Submitted by: The Rev. Peter Gray, Chaplain at Grace Unlimited at Butler University
In a few weeks, thousands of young adults across Indiana and Kentucky will head to college for the first time. They’ll meet new people, and they’ll look for places that feel comfortable and groups that feel safe. As the years progress, they’ll grow academically, and they’ll explore who they are, what they believe, and what they want to commit their lives to.
The communities these students find or build matter a lot. For those who find their people, they find folks with whom they can celebrate, complain, laugh, and talk deep into the night. They’ll find people to accompany them through a season of growth. Research shows that a student’s experience of belonging impacts their wellbeing, the likelihood they’ll persist in school, and their academic success.
For those who don’t find their people, college is harder than it should be. What’s more, some communities offer cheap belonging where, as Emily Esfahani Smith says, “you’re valued for what you believe, for who you hate, and not for who you are.”
No wonder it’s so important to connect new students to affirming Christian communities! The campus ministries of this synod support students as they deepen relationships, ask big questions, and integrate what they’re learning and experiencing with their own faith and spirituality. Mostly, these campus ministries remind students of whose they are: beloved children of God.
As soon as they arrive, students quickly establish routines on campus. Early contact from a chaplain makes it much more likely that a new student builds a community of belonging and faith into their weekly schedule.
Do you know someone starting college this fall? Campus ministers would love to connect with them! Tell us who they are and how you know them, and we’ll reach out to let them know where they can go on campus when they need to be reminded how beloved they are.
