Cleveland, the keynote speaker at 91����Ƶ’s annual faculty/staff conference, is associate professor of the practice of reconciliation at the Duke University Divinity School and author of (InterVarsity Press, 2013).

A sought-after speaker who was named one of “Five online shepherds to follow” by JET magazine, Cleveland remarked that the opportunity to speak at 91����Ƶ was irresistible.

“As a reconciliation scholar and practitioner, how could I say no to 91����Ƶ?” she said.

Inclusion, equity can be strengthened

The annual faculty/staff conference brings together approximately 350 members of the campus community at the start of the academic year for fellowship, worship and professional development. The theme of the Aug. 17-18 conference was “Embracing Diversity,” with diversity being defined in its various dimensions as race, faith, socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, physical abilities and other identities.

The topic was also informed by goals within the “to recruit, develop, and retain diverse, effective faculty and staff.”

“This goal goes to heart of our mission and values as a university,” said Provost , who chaired the planning committee. “Development of culturally competent educators and members of the campus community goes hand-in-hand with our mission of educating students to serve and lead in a global context. The conference helped us to continue discussion and assessment utilizing both our own significant resources and those provided by outside experts.”

In 2015, 91����Ƶ’s traditional undergraduate population included a record-high 37 percent of students who are ethnic minorities or come from other countries. That number is up from 36 percent in 2014 and 29 percent in 2013.

“We have many strengths in this area,” Kniss said, noting the institution’s history of inclusion of African Americans, the required undergraduate cross-cultural experience, and a high percentage of faculty and staff who have lived and worked in other countries. “Our work in global peacebuilding and in restorative justice are a strong foundation to build upon, but we must be proactive in confronting and addressing questions of inequality and equity that challenge us as a community.”

Afternoon sessions included

• Cleveland on “Power and Place: Why Some Students Thrive and Others Don’t on Christian College Campuses”;
• chairs , director of multicultural and international student services, and , ombudsperson, about focus group research conducted in spring 2016;
• Professors and , admissions counselor and graduate student Julian Turner, on “Black Lives Matter and White Fragility”;
• Professors and on teaching and advising diverse students with mental health challenges:
• Professors and on building inclusive organizational cultures;

• 91����Ƶ Lancaster Provost , on Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity;
• Professor , of James Madison University, on “Difference and Civility: Building Resilient Responses to Intolerance.”

‘Do the work. Leave your turf. Listen.’

Cleveland began her address as a social psychologist, outlining why humans living in a pluralistic and complex world define themselves so fiercely within a group identity, and then moved into the theological realm. She asked how the privileged and the powerful can step away from that hierarchical space.

Cleveland, the daughter of church planters from California, pointed out that only 11 percent of Americans are raised by two college-educated parents. Acknowledging her own privilege — raised in a home committed to higher education and daily enrichment and educational experiences, she attended an elite East Coast boarding school and Dartmouth College. This upbringing led her to examine closely Jesus’s relationship to the oppressed and marginalized in a world that was “rife with inequality.”

She asked: “What would it look for me to empty myself of my power and my privilege in a way that Jesus did?”

Using two parables, she pointed out that Jesus did hard and radical work: he shifted attention, changed narratives and transposed power positions so that marginalized peoples moved into positions of power.

“Jesus didn’t say, ‘Figure it out. Jump up to the Trinity,’” she said, evoking laughter from the audience. “Do the work. Be last. Leave your turf. That will look different for every person. How do you leave your turf at 91����Ƶ? How will you, the privileged, move from first to last? … So many of us have never been last so we don’t know what that looks like.”

​“Each spring break, we offer several different service and learning trips, and this year was no different, but what’s clear to me is that this year, a diverse cross-section of our student body chose new experiences,” said university campus pastor , who advises the Y-Serve program and accompanied the Civil Rights Tour. “Our students took risks in getting to know and learning from new people in their groups and at the various locations and they returned richer for it.”

During the second week in March, groups traveled to:

• To Alterna Community in Georgia, led by Amanda Helfrich and Teresa Garcia Bautista;
• To Mennonite Disaster Service in Michigan, led by Robert Propst and Harrison Horst;
• To Serving with Appalachian People headquarters in West Virginia, led by Grayson Mast and Abe Hartzler;
• And on a Civil Rights Tour, coordinated by advisor and led by students Tae Dews, Oksana Kitrell and Christian Parks.

View photos of all the trips in a slide show below.

The trip traveled to LaGrange, Georgia. The focus was immigration, with homestays, worship and learning opportunities hosted by the Alterna community and founders Anton and Charlotte Flores-Maisonet. On the itinerary were visits to El Refugio, a volunteer-run hospitality house for family and friends of men detained at Stewart Detention Center, and a vigil and demonstration outside the center. The group also visited Americus Mennonite Fellowship and the Martin Luther King, Jr. historical site in Atlanta. View more photos at and listen to a offered by Anton Flores-Maisonet when he visited 91����Ƶ in 2015.

The Alterna group included Christina Rose Hershey, Quinn Kathrineberg, Joan Pablo Forero Vargas, Hannah Shultz, Delight Tigoe, Azucena Del Real Loera, Juan Sebastian Rivas Duarte and Keyri Lopez-Goodoy, in addition to leaders Amanda Helfrich and Teresa Garcia Bautista.

At (MDS) headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, 91����Ƶ volunteers joined a large work crew to contribute labor to an ongoing project. Since an August 2014 flood which caused the inundation of thousands of basements with storm water and sewage, residents who were unable to mediate the damage have dealt with mold and respiratory issues. The unit has been helping to clean out and repair basements, which involves work with framing, insulation, drywall, trim and flooring. In addition to leaders Robert Propst and Harrison Horst, Luis Longo made the trip.

The (SWAP) trip was based out of Elkhorn, a former coal mining community in McDowell County, one of the five poorest counties in the nation, according to Grayson Mast. The team contributed labor to home improvements for a man who would shortly be released from prison and planned to move into the home with his three children. The group also toured the local area and learned more about regional culture and history from evening discussions and presentations by local speakers and musicians.

In addition to leaders Grayson Mast and Abe Hartzler, the crew included Elizabeth Resto, Grace Burkhart, Brandon Chupp, Jolee Paden, Lydia Musselman and Sylvia Mast.

The Civil Rights Tour was the first such trip of its kind, says Burkholder, who accompanied the group. It was held in conjunction with , the Gospel Choir, YPCA (Y-Serve) and the Black Student Union, with additional funding provided from the Student Government Association.

In Birmingham, they visited Kelly Ingram Park, the Civil Rights Institute, the 16th Street Baptist Church and the Negro Southern League Museum. In Tuskegee, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site took most of the day, with afternoon visits to the home of Booker T. Washington and the Carver Museum. In Selma, the group visited the National Voting Rights Museum and walked around the Montgomery city center, including a visit to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s church on Dexter Avenue. The civil rights leader was also the focus in Atlanta the next day.

The group included Cameron White, Bethany Chupp, Valeria Meza Cooper, Brittany Williams, Brenda Soka, Kendi Mwongo and Jessa Tobin, in addition to student leaders Christian Parks, Tae Dews and Oksana Kitrell. 91����Ƶ staff Celeste Thomas, Brian Martin Burkholder and joined the trip.

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The answer: (CBD), which describes itself as “a consortium of peacebuilding practitioners, each committed to creating a more just and peaceful world by enabling healthier families, organizations, communities, and societies.” Initially growing out of a network of peacemakers in Arizona in the early 1990s organized by CBD member and 91����Ƶ graduate Tom Brenneman, the consortium today includes ten members, seven of them with 91����Ƶ connections.

The congregation contacted CBD member , associate professor of organizational studies at 91����Ƶ’s (CJP). Brubaker and a recent CJP alumnus facilitated a conversation that led to a vision statement and a plan to move the congregation from a board-commission structure to a more flexible, team-based model. It was unanimously adopted.

Grounded in faith

Church consultations like that one comprise the majority of CBD’s work, but the practitioners’ diverse skills are also applied in a variety of other settings. Their focus areas include change management, strategic planning, congregational revitalization, conflict transformation, mediation, facilitation, coaching and training.

Brubaker says the work is deeply grounded in faith and spirituality.

“To me it is a reflection of God’s desire for a more peaceful and just world,” Brubaker says. “If we can do it congregation by congregation and organization by organization, then we’re participating in God’s vision, even when we’re doing it imperfectly.”

Much of the work comes from referrals, about one a month on average, but CBD recently formalized one relationship when it entered an agreement to partner with the North Carolina-based (CHC) and assist CHC in its work with congregations in Virginia. Particular attention will be given to proactive initiatives that address conflict before it reaches the crisis stage.

“We encourage people to consider consultants at an early entry point of a conflict or strategic planning,” says CBD member , who also serves as university ombudsman for 91����Ƶ. “We very much encourage people to be open, transparent and involved—including those who may have a contrary vision. Stepping into (conflict) can be a healthy, normal, practical thing.”

‘Holders of the process, not the solution’

Brubaker says he and Reid recently worked with a “Level 5” conflict in a congregation that had let a problem fester too long, as many congregations and other groups do. “One of the toughest I’ve ever done,” he says. “It’s good when congregations are more proactive. It’s so much more effective at the front end.”

The CBD members emphasize that they are not some sort of peacemaking superheroes who can speed in and solve a conflict. They simply provide an outside perspective, help all voices be heard, and give guidance for the way forward. “Reference teams” composed of key stakeholders in the situation at hand are formed to carry out the desired outcome.

“We are holders of the process, not the solution,” says CBD member Roxy Allen Kioko, a graduate of 91����Ƶ’s program and instructor with the and in 91����Ƶ’s . “A lot of consultants go in and make a recommendation and the congregation is supposed to implement it. But a lot of times it fails because there is no ownership of it. By collaborating with a diverse and well respected team within the congregation, they take ownership. They are involved from day one, from assessment to implementation and follow-up. It’s a unique thing about our model that can hopefully lead to better success.”

Jews, Muslims and Christians may nurture interfaith understanding via an Abrahamic traditions studies center.

These proposals come from a smorgasbord of about 30 submitted by 91����Ƶ students, faculty, staff and friends at the invitation of an ad-hoc "Micah Think Tank." Each of these visions, unveiled at a March 23-24 conference on campus, aims at helping the university better exemplify its mission described in Micah 6:8: "to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God."

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