Friends Center Director's Report
Winter 2004

Friends Center General Programming

Without the "October Surprise" of a student's act of civil disobedience related to airport security, fall semester would have been stimulating enough! The media frenzy that followed led to many opportunities to respond to inquiries about Quaker faith and practice. Among the more interesting encounters were interviews with AP and the Chronicle of Higher Education; both focused on Quaker distinctives and picked up on issues that are quite sensitive for some: Quaker nonconformity and Guilford's self-identity.

All this burst forth during the visit of one of our special guests, Geoff Kozeny, the "peripatetic communitarian" of Communities magazine. In addition to getting on-air himself to comment about civil disobedience and nonconformity in community, he provided stimulating presentations in classes and in a public forum on life in intentional community. He took a particular interest in some students' interest in reviving Mary Hobbs Hall's co-operative status.

Other visitors brought to campus by Friends Center during the fall were Malesi Kinaro, a Kenyan Friend who spoke about the positive things happening today in Africa - as well as continuing needs; Irene Lape, author of Leadings: A Catholic's Journey through Quakerism, who challenged listeners to consider the importance of the Church as a whole body with many parts; and several speakers for a week of "Eyewitness to the Middle East" presentations: Rabbi Andy Koren of Temple Emanuel, Art and Peggy Gish of Christian Peacemaker Teams, and Jean Zaru, clerk of the Ramallah Friends Meeting. Attendance at all events was excellent. Additionally, many campus visitors were shared with Friends Homes, New Garden Friends School, and the Quaker Renewal Program.

An outgrowth of my attendance at the Simplicity Forum in Seattle last August was an end-of October "Take Back Your Time Week" series. Taking cues from the book Take Back Your Time, an ad hoc group called together by Friends Center planned out a week's focus on time poverty in America. Tip sheets for "taking back your time" were handed out in Founders lobby while clips from the video "Escape from Affluenza" were shown. Other activities included a leisurely historical walk into the woods to tell Underground Railroad stories at "the big tree;" a rousing game of all-terrain croquet; cider and doughnuts on the steps of Mary Hobbs Hall; a chocolate "passional attraction" group for sharing chocolate and ideas for time management; and an emphasis on times for quiet worship and reflection already built into Guilford's weekly schedule. A follow-up activity was an "Unplug the Christmas Machine" brown bag lunch discussion in early December.

Elizabeth Baltaro and I led an October Inquirers' Weekend for people new to Friends at Pendle Hill. Thirty people attended from Europe, Canada, Central America, Australia, and around the USA, and all were enormously impressed by Liz's maturity and contributions - a real testimony to her Guilford and QLSP experience! In November, I spent three days as Friend-in-Residence at Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville, VA, teaching in a full range of classes from Middle School to Upper School; addressing the student body, parents, and trustees; and even playing in a pick-up basketball game. That I was housed in a cabin on Dave Mathews' estate and entertained by his mother made a greater impression on my Guilford students than anything else I did this fall!

Other activities included teaching a course on intentional communities for Guilford's IDS program, a course on the spiritual roots of Quaker testimonies for the Quaker Studies concentration, and the senior seminar for QLSP. The course I taught on Quaker spirituality for the Wake Forest University Divinity School attracted 18 students and led to an invitation to teach on a regular basis in the area of Quaker history and spirituality. Work with the NCYM (F) program committee, weddings, presentations at Goldsboro Friends and Marlboro Friends, and completion of College Spirit helped fill out the semester. During the holiday break, I attended YouthQuake in Estes Park, CO, where I was the Bible speaker. More than 200 attended from 14 yearly meetings of FGC, EFI, FUM, and Conservative.

At the close of the semester, several events worked together to bring a focus on the college's self-identity. New by-laws of the Board of Trustees, a Chronicle of Higher Education article, and publication in the Greensboro paper of elements of a new "myths & facts" document at Guilford, presented the college as an independent college founded by members of the Society of Friends. The emphasis on "independent" concerned many for whom the Quaker affiliation of Guilford is important. Friends Center called together an informal gathering of faculty and staff interested in more systematically addressing the issue on campus and helped arrange a meeting of leaders in NCYM (F) with Kent Chabotar to discuss the continued importance of relations between the college and the Quaker community. Selected members of NCYM (Conservative) were also contacted about the opportunity to address the college on matters of its Quaker identity. Conversations continue. Further response by Friends Center is mentioned below in the campus ministry report.

The spring semester began with a very successful visit by J. M. Ward speakers Ben Pink Dandelion and Janet Melnyk. Their presentation, "A History of the End of the World: The Apocalypse in Quakerism, Christianity, and Culture," drew a standing room only audience to the Gallery. Reflections on their talk are in the GCRO Caw.

Luby Casey Campus Ministry Visitor speakers Mike Heller and Michael Birkel ran into the ice and snow event that shut down the college during the beginning of their scheduled visit. Mike Heller had to cancel, but Michael Birkel arrived ahead of the storm and spoke in College Meeting for Worship and to small gatherings of students and others. His comments on Friends' use of scripture and on the witness of John Woolman were very informative, and he was well received.

Upcoming programs sponsored by Friends Center include:

• February 21-28: Visit by Dan Snyder for the winter QRP series.
• March 15-16: Visit by James Childress as the Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar.
• April 26: Visit by Friends minister and author, Phil Gulley.

The spring will also bring a six-week series on Quaker distinctives that I will teach for Greensboro's Shepherd Center; a course on Quaker history for the religion department and a Fast Track Quaker history course for the Center for Continuing Education; a course on Quaker faith & practice for the Quaker Studies concentration; and the senior seminar for QLSP. In March, I will be the Betty Carter Peace Lecture presenter at Earlham College.

Planning continues with my wife, Jane, and Jonathan Malino for our co-leadership of Friends United Meeting's work trip in July to Israel and Palestine. Continued travel warnings in the Middle East have necessitated Friends Center's dropping its role as a co-sponsor - owing to the college's concerns about liability.

Additional planning is taking place between the college, Friends Center, and Quaker House for a June observance at Guilford of the 35th anniversary of Quaker House.

Speakers Planned for 2004-05

Confirmed speakers for next academic year include:

• September: Visit by Lloyd Lee Wilson, former executive director of FGC and clerk of NCYM (Conservative), as the JM Ward speaker.
• January: Visit by Tom Mullen and wife Nancy Faus Mullen as Luby Casey Campus Ministry Visitors.
• March: Visit by artist James Turrell as Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar.

Campus Ministry

Bi-weekly receipt of the GCRO Caw campus ministry newsletter, I hope, has kept information about religious activities coming. If you are not receiving the newsletter, please let me know. You can also log on to the Guilford website and follow the links to Friends Center/campus ministry to find an electronic copy of current issues and archived ones.

Highlights in campus ministry have included the renewal of weekly Catholic mass each Sunday in the Hut, led by Fr. John Frambes, and a stimulating - and well-attended - series for College Meeting for Worship. Under the careful stewardship of GCRO, the Committee for Care of Worship, and Deborah Shaw, CMW has continued to improve this year; attendance is holding at a steady 20 - 30. A fresh coat of paint in the Moon Room, courtesy of the parents of a graduate who was married in a November Moon Room ceremony, has certainly helped the ambience!

Quaker Concerns, Hillel, Muslim Students Association, Unitarian-Universalist students, Pagan Mysticism, and the Guilford Council of Religious Organizations have experienced new membership and continue to meet - some more often than others! The Guilford Christian Fellowship had a difficult semester with most of its leadership abroad, and staff member Cherese Wolfe needing to dedicate more time to raising her own financial support, but with the return of key student leaders in January, GCF programming and presence has increased. Two staff members, Sports Information Director Dave Walters, and women's volleyball coach Glenda Dellinger, actively assist with GCF.

Fall break work trips with Friends Disaster Service, Habitat for Humanity, and Tompkins Organic Farm were successful and rewarding. In all, more than 20 students participated in the trips. I accompanied those who went with FDS to Hyde County, NC, to respond to Hurricane Isabel. As you may have read in the Friends Center Newsletter, it was a very challenging experience, but one that, again, rewarded participants with work accomplished and worship & discussion that furthered spiritual development. FDS has planned two more trips to eastern NC to coincide with Guilford breaks in March and October of 2004. First-year student Evan Welkin's reflections on the trip were reprinted in the February issue of Friends Journal.

The most successful small groups were the Women's Spirituality group which emerged from the "Fireside Group" and the Womyn's Circle, an a capella group, both led by Deborah Shaw. Through the Initiative, Deborah also coordinated monthly Taize worship in the Moon Room. Talk began among students in the Quaker Studies course about creating a small group to pursue spiritual themes raised in that class.

Small groups for spring semester include these aforementioned ones and two new ones: the return of Friday brown bag lunch discussions, organized around discussing issues and speakers on campus; and a "Seekers Session" using a new Friends Center document, "Utilizing Guilford's Quaker Principles." In partial response to the "identity" issue at Guilford, the group meets to share insights of Friends on centering down, personal transformation, clearness committees, decision-making, authenticity, simplification of life, care for the environment, conflict resolution, and human and intercultural understanding. Thus far, however, the center of conversation has been around how to assure that these principles and others continue to mark the college's administrative, academic, and student culture.

Religious Emphasis Week, January 25 - 30, featured Luby Casey Campus Ministry Visitor Michael Birkel, speaking on John Woolman, journaling, and Quaker use of scripture; and eminent scholar of Islam, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, speaking on religion & science, and the heart of Muslim faith. Bad weather forced Mike Heller, another scheduled Luby Casey Visitor, to cancel, but even with the bad weather, more than 500 people attended the week's various activities. Dr. Nasr attracted an especially large audience from area colleges, universities, and the Muslim community.

Quaker Festival Week, April 18 - 24, will feature campus historical tours, senior QLSP projects, group projects from the Quaker history course, and a tea & talk on Quaker spirituality and the environment.

Adult Programming

Two Quaker Renewal Programs were offered during the fall. Sara Beth Terrell led a small group at High Point Friends Meeting on praying scripture, and seven different leaders facilitated thirty participants in a seven-part series on John Punshon's Reasons for Hope. The latter attracted our most diverse QRP group ever: Conservative and FUM; students and older adults; programmed and unprogrammed; liberal and evangelical.

Friends Center's winter QRP series will be two Saturday workshops at Deep River Friends led by Dan Snyder '72. The February 21 program will be on "Prayer and Peacemaking;" the February 28 program will be on "Forgiveness and Reconciliation."

Our spring QRP series will be on ethics and will be held at Springfield Friends; the following topics and speakers are confirmed:

• March 16: James Childress, "Medical Ethics and Cloning."
• March 23: Judy Haughee-Bartlett, "Ministerial Ethics."
• March 30: Jeff Thigpen and Keith Holliday, "Ethics and Politics."
• April 6: Bill and Catherine Eagles, "Legal Ethics."
• April 13: Herb Appenzeller, "Sports and Ethics."
• April 20: Alice Stewart and Betty Kane, "Business Ethics."

The spring Quaker history "Fast Track" course for CCE is designed to encourage seekers interested in Quakerism to audit this night class. The Quaker spirituality course at Wake Forest attracted six auditors, one of whom began attending Friends meeting during the course. Conversations continue with WFU about future offerings in Quaker history and spirituality at the Divinity School. Discussion has also been held with the School of the Spirit and Pendle Hill about collaboration. Dan Snyder's workshops are a result of consultations with Pendle Hill, and there is hope for QRP workshops in spring of 2005 in conjunction with the School of the Spirit.

A fall 2004 QRP series has not been finalized yet, but following Michael Birkel's successful visit in January, strong consideration is being given to inviting him back and using his A Near Sympathy: The Timeless Wisdom of John Woolman as a book study.

Funding

Friends Center's fall newsletter and Annual Fund appeal letter went out on schedule with the wonderful assistance of Kathy Carr of the publications office, the Initiative office manager, Leslie Essien, and Deborah Shaw. More than $20,000 was received by year's end toward a goal of $45,000 - well ahead of last year's pace toward a final total of a little more than $42,000.

College Spirit: Reflections on 25 Years in Campus Ministry was also published on schedule, enabling Friends Center to offer the book for cheapskate Christmas shoppers! As of this writing, orders have been received from the FGC, Pendle Hill, and Earlham College bookstores. With good response from the local community and the Friends Center mailing list, sales in the first three weeks exceeded $1,000. Orders slowed after the holiday, but reviews are soon to be published in Quaker journals and USFW's Advocate. Complimentary copies of the book were given to "Mover" and "Quaker" contributors to Friends Center.

Capital Campaign Possibilities

I have been in conversation with Charlie Patterson and Anne Hurd of Guilford's Institutional Advancement Office, as well as Henry Freeman of Henry Freeman Associates, about the possibility of a Friends Center capital campaign. With the conclusion of the Lilly Grant in three to four years, provisions must be made to continue support for QLSP and campus ministry, strengthen the offerings of Friends Center, and address physical needs such as office space and Hut improvements.

In conversations with Henry Freeman, who will be in attendance at the February 21 Quaker Life Committee meeting, a figure of $2 - 3 million for such a campaign has been discussed, with a million going to endow the position of QLSP director, and the remaining amount divided among support for campus ministry, speakers, physical improvements, and the campaign itself.

The IA office encouraged consideration of a campaign - should it be decided to undertake one - in consort with Guilford's impending capital campaign. It was noted that Friends Center, which may prefer to conduct a campaign to conclude in 2007 (the 25th anniversary of Friends Center and the conclusion of the Lilly Grant), could run its campaign while the college is in the "quiet phase" of its new campaign, enjoying the assistance of the IA office.

Friends Center was cautioned, however, that Guilford College already has a list of donors it is approaching for major gifts, and they would be "off limits" for any solicitation by Friends Center. Our list and the college's list would have to be compared. We also discussed the importance of the Quaker identity of the college for any Friends Center campaign. That did not seem to be a problem.

At its January meeting, the Friends Center Steering Committee approved recommending consideration of a Friends Center capital campaign to the Quaker Life Committee, with a set of important questions to consider. Those questions will be included in the agenda of the February 21 Quaker Life Committee meeting.

In addition to these discussions, the possibility of Hut expansion, inclusion of a meditation room in a renovated Founders Hall, and a new building for the proposed New Garden Friends School high school (which might also incorporate offices for NCYM (F) and Friends Center) has been under consideration.

Staffing between the Initiative and Friends Center

When Guilford College received the $2 million Lilly Grant to fund the Guilford Initiative on Faith and Practice, new dynamics of staffing between Friends Center and the Initiative had to be addressed. Informal arrangements were made at the time to share Deborah Shaw's time between Friends Center and the Initiative, along with Friends Center's benefiting from the assistance of the Initiative's office manager. Agreements were oral; nothing was written down other than what was reflected in the Friends Center director's report in spring, 2002.

Since then, discussions between the Initiative and Friends Center have indicated that the current "fuzzy" definition of Deborah's status needs more careful definition. There is not agreement on what was agreed upon at the original consultations; emerging philosophies and directions in the Initiative and Friends Center require re-assessment of staffing needs. Currently, there is still an oral understanding that Deborah is shared between the two programs, and the present arrangement seems to be working to the satisfaction of both offices.

Discussions about this and other issues are sensitive and ongoing. Frank conversation between the directors was held in January through the mediation of One Step Further, an off-campus public mediation service, which helped clarify some of the difficulties that have marked relationships. Follow-up conversations have been cordial and helpful, and the two programs have been cooperating on sharing resources such as speakers and finances. A February 3 meeting called by Kent Chabotar began conversations about transition issues between the Initiative and Friends Center.

Max L. Carter, director Second Month, 2004