Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Abstract

Excerpt: "George Fox University is owned by Northwest Yearly Meeting, which appoints all its trustees. Four-sevenths of these must be Friends, and this relationship keeps the institution close to its parent religious body. This being the case, a high degree of interaction exists between Northwest Yearly Meeting and the university, and this relationship is felt to be mutually beneficial. While the number of Friends students in the traditional undergraduate program has remained between 74 and 145 over the past three decades or more (making up between 4 and 15 percent of the traditional undergraduate population), aspects of Quaker identity are nonetheless present. The Center for Peace Learning (founded in 1985 by Lon Fendall at the recommendation of Lee Nash) was sparked by Mark 0. Hatfield's question about what we are doing to resolve the problems of war. It was expanded into the Center for Peace and Justice in 2003, and its annual John Woolman Peacemaking Forum maintains a focus on the instructions of Jesus to be effective peacemakers in the world. Quaker Heritage Week (founded by Arthur Roberts and the Department of Religious Studies in 1975) endeavors to heighten the visibility of a particular aspect of our Friendly heritage in ways serviceable to all members of the community, not just Friends, and a variety of other campuswide emphases on Quaker concerns also address the furthering of the institution's mission. Other special-interest weeks, including Spiritual Life, Multicultural, Missions, and Alcohol Awareness, as well as the Spring Theological Conference, provide special foci on particular concerns."

Comments

Originally published in Founded by Friends: a Collection of Essays on the Quaker Colleges in America edited by John Oliver and Charles Cherry (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007, pp. 163-85).

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810858183/Founded-By-Friends-The-Quaker-Heritage-of-15-American-Colleges-and-Universities

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