Secular student groups rapidly expanding

The Chronicle of Higher Education [subscription required] has a piece on the rapid growth of a network of groups for secular students, all affiliated with the Secular Student Alliance. Some of these groups are found on religiously affiliated campuses.

The national group expects clubs to be naturalistic (holding that natu­ral things are the only ones humans can understand), economically neutral, civil-rights-minded, and nondiscriminatory. Beyond that, individual groups have a lot of freedom.

The article explores in some detail the club at Cal Lutheran, looking at the experiences of several of its members and the reactions of the larger Cal Lutheran community.

Belmont faculty call for university to bar bias based on sexual orientation

In the ongoing controversy over the departure of a lesbian soccer coach, the faculty senate of Belmont University, a self-described “student-centered Christian community,” have now called for the institution to formally bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

[The Tennessean via Inside Higher Ed]

Remove “Our Lord” from Diplomas?

Some students at Trinity University in San Antonio ,TX, are lobbying trustees to remove “Our Lord” from their diplomas.

“A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” said Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection. “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,’ it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ.”

Those who defend the wording point to the school’s Presbyterian roots. The Trinity trustees are expected to consider the request at their May board meeting.

[The San Antonio Express-News via Inside Higher Ed]

Secular Club seeks recognition from Concordia College in Minnesota

Students at Concordia College, in Moorhead, MN, are gathering signatures of support after the college declined to recognize the students’ request that the College recognize “Secular Students of Concordia” as an approved student organization. The college spokesman said that recognized student organizations cannot be in conflict with the mission of the college or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The students are revising their proposed constitution to eliminate some items that the College found objectionable and are hoping to convince the College to reconsider its decision.

[ Inforum: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead via Inside Higher Ed]

The Canadian Association of University Teachers criticizes University for required faith statement, may investigate others

The National Post report that the Canadian Association of University Teachers has issued a report criticizing Trinity Western University for requiring its faculty sign a statement of Christian faith. The Association concluded that this requirement violated academic freedom. It also announced that it will investigate three other Christian institutions. See the article for detail and background to the dispute.

[The National Post via The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Religion News]

Kalamazoo College Aims to End Final Baptist Ties

A bill before the Michigan House would eliminate one of last remaining vestiges of Kalamazoo College’s affiliation with its founding denomination, the American Baptist church. The bill would strip the college’s state-granted charter of the requirement that 15 percent of Kalamazoo’s board of trustees be “in good standing of Baptist churches affiliated with the American Baptist churches.” The college spokesperson, Jeff Palmer, explained,

"When it was founded, and for a long time, many students and faculty were affiliated with the Baptist church. But as the decades passed, that became less and less common," he said, adding that while some of the 30 board members still have Baptist affiliations, "today, they are from all over. … The board needs to reflect the diversity in their own ranks."

[The Detroit News via Inside Higher Ed]

Faculty on a Mission

College presidents are paid to tell the mission of their school as eloquently and persuasively as possible. Been there, done that.

But far more illuminating, persuasive, and often eloquent are faculty on the mission of their school. And when they join their scholarly expertise to their sense of personal commitment, the story informs as well as inspires.

A case in point is L. DeAne Lagerquist’s “Matters of faith: Reflections on the Place of Theological Literacy in the Liberal Arts.” Lagerquist is Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College and one of the foremost authorities on Lutheranism—and Lutheran higher education—in America.

Take a look at Lagerquist’s article and please send me links to other examples of “Faculty on a Mission.” As William B. Adrian and Richard T. Hughes, Models for Christian Higher Education: Strategies for Success in the Twenty-First Century (Eerdmans, 1997), reminds us, there are many different models for church-related higher education. And secular missions can also differ greatly from one institution to another.