Renewing the Campus

The president of El Acceso, InterVarsity’s La Fe chapter at East Los Angeles College (ELAC), arrived at a recent meeting of the InterClub Council (ICC) to discover that the leaders of the 32 clubs on campus were being asked to vote on three categories of organizational awards. Unlike some of the other leaders, Lorenzo Delatorre didn’t come prepared with a Powerpoint presentation or a DVD. But he did happen to have some brochures printed for El Acceso’s From Death to Life outreach, featuring a coffin that was brought on campus.

Most Engaged
When the votes were tallied, El Acceso was recognized as club of the year in the category of student and campus engagement. “I know everyone had seen the coffin on campus,” Lorenzo said. “But this was totally from God and totally unexpected.”

He described the recognition as a blessing from God at the end of a successful semester. El Acceso has grown from 16 students at the beginning of the semester to 30 at the end. Twenty-two students attended the spring retreat at InterVarsity’s Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island.

ELAC is a commuter campus with an enrollment of about 20,000. On the other side of the country Baruch College is also a commuter campus, drawing its 16,000 students from around the New York City area.

Most Active
The student government at Baruch College has recognized the InterVarsity chapter for being the most active club on campus for three years in a row. To stand out among almost 200 student-run clubs, in the midst of one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, is a major achievement.

Almost 100 Baruch students are actively involved in the InterVarsity chapter. Every year they plan and produce Baruch Live, an evangelistic outreach. Last year Baruch Live received the Lexington Award from the student government for the best event of the year.

InterVarsity’s vision is to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. On some campuses, InterVarsity’s renewing presence is recognized through these year-end awards.

You can make a direct financial donation to support InterVarsity’s work at ELAC by following this link, and Baruch College by following this link.

Additional recognition – Graduating seniors involved in InterVarsity have also been recognized:

  • Katy Ness, a leader in Greek InterVarsity at the University of San Diego, was valedictorian at USD’s School of Business Administration graduation.
  • Maurice McDavid, elementary education and Spanish major, and football co-captain, gave the senior address at the Knox College commencement.

Last year’s recognition round-up