Top 10 Reasons Faculty Are Crucial to Our Mission

By Kathy Tuan-MacLean

1.  They’re a corner on EVERY campus! Every campus has faculty, staff and administrators! 

2.  They are Partners in our ministry, called to LOVE  & SERVE the same MISSION FIELD:  they actually understand our context better than we do because they’ve lived their whole adult lives there.

3.  CSMs ≈ 5 years : Professors ≈ whole career = No brainer

4.  Community Colleges:  Virtually every region can point to faculty bright spots in planting or sustaining a community college ministry.

5.  Campus Access:  Faculty are key allies who have advocated for us on campus, either helping us plant a new campus or helping us stay on campus we’ve already planted in virtually every region.

6.  Jesus loves professors too, even the ones who eat our students for lunch:  We believe God can use students and staff to reach them, but their fellow professors, their peers, have unique access and trust.

7.  YOUR LIFE MIGHT DEPEND ON IT:  Current faculty we serve are working on:

  • Preventing the zombie apocalypse (aka antibiotic resistance)—law professor
  • Cure for cancer—public health and medical professors
  • Lessening income inequality—education and sociology professors
  • Climate change—science professors 
  • And much more!!

8.  Campus Shalom:  Faculty are key Kingdom conspirators who work towards as Sandy Shugart (President, Valencia College—2nd largest community college in FL) writes “restored health, wise leadership, genuine tolerance, a deep civility, restored confidence and courage, righteous priorities, and a deep sense of humor.” 

9.  1,000,000 young people leave the church every year: Top campus leaders (including our president) determined that empowering Christian faculty to be salt and light on campus is a key strategy for preventing that bleed.

10. BECAUSE IT’S OUR VISION AND OUR CALL:  If Christian faculty follow Jesus in every aspect of their work, our vision WILL HAPPEN:  Students & faculty will be transformed, Campuses will be renewed, and world changers will be developed.

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Kathy has served with InterVarsity since 1990, currently as National Faculty Ministry Director. Her other roles have included Associate Director for GFM, AD Boston GFM, CSM at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and NYCUP founder and director. Kathy has a PhD from Northwestern University in Human Development & Social Policy. She is married to Scott MacLean and they have three children (2 in college!) and an over-anxious mini labradoodle.