As I have planted faculty ministries at both the University of California, Irvine, and Kansas State University, faculty there have helped me found the "What Matters to Me and Why" speaker series on both campuses. The idea for the series originated at Stanford University in the early 1990's, and we adopted Stanford's model to begin the series at UC Irvine in 2012.
Part of the vision for Stanford's series goes like this: "The purpose of What Matters to Me and Why is to encourage reflection…on matters of personal values, beliefs, and motivations in order to better understand the lives and inspirations of those who shape the university. The presenter is encouraged to share how s/he has chosen to live her/his life, the core values s/he has adopted," etc.
As part of this vision, faculty and staff of faith are free to share about their faith, their values, their beliefs, and of course their commitment to follow Christ if they so choose. Our goal has been to have at least one faculty member per year share about their Christian faith. How the professor does this is up to him/her. They can, if they want, share the gospel (this has been done at UC Irvine and the evaluations were overwhelmingly positive). They can also talk about how their faith and their research go together. Or they can simply share about their faith as part of the personal background to their talk. However this is done, the university community sees a professor who is esteemed and successful, and is also a Christian.
Many of the Christian speakers have had quite an impact and have even received feedback from students whose lives were changed. After one speech, a professor received a hand-written letter from a student who said it had changed her life:
Thank you for sharing 'What Matters to You' last week…I have been undergoing a personal struggle in my faith as I've been trying so hard towards my goals but listening to your testimony and speech was… perfect timing. Inspiring. Eye-opening. A wake-up call. Encouraging. A blessing. I can't find the words that express how much I needed to hear the words that you spoke last week…
Another professor, in her recent "What Matters" talk shared about how Christ changed her life in college, how she went on to become a professor, and how she has integrated her faith with her work, including how she's researched the religious beliefs of students and how it impacts higher education. She talked briefly about the legal limits professors have in bringing their faith into the workplace. It was a fantastic speech, and the feedback she received was overwhelmingly positive.
In terms of how the series is structured, at both UC Irvine and Kansas State the decision was made to sponsor seven talks per year, once a month, and to provide a free lunch to all who attend. The invitations go out to the entire university community, so students, faculty and staff attend. The cost for the events to the university is approximately $1,000 for each talk, with most of that cost covering the provided lunches. The series is run by a university-sponsored committee, and of course part of our goal is to have Christians on those committees. The series has proven to be very popular on both campuses, and lectures are usually full.
I am convinced that the "What Matters" series could be established on campuses across the country, and that it would be an incredible encouragement not only to Christians, but to the entire university community. The university is able to put a human face on its professors, to share the diversity of campus leadership with regard to ethnic, gender, and cultural backgrounds as well as diverse worldviews. And the Christian community benefits by having a place at the table and being given the freedom to share from the heart in a way that the whole university can hear.
For more information on the "What Matters" series, check out these links:
Videos of past Christian Speakers:
