trip

to help restore lives of child victims of war-torn Uganda Pray

that they bring the comfort and hope that the Gospel of Jesus

Christ can offer..

• As Reformed University Fellowship continues to meet each Fri-

day night for a time of fellowship, worship and teaching, pray that

the participants will learn to love and live together as Christians

and that relationships would strengthen and grow deeper.

BROWN


Our mission and passion is to change the worldfor Christ through the mobilization of the IvyLeague community. Next spring we will be host-ing the 2008 Ivy League Congress on Faith andAction for Ivy League students, staff, faculty,alumni, parents, and friends. Our plenary speak-ers will be Dr. Char les Gilmer, President ofImpact Movement and Richar d E. Stear ns, Pres-ident of World Vision U.S.

During the day on Saturday there will be semi-nars on various vocations with experts in theirfields who have changed the world for Christwithin their particular discipline. Seminars in-clude Business, Law, Government, Media, Min-istry, Medicine, and Academia. The weekend willalso provide opportunities for attendees to meeteach other in order to form mentoring and col-laborative relationships to help change the worldfor Christ.

Ivy League Congress on Faith and ActionDates: Apr il 1 1 -1 3, 2008 • Location: New Haven, CT

Richard E. Stearns is presidentof World Vision, a Christian human-itarian organization serving childrenand families in nearly 100 countries.

A

For info, visit www.Christian-Union.org/ILCFA.

Documents

Winter 2008 Ivy League Christian Observer