Rick Hove,
Faculty Commons Executive Director,
[May 6, 2013]–
Few places seize my heart like Gettysburg. The tranquil rolling fields and scattered wooded lots surprisingly speak of those early days of July 1863 when they were far from tranquil. Over those days, 165,000 men gave their utmost in the pursuit of causes they esteemed more worthy than their very lives. Bowdoin College professor of rhetoric Joshua Chamberlain, who led the 20th Maine at Gettysburg, remarked at a memorial event:
“… reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream.”
This year commemorates 150 years since that titanic struggle in Gettysburg. The past century and a half has again and again validated Dr. Chamberlain’s words: each year millions stream to Gettysburg to ponder and dream.
I trek to Gettysburg 2 or 3 times a year; it’s an area of personal study. I always seem to be deeply moved by 1) the magnitude of the cause – a clash about the freedom and fate of a nation — and 2) the resolve of those who so believed in their causes that they willingly offered all.
Gettysburg reminds me of a current struggle, a battle of sorts, that also holds much in the balance—the outcome of which is also nation-shaping. That is, the struggle for the heart of America’s universities.
Our founding fathers set to the task of blessing our budding nation with universities. They recognized the university’s unique role in shaping a country. This is still true today, though one wonders if those founders could have envisioned The University of Phoenix!
Universities are central to the well being of our students, families, country and the world. In Faculty Commons, we dream of taking the hope of Jesus Christ to our universities. We literally believe that the resources of the university–faculty, students, and ideas–are important to God and critical to his redemptive plan to ultimately change the world
We dream of the day when every student has the privilege of studying under a Christ-following professor, where every university has a thriving, active movement of Christian professors, and where every discipline has a network of Christian professors laboring in their areas of expertise to advance the cause of the gospel.
The Gettysburg analogy fails of course to fully reflect our dream of taking the hope of Jesus Christ to our universities: the hope of Christ does not move forward by conquest, or through battle, but rather by loving well, by reasoning well, and by being a blessing in the academy.
Yet in other ways the analogy is helpful: there is a struggle for the heart of our universities, to frame what is true, good and beautiful for our lives, nation and the world. There is much at stake if we shrink back or falter!
This cause is of such God-magnitude that it beckons, it calls, it demands that Christian professors engage their God-given talents and calling to play a role in God’s plan of bringing the hope of Christ to our universities and to the world.
One of the great joys of leading Faculty Commons is the camaraderie and fellowship with many who share this vision, who personally long to play a part in seeing God change their students, peers, departments, universities, disciplines, the nation and the world. It is a joy to be passionate about this cause, and engaged in it with you.
Enjoy the end of your semester and the challenges of the summer. We look forward to serving you as Faculty Commons, as those who ponder and dream with you on the beauty of the King and the great cause of seeing His Kingdom flourish in our universities and the world.
(c)Rick Hove 2013