You should know there's a new slj site! Check it out

The I-V chapter at Tri-State was decidedly imbalanced in its ethnic diversity compared to the rest of the campus. At the same time, the leaders saw an emphasis on racial reconciliation emerging within InterVarsity as a whole movement. Thus the idea for a racial round table discussion was born.

The University itself has a special meeting celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., every January. The chapter wanted to be supportive and take advantage of that event, but faced two hurdles. First, the group had already confirmed a special speaker for the chapter weeks beforehand. They decided not to change the original plans for that meeting. Second, the university rarely acknowledges that the problem of racism is essentially a spiritual problem. Because of these issues, the chapter wanted to address reconciliation from a spiritual point of view. "Reconciliation is essentially a biblical idea: our being reconciled to God, and our being reconciled to each other," points out staff worker Nick Johnson. "That’s what Jesus came to do. Jesus’ coming has everything to do with racial reconciliation!"

God had laid a groundwork for a new sensitivity to people different from themselves at a retreat several students had attended in December. Nick Johnson brought up the idea of broadly addressing the issue of racism at a future large-group meeting on campus. "I didn’t force the idea on the students," he says. "I wanted to allow the Holy Spirit to do his work of moving us along in the reconciliation process without its being contrived or forced. I just dropped the idea into their laps, and God did the rest."

The chapter members began talking to African-American and Latino students about the idea of a round table discussion. It was received enthusiastically. Most students were very encouraged to see InterVarsity willing to address this issue. "To my knowledge,"says Nick, "it’s the first time on TSU’s campus that anyone was willing to do so outside of the MLK meeting in January."

Students began to pray for the meeting. They weren’t sure what God was going to do, but they knew that just being willing to address the issue raised the possibility of major spiritual warfare! "The issue is a volatile issue nationally," Nick says, "so we realized that it could potentially be the same on our campus."

Finally, the night arrived. Several African-American students came to the discussion, as well as the two who were serving on the panel. There were also two Caucasian students and a Latino student on the panel. The first launching-out question was "Do you think we’ve come very far as a nation since Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech?" There were mixed replies. Junior Andreas Parsley felt that the issue has been addressed cosmetically, but that "underneath the surface, there’s still a lot of feelings of hate and suspicion." Other students, however, felt the nation had come a long way and that the issue wasn’t as bad as what some say it is.

Another question was asked, "Do you believe racism is a problem on Tri-State U’s campus?" which brought more heated debate. All of the African-American students and Hector, the Latino student, believed it was a major issue. These students related feelings of estrangement and ostracism. The two Caucasian students agreed but didn’t notice these dynamics as much in their lives. Nick Johnson, who served as the moderator of the panel discussion, recalled an event when he and a Malaysian student walked into a local restaurant in the small Indiana town of Angola. "Angola is as ethnically un-diverse as a community comes! We walked into the restaurant to eat, and it was as if a leper had come into the place. I felt like the entire restaurant briefly stopped to stare at us for a couple seconds, just to make it known we weren’t exactly welcome. I was deeply angered by the event, but my Malaysian friend said it happens all the time to him."

When asked what steps could be taken to see racial reconciliation occur on TSU’s campus, there was again mixed replies. One student felt that there was nothing much that could be done. A Christian also, he said that "we should just continue serving God in our own ways and basically wait until heaven for God to take care of everything." Other students disagreed. "Hiding the issue and pretending it’s not there is not the answer," one student said. One non-Christian student on the panel said, "It’s fine to include God in the equation, but building friendship bridges of trust is what’s really important." That student makes it a point to sit with people unlike himself in the cafeteria and to hang out with them on the football field. "It helps me see the value of people who are so unlike me," he said.

An African-American pastor from Fort Wayne concluded the evening with some thoughts on Jesus as the ultimate reconciler of all people.

"We wanted to see this meeting start a fresh focus on reconciliation in our chapter," says Nick. "Unfortunately, it didn’t do that as far as visitors returning to InterVarsity was concerned. Many new students said they’d be back to I-V, but they never came back. I don’t think it was because they didn’t believe in what happened on March 26, but the walls of difference still stand high. It tells me we still have a lot of work to do in this whole area. I’m not giving up! I still want to see this issue addressed very openly and compassionately on the campus."

Students are planning to have a similar discussion at a large group meeting second semester of this school year. They may also plan to start an African-American small-group Bible study.

The value of the round table discussion was that it raised awareness among the majority race that racism is in fact an issue of contention on the campus. Being a minority often carries with it feelings of inferiority and estrangement. Students were glad to see InterVarsity raise these issues and said they hope to see more discussion and action in the future.