Harvard

Spiritual Conversations that Change Lives

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 21:46:57 +0000

Gordon Govier

Spiritual Conversations that Change Lives

The atheists on the other side of the room at New York University (NYU) were not happy when the Christians sang their worship songs. And that was the beginning of Mickey Sanchez’s journey to becoming an ��ñ�� Campus Staff Minister.

“NYU put us in the same room together, with just a little dividing wall between us,” he recalled. “We bothered them when we did worship. We didn’t know they were there.”

The Christians turned down their music when they realized what was happening, and the two groups continued to meet in the same large room, as assigned. Later, Mickey crossed the dividing wall to talk with the atheists. He was curious to know why they believed what they believed. They shared back and forth, and the atheists invited Mickey back the following week.

At the same time Mickey was struggling with his biochemistry lab work. It was more tedious than he expected. “From that point on, I realized I was much more interested in having conversations with atheists than running DNA trials,” he said.

As the philosophical discussions continued, Mickey switched his major to political science, a field that he perceived as applied philosophy. After graduation he found a job at the New York City Council office but stayed connected with the Christian fellowship and the atheists’ club at NYU because he wanted to continue the conversations. “Eventually I realized I should be doing ministry and not politics, if that’s where all my energy is,” he said. Both he and his wife decided to go to seminary.

Seminary took them to Boston and it was there, while on staff at a church, that several people told him he would be a good fit for ��ñ��’s campus ministry. The opportunity to lead an Alpha course with veteran ��ñ�� Campus Minister Jeff Barneson in the Harvard Business School, during which two people in the class were baptized and two others came to faith, clinched it.

“I saw that as God’s confirmation that I should be doing campus ministry,” he said. As Mickey joined ��ñ�� staff at Harvard and began to work with the various Graduate School fellowships, he discovered each school had a different culture. When it came to Bible study, for instance, there were similar passions but varying applications.

“In the Business School they didn’t spend a lot of time analyzing the text,” he noted. “They went straight to application. In the PhD world they analyzed the text most of the time and probably didn’t get to the application enough.”

Mickey expected to stay at Harvard long term, but after just four years there his wife landed a job at the national office of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago. So three years ago he began working with the graduate students at Northwestern University.

Instead of overseeing several different chapters and having a fellowship of ��ñ�� staff to work with, Mickey is now staffing one single grad chapter that numbers over 50 students. But like at Harvard, ��ñ�� grad student ministry has a long history at Northwestern. They had been praying for a staff minister for a number of years. Mickey is pleased that the group has a missional focus to reach every corner of the graduate school campus.

Adjusting to the Midwest after living on the east coast for most of his life has been easier than he expected. He’s been working on getting acquainted with other groups of Northwestern graduate students, building connections, and finding ways to cosponsor events with them.

Recently, one of the chapter’s small group leaders bumped into a huddle of students in the Physics Department, who were talking about Graduate Christian Fellowship. They were complimenting the fellowship’s activities, in particular a dialogue that had been held with the Queer Pride group.

“What we’re doing here at Northwestern is creating bridges for people to consider the gospel,” Mickey said. “We’re trying to remove obstacles that are unnecessary. Our dream of reaching every corner of the campus is starting to happen.”

Grad students tend to be more isolated than undergrads, and connecting about faith issues can be difficult. But Mickey believes that opening up dialogue and having spiritual conversations among grad students and faculty can change the culture of a campus. “It’s easier for undergrads to be open to faith when there are spiritual conversations among grad students and professors,” he said.

From biochemistry to politics to campus ministry, it took a few turns before Mickey found his calling. As ��ñ�� embraces the 2030 Calling to reach out to every corner of every campus, he is looking forward to seeing how ministry to graduate students and faculty can lead the way.

News Keywords

New York University

Graduate and Faculty Ministries

Harvard

Northwestern

Alpha

“Academic Justice”

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 28 May 2014 20:31:54 +0000

News

Alec Hill, President of ��ñ��

“Academic Justice”

Harvard’s campus newspaper recently posted a column subtitled “Let’s give up on academic freedom in favor of justice.” Arguing that certain types of speech cause offense to others, the author posited that such voices must be stifled.

Certainly, the notion of “academic justice” has a measure of appeal. After all, who wants to defend the racist beliefs of former UC Berkeley professor Arthur Jensen (“I.Q varies by race”) or the homophobic rants of the late Rev. Fred Phelps at the University of Kansas (“God hates fags”)? Universities must reserve the right to intervene in extreme situations.

However, the academy must be chary not to use this power injudiciously. When applied too broadly, academic justice can be misused to silence legitimate voices and disenfranchise unpopular groups.

Evidence of such overreach has occurred on several campuses this spring. For example, a segment of Haverford College’s community pressured Robert Birgeneau, former chancellor of UC Berkeley, to withdraw as commencement speaker. His past sin? Using police to vacate Occupy Berkeley protesters from university buildings.

Likewise, Christine Lagarde, French politician and director of the International Monetary Fund, cancelled her address at Smith College. Her sin? An online petition signed by a group of faculty and students attacked the IMF for its “imperialistic and patriarchal systems that oppress and abuse women worldwide.”

What’s unfortunate is that the protesters silenced these voices rather than engage in respectful dialogue. More troubling yet is the question: who is vested with the authority to decide which opinions are verboten? In chilling words, the Harvard column declares:

“The power to enforce academic justice comes from students, faculty and workers organizing together to make universities look as we want them to.”

That a majority – or simply a vocal group of activists – should determine who is allowed to speak, act and associate on campus is more than alarming. This threatens not only to quash the spirit of open debate, but to undermine the concept of principled pluralism on campus.

Universities as Public Forums

Universities have always been messy places where conflicting narratives and ideologies vie with each other openly and freely. Necessarily, this involves a measure of discomfort for all involved. Part of entering the adult world is the ability to process offensive and irreconcilable ideas.

More than any other social institution, the academy should aspire to create “neutral zones” amidst various cultural battles. Allowing space for dissenting and unpopular viewpoints is part and parcel of its enduring legacy.

For faith-based student groups (whether Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh or Christian), finding safe haven on American campuses is a growing concern. As expressions of devout faith become less palatable at many institutions, will these groups be allowed to freely associate, self-select leaders and share their beliefs with others? Or will campuses become - in the words of former Yale Law School dean, Anthony Kronman - increasingly “intellectually and spiritually frozen?”

My fear is that notions of “academic justice” will trump religious expression. That sharing one’s faith with a non-adherent will be retitled as “proselytizing.” That insistence on orthodoxy and orthopraxy of student leaders will be re-labeled as “religious discrimination.” That freedom of association will be reinterpreted as “exclusionary.”

The manner in which universities resolve these controversies today foreshadow the way our culture will engage with difficult issues in the future. Tomorrow’s leaders are college students today. The conversations they experience now will provide the templates they will pursue for decades to come.

___

EDITOR'S UPDATE: In his Harvard commencement speech on Thursday, May 29, 2014, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed the same basic issue as Alec Hill's column written the day before, academic freedom. Bloomberg said:

"Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness, and it is up to us to fight it at every turn. Intolerance of ideas – whether liberal or conservative – is antithetical to individual rights and free societies, and it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarship.

"There is an idea floating around college campuses – including here at Harvard – that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a particular view of justice. There’s a word for that idea: censorship. And it is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism...

"...Great universities must not become predictably partisan. And a liberal arts education must not be an education in the art of liberalism.

"The role of universities is not to promote an ideology. It is to provide scholars and students with a neutral forum for researching and debating issues – without tipping the scales in one direction, or repressing unpopular views...

"...I strongly believe that a university’s obligation is not to teach students what to think but to teach students how to think. And that requires listening to the other side, weighing arguments without prejudging them, and determining whether the other side might actually make some fair points.

"If the faculty fails to do this, then it is the responsibility of the administration and governing body to step in and make it a priority. If they do not, if students graduate with ears and minds closed, the university has failed both the student and society."

Mayor Bloomberg's complete speech can be viewed and read on this Washington Post blog. Reports on the Harvard commencement can also be read in the Boston Globe and Harvard Crimson.

News Keywords

Public Forums

Harvard

Academic Freedom

��ñ�� Alumnus Michael Oh to Direct Lausanne Movement

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:27:10 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

��ñ�� Alumnus Michael Oh to Direct Lausanne Movement

Michael Oh, who told his story of faith and commitment at ��ñ��’s 2009 Urbana Student Missions Conference, has been selected to become the next Executive Director/CEO of the Lausanne Movement, a global coalition of evangelical Christians. Michael is a Korean-American missionary who founded Christ Bible Institute in Nagoya, Japan. On March 1, 2013, he succeeds Douglas Birdsall, who becomes president of the American Bible Society.

Michael became a leader in his ��ñ�� chapter as a student at the University of Pennsylvania and was also connected to ��ñ�� while a graduate student at Harvard University. “I consider my involvement with ��ñ�� as formative to my own spiritual life and calling,” he said.

As an ��ñ�� student leader Michael attended the Urbana 90 Student Missions Conference. “I was personally challenged to consider the nations during the amazing talks by Ajith Fernando and Isaac Canales,” he recalled. “I never could have imagined that I would be standing on the stage sharing my own story at Urbana 09.” Michael responded to God’s call to become a missionary to Japan, in spite of the suffering his family had endured in Korea at the hands of Japanese conquerors during World War II.

Becoming CEO of the Lausanne Movement gives Michael the chance to further advance the calling he received at Urbana 90. Lausanne is a global movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. Michael has been involved with Lausanne as part of its Younger Leaders Network, and as a part of the Lausanne Administrative Committee. He is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America.

“I'm eager to see a new generation of young Christians around the world engaged with the vision to see the whole church bring the whole gospel to the whole world,” he said. “I ask for your prayers and your partnership until the blessed task is finished.”

“I’m very excited about Michael’s passion for both global missions and catalyzing the next generation, the same things that are at the very heart of Urbana and ��ñ�� missions,” said ��ñ��’s Vice President and Urbana Director Tom Lin, who also serves as Lausanne’s International Deputy Director for North America. “I look forward to closely working with Michael. He embodies ��ñ��’s vision for seeing students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed.”

News Keywords

Urbana

University of Pennsylvania

Missions

Lausanne

Harvard

Jeremy Lin's ��ñ�� Roots

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:47:45 +0000

Alumni Profile

News

Gordon Govier

Jeremy Lin's ��ñ�� Roots

Jeremy Lin’s ��ñ�� story was first written two years ago on ��ñ��’s StudentSoul website when he was still a student at Harvard. The interview revealed his passion for daily Bible study, weekly small group meetings, regular church attendance, and sharing the gospel with his teammates by word and by example.

In 2012, after Jeremy set an NBA record for the New York Knicks with an incredible stretch of 109 points scored in his first four starts, and the New York Times included a link to StudentSoul in one of its Jeremy Lin stories, page views went through the roof. The excitement was dubbed "Linsanity." Following the 2012 season, Lin went on to sign a contract with the Houston Rockets.

Harvard Campus Ministry

Because he was a varsity athlete, Jeremy’s involvement in the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF) and the broader Asian community at Harvard was somewhat limited, according to Adrian Tam, who was an ��ñ��/HRAACF Campus Staff Member during that period. “Jeremy was in the spotlight at Harvard before he was in the spotlight in the NBA,” Adrian said. “He showed that Asian Americans could be leaders, they could be athletic, and they could be bold and open about their faith in a winsome way.”

In a video testimony Jeremy said that he missed Christian community at Harvard until he connected with HRAACF. Adrian became a spiritual mentor to Jeremy, meeting with him regularly, studying the Bible together, and reading together such books as Too Busy Not to Pray. “He loved his roommates, spending lots of intense one-on-one time with them, leading investigative Bible studies with them, and just plain hanging out with them.”

Adrian said that what he remembers most about Jeremy, from the time they first met, was his humility. “Even though he was more accomplished, smarter, and just plain bigger than I was, he always treated me with respect and honor. He was real with me, earnestly desiring to follow God in all things. He had a quiet ambition—not only to be the best basketball player he could be, but also to be the best Christ-follower he could be.”

Asian American Ministries

“Jeremy Lin is the kind of alum that makes ��ñ�� Asian American Ministries proud,” said James Choung, director of ��ñ��’s Asian American Ministries (AAM). “I'm not talking about his prowess on the court, though it's fun to see. What I love is that when he's given the spotlight, he gives glory to God and others in a way where his humility shines through. And because of who he is, he's giving national attention to Asian American Christianity as a whole.”

HRAACF is one of eight ��ñ�� chapters at Harvard and currently has about 50 students regularly involved in its activities. Its history goes back 18 years to a time when ��ñ�� student leaders noticed a growing number of Asian American students who weren’t engaged by any campus ministry.

One of those leaders, Tom Lin, graduated in 1994 and joined ��ñ�� staff, commissioned to plant HRAACF. Today Tom Lin (no relation to Jeremy) is ��ñ��’s Vice President for Missions and the director of Urbana 12.

“Generations of staff and student leaders have influenced HRAACF students, and I think we all count it a great privilege and joy when we see world-changers like Jeremy,” Tom said. “I personally am inspired, and so thankful to God for the role that this ��ñ�� chapter has played in Jeremy Lin’s life.”

��ñ�� AAM chapters are operating on over two dozen other U.S. college campuses. However, more than two thirds of the Asian American students involved with ��ñ�� are a part of multiethnic chapters.

“AAM seeks to introduce Jesus to students who would never enter a majority culture fellowship,” said James Choung. “And with the growing numbers of Asian Americans on campus, we're needed more than ever before. As they take on more influence in our culture, like Jeremy Lin, we hope that our ministries will prepare Asian Americans to exert that influence with the love and values of Jesus.”

More coverage of Jeremy Lin, his faith foundation, and his ��ñ�� connection: