Hope and Healing at Ohio State University

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 19:46:34 +0000

Gordon Govier

Hope and Healing at Ohio State University

The day after an angry man crashed his car into a building on the Ohio State University (OSU) campus and attacked students with a knife, ��ñ�� students mobilized a compassionate response. They erected a “Wailing Wall” on campus that offered fellow students an opportunity to lament and express their fears and hopes. Students also prayed with those who wanted prayer.

The man, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, was shot and killed by a responding police officer. Eleven students and faculty members were injured in the attack. The campus was on lockdown for just over an hour and classes were called off for the rest of the day.

“When it was revealed that the attacker was an OSU freshman, ethnically Somali, and religiously Muslim, the level of fear on campus rose palpably,” said ��ñ�� area director Rachel Bobbitt. “Somali and Muslim students feared retaliation with racism or violence. So it was deeply meaningful when a Muslim woman came to our wall on Tuesday and shared her thoughts.” Ohio State University president Michael Drake also stopped by and expressed his support for what the ��ñ�� students were doing.

The Muslim woman who came to the wall stayed for three hours, and even helped bring other people to the wall. She was already friends with some of the ��ñ�� students and had participated in some previous ��ñ�� activities.

“The campus was seeing Christians and Muslims reconciled together, right before their eyes, which is a unity and trust rarely seen,” Rachel said. “This was not just a symbolic action; important spiritual work was done and lives were changed.”

The “Wailing Wall” came out of an extended time of prayer shared by ��ñ�� staff and students the afternoon after the attack, as they considered how to respond. They chose an expression similar to Proxe Stations—artistic displays that are often used to open up dialogue about spiritual issues with students. Students from all five of the ��ñ�� chapters at OSU participated when the wall was set up on the day after the tragedy, dialoguing and praying with fellow students who stopped to share their concerns.

Some of the ��ñ�� students shared about their experiences as they helped lead the campus in a response to the crisis:

“One girl in particular said she grew up around Christians but trust was broken and she was unsure of what she believed. She thanked us for being there and said that her faith in the Christian community was a little bit more restored because of what we were doing and how she saw people being encouraged. I feel like God was using our response to spread the gospel on campus.”

“Our mural actually exceeded my expectations. I have bad allergies right now and yesterday may have been really tiring for me but I knew I needed to be at that wall. Lots of students wanted to say something but didn’t know how to put it into words, so I’m glad we were there to offer encouragement and ‘be the light’ on campus. I’m proud of what God did yesterday and that he was able to use us.”

“I think God really showered everyone with warmth. Every person that came wrote or drew something encouraging. Some people were compelled to have conversation or stick around. One or two people decided to hug us as well. We saw so much kindness yesterday in contrast to the violence of Monday.”

��ñ��’s vision is to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed.

News Keywords

Renewing the Campus

Prayer

Ohio State University

Muslims

Lamentations

��ñ�� Supports Religious Freedom

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 17:21:09 +0000

Press Room

��ñ�� Supports Religious Freedom

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) -- ��ñ��, which has over 1,000 student-led chapters on campuses across the U.S., has joined with other Christian campus ministry organizations in a statement denouncing attacks on Muslim student organizations and students and committing to speaking out against future attacks.

“The First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty includes all religious individuals and campus organizations,” the statement says. “Every group should be able to exist on campus and express their religious faith without fear.”

“We denounce the increase in on-campus attacks against Muslim students and campus organizations,” said Greg Jao, ��ñ��’s vice president for campus engagement. “As Christian campus ministries, we believe Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the same way we would stand with a student organization being targeted because of its Christian faith commitments, we are committed to speaking out when Muslim student organizations are being targeted because of their faith.

��ñ�� believes loving our neighbor on campus includes respectfully engaging in inter-religious dialogue to support greater understanding, such as a recent event ��ñ�� co-sponsored at McDaniel College in Maryland, while still retaining the distinctives of our Christian faith. ��ñ�� students at Ohio State University also responded with a message of hope and healing that was embraced by some Muslim students, after a recent attack on campus and ��ñ�� students at Baruch College have engaged in inter-faith dialogue with Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu student groups. At Pierce College, ��ñ�� students help maintain a prayer room that is open to all faiths.

In addition to ��ñ��, groups signing the statement include: Christian Legal Society, Navigators, Chi Alpha, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, and Young Life.

Complete Statement:

Evangelical Campus Ministry Statement to Muslim Campus Groups

Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

Our commitment to religious liberty requires us to speak out when religious people or groups are targeted because of their beliefs or practices, whether by the government or by other Americans. The First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty includes all religious individuals and campus organizations.

We long for campus environments where religious students and groups are respected and protected as valued members of a diverse campus community.

In recent days, we have read several reports of Muslim students being physically attacked on campus and have heard reports of Muslim Student Association property being vandalized.

As leaders of evangelical Christian campus ministries, we denounce acts of violence against Muslim students and Muslim campus organizations like those affiliated with Muslim Student Association National and Muslim Student Association-West.

When any of us experience acts of religiously-motivated threats, discrimination, or exclusion, as Muslim campus communities currently face, we will speak out. Every group should be able to exist on campus and express their religious faith without fear.

E. Scott Martin Executive Director Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA
David Nammo Chief Executive Officer Christian Legal Society
David Stevens Chief Executive Officer Christian Medical and Dental Societies
Vincent J. Burens President & CEO Coalition for Christian Outreach
Gregory L. Jao Vice President/Campus Engagement ��ñ��
Ken Larson Collegiate Director The Navigators
Newt Crenshaw President Young Life

For more information from ��ñ��
Greg Jao
Vice President and Director of Campus Engagement
gjao@intervarsity.org
917/572-1779 (mobile)

News Keywords

Muslims

Hope and Healing at Ohio State University

Hope and Healing at Ohio State University

��ñ���� Supports Religious Freedom

��ñ���� Supports Religious Freedom

Evangelical Campus Ministry Statement to Muslim Campus Groups

��ñ�� Supports Religious Freedom

��ñ�� Supports Religious Freedom