June 30

What Would Jesus Do (in College)?

In 2006, Eastern Mennonite University cracked a list of top colleges for “conservatives, old-fashioned liberals, and people of faith.” It was a dubious distinction. The Virginia university, coming out of a pacifist tradition, names “peace and sustainability” as core values.

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“Many of the colleges, not all, but many of the colleges in that publication would have a rather different stance than we might have on a number of current issues,” Loren Swartzendruber, president of Eastern Mennonite, says of the listing. “It did spark for us this continuing conversation about how we position ourselves and what those terms mean in the public domain.”

“The growth of the right-wing Christian population in this country, or should I say, at least the visibility of the right-wing – which gets attached to ‘Christian’ in the minds of people – creates a disconnect for us. Because we are clearly Christian. We have no intention of giving up that identity. But we are, I think, a different kind of Christian.”

Swartzendruber describes an internal discussion at Eastern Mennonite on whether to brand the university as a “socially progressive” Christian college — the emphasis, he says, being on a deep Christian commitment to social justice issues (some of which might be described as “liberal” in contemporary parlance).

“It’s a truth in advertising kind of thing,” he says. “If [students] assume they’re going to find at EMU what they would also find at Liberty University [the nearby institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell] they’re not going to be very happy here. They’re going to run into it headlong. They’re going to hear about the peace tradition. They’re going to hear a lot of language about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in this world. From our perspective, that means less nationalism, and a much more global perspective, care for creation. What they would find here is a concern for personal piety … but we’re not willing to stop there because we also believe that the New Testament is pretty clear that there is a social dimension to what Jesus called us to be and to do.”

The university attracts students from all over the world, including Israel and Palestine, to its hallmark graduate program on conflict transformation, runs a Summer Peacebuilding Institute, and characterizes its green building practices as outgrowths of Mennonite theology.

On the flip side, Swartzendruber continues, “To say that we’re socially progressive to some people raises red flags.” The college’s primary constituency, the Mennonite church – about half of its undergraduates are Mennonite – is “all over the map politically.” Furthermore, Swartzendruber says, “any one or two words do not fully communicate. People ask me if I’m conservative or liberal. Well, I don’t know. We have to talk about specific issues.”

Eastern Mennonite is, after all, socially conservative in some ways. Alcohol is banned on campus. Students sign on “to refrain from sexual relationships outside of marriage.” The language of the “community lifestyle commitment” grows out of the theological positions of the Mennonite Church, Swartzendruber explains, which maintains that sexual relationships are reserved for man and woman in marriage.

“These terms play differently to different constituencies,” Swartzendruber says of the “socially progressive” tagline. “We know there are students out there who probably aren’t Mennonite, but they may be uncomfortable with what they see as the predominant Christian culture in this country and they want something different.”

“We’re trying to figure out a way to reach these students.”

Political Baggage

Eastern Mennonite’s deliberations reflect larger challenges confronting a subset of religious colleges: Those looking to differentiate themselves from what’s perceived as the prevailing norm – Christian colleges as bastions of social conservatism – without collapsing age-old faith traditions neatly into simplistic, politically constructed (and potentially alienating) boxes.

“When I think about branding or how we would present ourselves, I go back to our core values, our five core values,” says James E. Brenneman, president of Goshen College, another Mennonite institution, in Indiana. Goshen’s core values fall under the headings of “Christ-centered,” “passionate learners,” “servant leaders,” “compassionate peacemakers,” and “global citizens.”

“I try, personally, to not speak of left, right or center, or liberal or conservative or Republican or Democrat or blue and red, and rather think of it as almost a third way of thinking,” Brenneman says.

“I think the world ‘progressive’ now has taken on the connotation of liberal and all that means. Well, how does that work if we believe that to be Christ-followers and compassionate peacemakers, that part of peacemaking is being consistently pro-life all the way across the board from life to death? We’re against the death penalty but we also might prefer that abortions don’t happen.”

“Sometimes labels are less than helpful, especially when you’re trying to promote your school and those labels — they carry so much baggage with them.”

“We see ourselves more as a centrist place,” says Kim S. Phipps, president of Messiah College, in Pennsylvania. The Christian college, born from the Anabaptist, Pietist and Wesleyan traditions, recently faced criticisms from the right and left when in April it hosted the then-Democratic presidential contenders on campus for the “Compassion Forum,” intended as a setting for discussions on issues including AIDS, climate change, genocide, human rights and poverty.

The right criticized a Christian college for hosting pro-choice candidates. The left criticized candidates for appearing at a college where the “community covenant” requires the avoidance of “sinful practices” including “drunkenness,” “sexual intercourse outside of marriage,” and “homosexual behavior.”

“It’s a balancing act. Faith is beyond political party and political alliances,” says Phipps. In brainstorming a new branding campaign, she’s trying to stay away from language that could identify Messiah with either the left or right side of the political spectrum. The college is currently using phrases like “gracious Christianity” and “hospitality,” although, she acknowledges, “We’re probably going to need to find some language beyond those words that resonate more.”

Social Conservatism

“The effort to employ the Christian college as a progenitor of politically and socially progressive values has had about as much success as broader efforts on the part of many, including myself, to broaden the political and social vision of evangelical Christians more generally,” David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, writes in a chapter of the 2006 book, The Future of Baptist Higher Education (Baylor University Press). “Put directly, it is hard to get red-state, red-meat evangelicals to warm to the idea of their colleges as centers of criticism of American capitalism, consumerism, nationalism, and militarism. Evangelicals tend toward social conservatism, not progressivism and certainly not radicalism, though they do remain open to at least some aspects of the progressive vision when it is presented persuasively, on biblical grounds, by people whom they trust.”

He writes later in the chapter that Christian colleges with seemingly progressive social agendas “tend to be found in the kinds of faith traditions whose piety organically generates such moral commitments, rather than having such a vision imposed on them for a time by a cadre of influential faculty members or administrators.” He cites as an example Berea College, a non-denominational Christian college in Kentucky. It’s a no-tuition institution that only serves low-income students.

In an interview, however, Gushee says he believes that as evangelicals move more to the center, politically speaking – a phenomenon he describes in his new book, The Future of Faith in American Politics (Baylor, 2008) – more religious colleges will start to describe themselves as evangelical and progressive.

Currently among the Baptist colleges — strongholds of social conservatism — Donald Schmeltekopf, provost emeritus of Baylor University, in Texas, and co-editor of the book on Baptist higher education, says he’s not seeing much evidence in the way of social progressivism.

“In the Baptist tradition, there isn’t an emphasis in the way that you have in some Catholic and Mennonite traditions on peace and justice issues,” he explains. There is a “growing sense,” he continues, “that we have been neglectful of our obligations as Christians to speak out on issues of peace and justice. I think that is going to be a more prominent storyline, so to speak, or a more prominent narrative in the years ahead.”

“But it is not,” Schmeltekopf says, “embodied in institutional life.”

“Christian college students and institutions should be more empowered to act on social issues than, frankly, many of our secular peers because our faith demands it of us,” says Nate Mouttet, vice president for communications at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

“I can speak confidently by saying all of our campuses are going to be engaged on social issues, because, again, the Christian faith asks that of them. Some of our campuses are going to be acting on social issues that may be perceived as actually progressive or liberal” because their faith traditions, Mouttet says, take them in that direction.

Social Justice, in a Catholic Context

And then there are the Roman Catholic colleges, where there’s a split between the more theologically conservative colleges – which have, particularly in recent years, tried to corner the market on “Catholic identity” – and, well, everyone else.

Many of the more mainstream Catholic universities – particularly the Jesuit colleges – have responded to attacks on their Catholic character in part by emphasizing a strong commitment to social justice. These are institutions where officials hate that their public identity is formed by debates over “The Vagina Monologues” when students are involved in prisoner rehabilitation programs (as is the case at University of San Francisco), or raising awareness of poverty in the United States (such as in this Spring Hill College “Facing Poverty” project), or traveling to Central America to do the same.

“Social justice has really been a hallmark of the Vatican and the leadership of the church for almost 30 years now, since John Paul [II] became Pope,” says the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, president of Loyola University Chicago. “Our congregations have been stressing the whole notion of justice and faith, and a faith that does justice.”

“The Jesuit schools have, especially over the past 10 years, been taking that message pretty seriously,” Father Garanzini says. “How will our education prepare men and women to be promoters of social justice?”

“You would almost say, from the outside, that there are juxtapositions of the social justice agenda – which is thought of as a liberal agenda – with the Pope’s own conservative theological agenda.” Some Catholic colleges, Father Garanzini says, are “hitching their wagon” to the latter, and others to the former.

Meanwhile, at DePaul University, another Catholic university in Chicago (but with Vincentian roots), officials say they describe the university’s social agenda with more neutral terms like “community involvement, service learning, service to the community.” They say they aren’t overly explicit in promoting social justice as an ideal to prospective undergraduates, who grow to understand it only through experience.

“What we find is that the commitment to social justice, the learning that’s really infused with the social justice message, with community involvement, is that’s something they get and come to appreciate through their undergraduate career and certainly something that they play back very strongly as alumni,” says Deborah Maue, DePaul’s assistant vice president for marketing strategy.

“But it’s not something that we lead with.”

— Elizabeth Redden

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Comments

Thanks, Inside Higher Ed, for giving voice to the ongoing efforts of these universities to distinguish themselves amidst the often restrictive definitions of Christian university.

—Scott Barge Harvard UniversityGoshen College ‘99

Scott Barge, at 7:10 am EDT on June 30, 2008

email blurb

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO (IN COLLEGE)? Some Christian and Catholic colleges want to identifythemselves as explicitly progressive, on their own terms — and to make clear that the religious right in higher ed doesn’t speak for them.

Comment:Understanding and expressions of Christian faith vary widely, but Christian and Catholic are not separate categories.

Charles Flynn, President at College of Mount Saint Vincent, at 8:00 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Just more reasons to believe terms like “liberal” and “conservative” really don’t mean anything specific....

kgotthardt, at 9:20 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Emergent

I am so excited to see Christian colleges and universities moving in this direction! There is a movement among churches of all denominations to stop politicizing the church and start living the message the Jesus. This movement was started 10 years ago with the Emergent Village which included evangelicals such as Brian McLaren. His seminal book, A New Kind of Christian, sparked a conversation that now includes writers such as Doug Padgitt, Jim Wallis, Dallas Willard, Tony Jones, Spencer Burke, and many others. I heard Brian McLaren speak about his latest book, Everything Must Change, at Goshen College.

Everything is changing! Glory to God!

TM, at 9:20 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Repression at EMU

I have a chapter in my book Patriotic Correctness about repression at Christian colleges, and although EMU may be more “progressive” and not as bad as some colleges, it still shares the basic problem of repressive policies.

http://www.emu.edu/studentlife/studenthandbook/handbook.pdfEMU requires all students and staff “refrain from sexual relationship outside of marriage”(12) and even requires “social responsibility” and “unselfish love.”(12)

In addition, the student handbook declares, “We will not tolerate...name calling or other forms of abuse whether written spoken directly or implied.”(12) It specifically names gay and lesbian people as deserving the same respect as others, and adds, “Persons who engage in such non-respectable behavior may be subject to discipline.”(12)

The policy requires the editors of student publications to produce “an accurate and tasteful publication” and gives the administration the unchecked authority to fire an editor at any time.(23)

Also, “EMU reserves the right to properly regulate the on-campus appearance of extra-curricular lecturers and guest speakers.”(53)

The Employee Handbook is also highly restrictive: http://www.emu.edu/humanresources...mu.edu/humanresources/handbook/2.pdf

If EMU wants to be defined as a “progressive” college, it should start by increasing freedom on campus.

John K. Wilson, collegefreedom.org, at 9:50 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Just yesterday CNN ran this story about one of our alums, Shane Claiborne. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/evangelical.campaign/It demonstrates that Christian colleges and universities are not as easily categorized as they once were. Obama’s campaign ran a “Faith Forum” here at Eastern, just before the Pennsylvania primary. Former U. S. Senator Rick Santorum, conservative Republican, spoke here in the spring. Cornel West will be here in the fall, before the election. Christian colleges and universities are not places which have moats around them, with drawbridges up.

Kathryn Lee, Professor of Political Science at Eastern University, at 9:50 am EDT on June 30, 2008

The day the people of this country remove the labels that hinder us will be the day we can truly know and understand each other. We’ll even realize there’s less “gray area” than we thought.

CRCR, Texas Woman’s University, at 10:45 am EDT on June 30, 2008

John Wilson’s comment would have more validity if he was criticizing a public university. But don’t, and shouldn’t, church institutions have the right to develop in ways that accord with their faith based beliefs? Otherwise, why have church based higher education institutions? A case could be made that the US should NOT have a pluralism in higher education, and be like other nations that only have public higher ed —- but that idea isn’t gonna fly. I praise Eastern Mennonite for being clear about its beliefs and its moral expectations; they aren’t mine, but they are those of many college age Christians.

marc, history prof, at 10:50 am EDT on June 30, 2008

can there be religious institutions

Dear Mr. John K. Wilson,

Do you think that there can be religious educational institutions? If so, what might that “religion” allow/disallow?

Is your commitment to freedom—when pushed to its logical end—anything more than a fundamental conviction (i.e., belief)? Is your commitment not “religious,” or at least, fideistic? Why can’t other communities establish guidelines according to their convictions?

In the end, your call for “freedom” seems rather monologic, uniform, and restrictive. Hmmm...

PiledHigher&Deeper, at 10:50 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Outstanding

Outstanding article, IHE. Thanks for reporting on an important topic, shedding light to many readers that Christian colleges cannot all be lumped into one category, no matter how hard individuals with conservative and liberal dogmatic mindsets try. It’s so much more complicated, yet simple, than that, like the Christian faith they represent. Well done!

David, at 11:20 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Thank you, Charles Flynn, for pointing out that “Christian” and “Catholic” are not independent terms — this mistaken division is nearly universal in the mainstream media.

Mark Reimer, Leadership Giving Officer at Boston College, at 11:20 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Freedom and WWJD

JKW... You state,"If EMU wants to be defined as a “progressive” college, it should start by increasing freedom on campus.”

If EMU and other Christian universities followed your suggestion, would that not just make them like any other university?

Students are not forced to attend EMU or these types of Christian universities; rather students select to attend these universities quite possibly because they believe in the university’s mission, student handbook, etc. However, if a student who is attending one of these Christian colleges does perceive their rights are not being respected byway of the college’s mission or student handbook, does this student not have the “freedom” to enroll to a different college where the mission and student handbook reflect his/her own beliefs?

btw...WWJD… Find the colleges built for His honor and ask if they still follow His Word, followed by His own assessment instrument.

Garcia, at 11:40 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Freedom and the Religious College

In response to my critics: of course, all private colleges (including religious ones) have a legal right to violate the tenets of academic freedom and intellectual liberty. But that doesn’t mean we should endorse such attacks on intellectual freedom.

Claiming that religious institutions must engage in repression in order to have “pluralism” in higher education is utterly wrong. Would we say that we must endorse dictatorships because the nations of the world would be “uniform” if they were all free democracies? Of course not. We all recognize that diversity prevails even when there’s freedom if we talk about governments. Why don’t we see this is true of higher education?

If you believe that the only reason to have religious colleges is to ban dissenting views, then you misunderstand the meaning of both religion and higher education. The ideal of a religious college is to make that religion a central focus of campus debate and discussion, but not to demand any particular conclusions from students and staff. For example, right-wing groups have sought to have Catholic colleges ban pro-choice speakers or the Vagina Monologues on campus. This is wrong. The proper approach for a religious college is to ensure that there are speakers and discussions and plays representing these religious views on campus, not to prohibit views that contradict official doctrine. I would even apply this logic to alcohol and tobacco. A religious college can engage in constant education about the hazards and evils of alcohol and tobacco without regulating the personal choices of students and staff.

There is absolutely nothing incompatible about embracing intellectual freedom and having a deeply committed religious college. It is only the narrow-minded views of religion (and higher education) that make people imagine the opposite is true.

John K. Wilson, collegefreedom.org, at 11:45 am EDT on June 30, 2008

Religion, alas, is over

Sad business, but the squeeze on religiously-affiliated colleges that aren’t in the conservative evangelical (or conservative Catholic) mold simply reflects an unstoppable cultural trend that’s global. Affluent, educated people are largely secular—the US is behind the curve but already following the European pattern. The socially conservative lower classes are the primary market for religion. In the US, “mainline” churches are dying because there are no takers. Their traditional constituency, the educated upper middle class, are for the most part not interested in religion.

As far as the “values” rhetoric Catholic colleges are currently promoting, that’s fundamentally disingenuous. There is nothing particularly Catholic, or particularly religious, about a commitment to social justice, peace or high ethical standards. Religiously-affiliated colleges that identify their religious commitment with a social or ethical agenda are simply secular institutions with an historical or merely nominal church connection making pious noises to sell themselves to parents who imagine that such places will put a lid on risky adolescent behavior or at least instill niceness.

LogicGuru, at 12:15 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

freedom, so to speak

John K. Wilson asks: “Would we say that we must endorse dictatorships because the nations of the world would be ‘uniform’ if they were all free democracies?”

In asking such questions, Wilson’s “belief” (and, yes, it is a faith position) in “objective” knowledge is revealed. Mr. Wilson, your epistemology is showing. Is it possible that one finds expressions of particular “truths” only when one is committed to already-established principles? For example, doesn’t one have to commit to, say, the authority of a religious text to believe it? If so, the same goes for those fideistically committed to certain philosophic or political ideals, no?

Mr. Wilson continues (freely correcting his readers “errors"): “If you believe that the only reason to have religious colleges is to ban dissenting views, then you misunderstand the meaning of both religion and higher education. The IDEAL OF A RELIGIOUS COLLEGE is to make that religion a central focus of campus DEBATE AND DISCUSSION” [. . .] THE PROPER APPROACH FOR A RELIGIOUS COLLEGE is to ensure that there are speakers and discussions and plays representing these religious views on campus [. . .]” [my emphasis; Wilson’s words].

My, my! For one committed to freedom, Mr. Wilson certainly can pontificate! Are you, Mr. Wilson, willing to make your own commitmeent to “freedom,” as you conceive it, the subject of debate and discussion? Or are you going to commit to your principles and try to live with integrity according to your lights?

PiledHigher&Deeper, at 1:15 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

The Closed Liberal Mind

Milton Rokeach had it right a generation ago. The issue is having an open or closed mind. He recognized that both liberals and conservatives can be closed minded fundamentalists. God help the poor faculty member who mentions personal faith in any manner to colleagues in a secular state school whose religion is Marxism or post modernism of some other new ism. The ad hominum attacks will begin immediately and tenure will be denied. Wilson wants freedom for himself but not for others who may seek to combine faith with academic thinking and a community of accountability. And to suggest that sex only in marriage is a moral alternative for some students, is well, just too constraining for a really “thinking” person. Better to encourage freedom and then try and decide how we will deal with the 70 percent of infants born to single women. That moral behavior has good societal consequences and immoral behavior has bad societal consequences and educational institutions should encourage moral behavior for societal if not religious reasons is, well just too much for a liberal fundamentalist like Wilson. After being a tenured prof in both state and private faith based universities, I promise you the most closed minded fundamentalists are the doctrinaire liberals like Wilson. They are santimonious even as their institutions sink into the ignominy of immoral nihilism. Hey if you dont like the Christian concept of academic freedom which includes faith and reason, fine. But look at the beam in your own eye first.

Piled Even Higher, at 2:35 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

The Closed Conservative Mind

That Piled Higher person is sure piling it up. It’s truly Orwellian when my universal defense of liberty is smeared as a “liberal fundamentalist.” According to Piled Higher, “Wilson wants freedom for himself but not for others who may seek to combine faith with academic thinking and a community of accountability.” I defy anyone to read my book Patriotic Correctness and point out any instance where I advocate denying freedom for others. A “community of accountability” is a lovely buzzword for forcing everyone to agree. I’m the one here urging freedom for everyone (including people of faith at secular universities). It’s certain religious colleges and their apologists who embrace repression. Consider Piled Higher’s complaint that “to suggest that sex only in marriage is a moral alternative for some students, is well, just too constraining for a really ‘thinking’ person.” Individuals and colleges are perfectly free to suggest this silly idea. All I’m saying is that no college worthy of the name should force students and staff to obey these dictates. And that’s what they do.

I “certainly can pontificate,” as one critic points out. That’s part of debate in a free society, and my views are open to criticism like any others. But there is an important difference. At my ideal university, critics of my views are freely allowed. At the religious conservatives’ ideal university (which includes several hundred colleges today), liberal critics of their views are banished. And that’s a critical difference that no amount of obfuscation can conceal. The question must be asked of these repressive religious colleges (and many secular colleges): why are you afraid to let students hear dissenting ideas?

John K. Wilson, collegefreedom.org, at 6:50 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

Oh Joy!

As an elderly academic afflicted with the usual set of personal biases (e.g., baptized and confirmed non-practicing agnostic Lutheran scientist, fifth-generation German Socialist, New-Deal Democrat, Chicago Cubs fan, etc.), it gives me great pleasure to say how happy I am to live in a country where Eastern Mennonite University can freely debate and shape its own institutional character.

Don Langenberg, at 6:50 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

Fine, but....

Helping prisoners, feeding the poor and finding housing for the homeless, is super—very Christian.

Unbridled pacifism? I don’t think so. I hope that EMU has students read Acquinas’ argument on just war. Another good read, although he is not Mennonite, is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an ardent pacifist who, at one time, argued that there was no justification for ANY war since killing another person meant killing someone created in the image of God.

After Kristallnacht, where Nazi thugs killed and kidnapped thousands of Jews, torched synagogues and smashed windows of thousands of Jew-owned businesses in Germany and Austria, Bonhoeffer could stand it no longer. This complete pacifist joined an underground plot to kill Hitler. He could not abide the existence of such evil in the world.

Unjust peace was worse than just war.

Steven Clark, UWhttp://stevensclark.typepad.com/bioscience_biz/

Steven Clark, UW, at 7:20 pm EDT on June 30, 2008

I attended Eastern Mennonite University from 1997 to 2001. During that time, I was involved in theater, literature, peace groups, women’s groups and served as the editor of the student newspaper. I also spent three months in the Middle East through the university’s cross-cultural program (a requirement for graduation), primarily in Israel and Palestine. We lived with Muslims, Christians and Jews without any attempts (or wishes) to proselytize.

After graduation, I worked for three years in New York City through Mennonite Voluntary Service. I worked for an internationally known Catholic peace group: Pax Christi. I met the famously radical (Father Daniel Berrigan) and those who worked without notice or fame. My husband, also an EMU grad, worked at the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, a place where users can dispose of needles and get new ones without any judgment. All of these opportunities to live and/or serve would have been harder to gain without EMU’s influence.

I will not defend every facet of EMU’s official lifestyle agreement. There were many discussions in and out of class about homosexuality, the definition of pacifism, the role of women in the church and in secular life, evolution, theology and even the existence of God. At no time did an administrator call a halt to those discussions.

There are many lifestyle issues that EMU officially holds that I disagree with. I have seen people I care about hurt by them. However, I think these are things that will be worked through at EMU and other Mennonite colleges. Change takes time. It was only thirty years ago that most of the women on campus wore head coverings. Now you rarely see them. Someone who isn’t a Mennonite wouldn’t think that was such a big deal. But it was. It signified a giant change of perspective in the Mennonite world.

Jessica, EMU Graduate, at 5:20 am EDT on July 1, 2008

As a senior at Goshen College, a similar, although somewhat more liberal institution to Eastern Mennonite, and also someone for whom open academic, political, and social dialog are extremely important, it seems to me that the debate between John Wilson and others has oversimplified, and polarized, the discussion. Although I agree with Wilson that community standards can be problematic, I also see that they can be valuable.

A good example of this is maintaining a dry campus. Personally, I don’t care if people drink responsibly, I don’t want them imposing their drunkenness on me though. The nature of on campus student housing (which I really value in that it allows for a strong sense of community to develop) is that there are lots of students in a rather small space (especially in dorm environments). Allowing drinking in these environments impacts not just the people drinking, but their neighbors, and likely the rest of the hall.

At the same time community standards should be the standards of the community. They should also be as unrestrictive as possible and should not inhibit open and honest academic, ideological, and social debate.

I think that, often, the goal of these policies is to balance this need for openness with the understanding that individuals actions have a wider effect on the community. That is not to say that they always get this balance right, but when they can find a good balance (which will be somewhat different for each community), community standards can be extreemly valuable and can encourage, not stifle, open dialog.

Jesse, Seinor at Goshen College, at 10:40 am EDT on July 2, 2008

I am also a senior at Goshen College. Unlike Jesse, I am mounring the loss of off-campus housing (a ‘next step’ to independence and, actually, a very active area of college life, providing opportunities for gardening, bill paying, visiting with neighbors to the college, potlucks, and more). I appreciate our dry campus and smoke-free campus as well, I think it makes for a very comfortable, campus. Requiring on-campus housing, in my mind, was a move indicating that perhaps Goshen didn’t trust some of the members of its community, or see that requiring on campus housing could isolate students even further from the residents of the city. Quite sad, and, dare I say restrictive?Beyond that, I have found Goshen to be a place where students are free to be involved in many wonderful, ’socially conscious’ activities, discussions, trips, etc. Though homosexuality is not officially ‘okay’ by the Mennonite Church, thank goodness there are campuses like Goshen and EMU where students can find a safe place to reveal who they are without fearing angry backlash. Despite where my college may have been ‘too restrictive’, I believe they try very hard to live up to there 5 core values and create a community of love, respect, and faith.

Katie, at 5:25 am EDT on July 3, 2008

Not gay, but feeling guilty

I work at a Mennonite college — it doesn’t matter which one, because I believe what I’m about to say applies to all. I love this place, but I am in inner agony about the fact that our official stance on love, social justice, peace, compassion, respect for others, and submission to God’s will, seems to stop at the door of our gay sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and friends.

Earlier in my life, I thought that being gay was a negative social deviation that people chose for themselves, the way one might choose to steal or not steal. I was therefore opposed to this choice and wished people would stop making it.

I have come to realize that I was ignorant on this matter. I now believe that most people are born gay the way that some people are born with genes that make them left-handed or 7-feet-tall as adults or red-headed or whatever. And these people are also beloved children of God. And so we are surely displeasing God by not loving His children too, and allowing them to be fully who they are.

The Mennonite Church’s persistent refusal to fully embrace the gay members of its family makes me feel guilty, ashamed and wondering what I should do here at my Mennonite university to change this hurtful policy. There is so much “right” here, I keep telling myself that time will bring about the necessary change in people’s attitudes and in the policies of the church and its colleges. Yet am I being like the people 150-years-ago who passively said “time will bring about changing attitudes toward slavery,” rather than those who spoke up loudly and organized to bring about that change?

Thinking Out Loud, at 12:00 pm EDT on July 4, 2008

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Program Coordinator, Recruitment and Retention
Lone Star College System

Located just north of Houston, Texas, our five campuses serve 1,400 square miles. Our student enrollment is nearly 50,000 in ... see job

Senior Database Administrator
Lansing Community College

Founded in 1957, Lansing Community College serves 40,000 students. A public community college governed by an elected board of ... see job

University Based Programs Manager
University of Pennsylvania

Creates and supervise operational plans: scheduling and staffing. Manage and utilize resources, staff, and budgets. Set ... see job