Our region sponsors a conference for black students called Vision. For many students, it is their first exposure to InterVarsity. In fall 1997, I attended Vision with one student from Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois). She had not been very active with the chapter, but I thought she might enjoy the conference. She loved it. The next year, she brought two other students, also not active participants in chapter activities. This past year Augustana sent 17 delegates to Vision (out of 65 black students enrolled at Augustana). None of them were regularly involved in chapter activities.

With the swell of interest in the Vision conference, I was expecting God to immediately advance the issue of racial reconciliation at Augustana. While the conference was strategic and a leap forward, it was not the only front God would open up in the war against racism on campus.

One large-group meeting in January 1999 raised the issue of racial reconciliation at Augustana. We had a guest panel of students representing almost every minority group on campus. Not all of the panelists were Christians. The intention was to hear what is was like to be an ethnic minority on a campus that is more than 95 percent white. While Augustana was not portrayed as a campus hostile to non-whites, neither was it portrayed as a campus that welcomed full integration of all ethnic groups. The panel helped to raise the level of awareness of racial tension on campus, but provided little help in offering direction on what to do toward reconciliation. Because this crucial aspect of reconciliation was not addressed, the door was opened for what happened next.

One of the panel members soon started attending InterVarsity activities and got involved in the chapter. A year later, however, this student suddenly dropped out. Offering no explanation even to close friends, she walked around with an easily observable burden. After three weeks of silence, she shared with her close friend—who was also our chapter president—what had happened. She had received a typed, unsigned letter in her mailbox. It read:

I am writing this letter to let you know what a pleasure it’s been getting to know you. You are the first black person I have had the chance to get to know, and it has been great. I have learned a lot from you in the time that I have known you—about race and black people in general.

However, I do have a slight concern: other black students coming to InterVarsity. It has been great having you there, but you are different. I am not a racist, but I am very concerned about how InterVarsity will be after more black students come. It would make me and some other people uncomfortable. I do not think that it is something that InterVarsity is ready for right now. Like I said earlier, having you there is one thing; it’s different. I have listened to you talk to other people about getting other black students to join InterVarsity and I thought that I would express my concern, because you are very open with things like this. That is why everyone likes you so much.

Your friend in Christ.

The chapter leadership team decided that the matter needed to be brought before the whole fellowship immediately, so we addressed it directly that Friday at our large-group meeting. At the end of the meeting, the chapter president and I came forward and presented a short overview of what God has done in our chapter toward the goal of racial reconciliation. While the overview was largely positive, I wanted the chapter to hear firsthand the setback that had recently occurred. The student who received the letter came to the front of the room, joined by the rest of the exec members. She read aloud the letter she had received and then read a letter she had written in response:

Please do not feel sorry for me. Do not pity me. Don’t feel anger and ill feelings against the people or person who wrote this letter. Instead pray, love and continue to reach out. Pray for those souls who are constantly turned away because of indifference and prejudice. If you must feel anger and pain, feel them in a way that will allow you to open your heart wider and examine your true feelings about those who are indifferent. And know for sure that the move of God in this chapter will continue to progress, regardless of any discomfort people may feel.

Yes I am hurt by this letter; very deeply hurt. But I openly forgive those who have caused the pain I feel. And I want all of you to do the same. The intent of this letter was not malicious, but it was still wrong, and through my pain I take comfort knowing that this pain I am experiencing is for the sake of the gospel and of God’s work. For this, I praise him. I must work through the bitterness and pain I feel right now. Receiving this letter has brought under suspicion those I have considered my closest friends in this chapter. I have doubted all of you, wondering if you sent the letter. And now I ask for your forgiveness. I apologize for anything that I may have said or done out of anger and hurt. Please forgive me. God will heal my heart. It is a process that is ongoing.

I am leaving Augustana after this term and it is my prayer that you allow God to do his work and carry out his vision of racial reconciliation in the body of Christ and in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. May God be with you as this chapter moves forward in him, may his will be done, and may the healing begin.

Drawing from Ephesians 4:1–6, I encouraged our chapter to be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, and to do so in the unity of our common belief. I commented that though the first letter was not malicious in tone, it clearly revealed the widespread need to grow in understanding what God intends to do in Christian community. I pointed out that with this issue before us, our choices were either to do nothing and forget about it, or to take initiative in advancing a Revelation 7:9 community at Augustana. The chapter leaders and staff were ready to advance.

Feelings in the room varied. Some students were crying, others sat quietly looking downward. There was anger in some eyes and others stared in shock over what had been presented. We closed the meeting by singing the chorus, “One Voice,” probably with meaning we had never considered before.

It was in the days and weeks that followed that God’s redemptive work in the situation became apparent. One student asked what he could do to help black students feel more comfortable in InterVarsity. Another student—a white student from Oklahoma—joined his black friends as a member of the Black Student Union. The gospel choir invited our worship team to play a set at their concert in February.

The student who received the letter returned to Augustana. She has gone through a very difficult time of healing, a time that included running away from InterVarsity. Recently, she approached me, saying that she doesn’t want to graduate next spring without having made a difference in moving racial reconciliation forward at Augustana. The letter that could have devastated us is being redeemed for the purpose of rallying us toward action.

In addition, many of our students who attended Urbana were deeply impacted by the emphasis on racial reconciliation. This has sparked a series of prayer meetings, “next step” meetings, and plans for a book discussion on More Than Equals (IVP). The students have a vision that is wider that the chapter. The intent is to make this a campus-wide issue, inviting everyone to the table.

The first racial reconciliation prayer meeting brought together 26 students, faculty and staff members. It was encouraging to hear so many prayers of confession, repentance, and desire to see change. With God leading, there is no telling where this will end up.

—Dan Stirratt has served on InterVarsity® staff for staff six years and still gets asked, “What year in school are you?”