Friends Center Director's Report
Spring 2005

Friends Center General Programming

As we met not that long ago in Second Month, this report will be fairly brief.

A good visit was had with two visiting Israeli conscientious objectors, recent high school graduates supported by the American Friends Service Committee. Rotem Mor had already served a prison sentence as a C.O. and is now on the AFSC staff in Jerusalem. Eyal Brami was facing a possible prison sentence at the time of his visit, and we have since learned that he has been incarcerated. Hillel co-sponsored the visit with AFSC, Friends Center, and Peace Studies, and there was excellent interaction among the Jewish students on campus and the visitors. After their evening program, Rotem and Eyal went out to relax and continue the conversation with Jewish students and Palestinian students. All reported that it was a significant experience in their rethinking of the conflict. You may have seen the Hillel president's reflections in the GCRO Caw.

Not long after that visit, Jane and I traveled to Israel and Palestine as members of the international committee consulting with Ramallah Friends on the use of their newly renovated meetinghouse. We had a very moving 10 days in the region, meeting with a wide variety of Israelis and Palestinians who are working for peace, justice, and reconciliation - all of whom see enormous potential for a role the Quaker facility in Ramallah can play in bringing together and supporting peace and justice groups. At the end of our time in Ramallah, the committee and the Friends meeting established the Friends International Center in Ramallah to support the ongoing worshiping community of Friends, encourage the community and culture of the area, and facilitate the work of peace and justice groups. The Greensboro paper ran a piece on our visit, and we will present an interest group at NCYM (F) yearly meeting sessions on the trip.

Jennifer Chapin Harris of FCNL spent a week on campus in late March, meeting with many students and encouraging participation in young adult programs that FCNL sponsors. That same week, artist James Turrell spent two days on campus as the Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar, attracting full houses to both public presentations and creating quite a stir in the wider art community and in the Guilford art department. I had little sense of how big a name Turrell enjoys internationally. Many expressed astonishment that Guilford could "land" him; I was amused by the number of people who involuntarily "bowed" before him and visibly shook in his presence! For his part, Turrell thoroughly enjoyed the visit, made connections in the Friends Historical Collection with unknown Quaker forebears from Guilford County, and gave riveting presentations. He was so taken by Guilford that he has scheduled a return visit this spring to show his high school junior son the college!

The dust had barely settled from that excitement when six visiting Israelis and Palestinians came to campus for the colloquium "Voices from Palestine and Israel: Living for Peace in a Holy Land," planned by Jonathan Malino of the philosophy department and co-sponsored by Friends Center and a variety of other departments and organizations. The program was a great success, not only in terms of the attendance, but also in the dynamic of the interaction among the three Palestinians and three Israelis - all of whom could be observed modifying opinion and changing in significant ways over the course of their three days together. Friends Center sponsored a lunch on April 8 at New Garden Friends Meeting for the visitors and sixty area religious leaders and Guilford students. It was a deep and fruitful conversation, and many expressed delight in the opportunity to get together in such a way.

As I write this, we are anticipating the Quaker Festival Week at Guilford April 17-23. Large numbers of visitors are already promised for the opening "Quaker Festival Day" on Sunday, when campus Quaker historical tours, varsity sports featuring students from area meetings, and a reception hosted by Kent Chabotar at Ragsdale House will be held. The remainder of the week will feature worship, student research reports, presentations by QLSP seniors of their projects, and other activities.

Speakers for next year have been confirmed:

• Lon Fendall (Ward) - November 13-15
• Peter and Annie Blood-Patterson (Casey) - January 21-24
• Arthur Magida (pending a grant) - January 25-27
• Niyonu Spann (Harvey) - March 25-27

In conjunction with the theme year "The Year of Spirit and Spirituality," Guilford is bringing Robert Thurman, Karen Armstrong, Desmond Tutu, Bill Moyers, Huston Smith, and Kenneth Woodward as major campus visitors. Initial attempts are being made to get Jim Wallis, and several departments are bringing their own programs and speakers. The Initiative is bringing back Kristin Henderson, a Quaker author who led a workshop for the Quaker Renewal Program series on writing this winter. It should be an exciting year.

Landrum Bolling has agreed to come in September 2006 as the J.M. Ward Distinguished Quaker Visitor. Casey and Harvey speakers for 2007 have not yet been determined.

I am teaching a "Fast Track" course on Quaker History, primarily for continuing education students, but with a healthy contingent of traditional aged students. The full class and enthusiasm indicates the continuing interest in Quakerism among students, and I will be teaching two more sections of the course next year, along with Quaker Testimonies and Quaker Faith & Practice. Wake Forest Divinity School has asked me to teach a short course on significant women in Quaker history. Other activities have included speaking to the Greensboro Kiwanis and Mount Airy Rotary on our recent visit to the Middle East. I will be speaking at the 50th anniversary of the Virginia Beach Friends School on April 30, co-leading with Jane another work trip to Ramallah June 24-July 10, and attending the Triennial of Friends United Meeting in July.

Deborah continues to be "on loan" to the Initiative while assisting with Friends Center, especially in the area of campus ministry. She has been doing extensive travel in the ministry this year, following her graduation from The School of the Spirit, and she is active in the work of the Friends Association for Higher Education, Conservative Friends, and on the General Board of Pendle Hill - as well as writing for upcoming publications.

Campus Ministry

Regular opportunities for worship on campus continue to attract a loyal group of students to morning worship, College Meeting for Worship, Catholic mass, and programs of the Guilford Christian Fellowship. Buddhist meditation, led by religious studies professor Eric Mortensen, uses the Hut for its two weekly sittings. Speakers in College Meeting have been especially good this year, many actually coming prepared with actual text - which is then shared through the pages of the GCRO Caw!

The Initiative has continued to offer Taize worship and a labyrinth, and has recently inaugurated a popular "Meaning with a Meal" program featuring a different faculty/staff person at Wednesday lunch sharing his/her spiritual journey. The free meal and interesting presentations have attracted great attendance from the whole community.

Easter sunrise worship had 50 people warming by a bonfire by the lake; GCRO's interfaith visitation to area congregations brought out a small but interested number weekly; brown bag lunch discussions have featured discussions on just war, Tibetan Buddhism, and the psychology of silence; the Caw has finished another successful run of fourteen issues for the year.

A spring break work trip with Friends Disaster Service to Clyde, NC, was led by Deborah Shaw and Desiree Wilkinson, a staff person in the Center for Community Learning. Fifteen students participated - all of them returning alive and with all their digits! Another group of six students did volunteer work on an organic farm in NC.

Chris Johnson, a CCE student transfer from the University of South Carolina and peer minister with the Guilford Catholic Community, received the Judith Weller Harvey Award in Campus Ministry at the April 12 Awards Convocation.

Friends Center Work with the Guilford Strategic Plan

Work continues on the college's strategic plan. Quaker Festival Day was part of a continuing effort to strengthen ties with the Friends community, as was Kent Chabotar's presentation April 10 to the adult forum at New Garden Friends; he will give a workshop at NCYM (F) annual sessions on strategic planning for meetings. A report on Guilford's desire for such strengthening will be given at NCYM (C)'s April Representative Body meeting.

Training documents on Quaker decision-making and the Friends testimonies are being refined. A student is doing an independent study with Friends Center on revising and expanding the "script" for the campus Quaker historical tour, with plans to train guides and make tours more frequently and widely available.

Adult Programming

The winter QRP series "Friends and the Ministry of Writing" ended with a good session led by Phil Gulley and Jim Mulholland. Three weeks later, we began the spring series "Challenges and Hope for Friends." Participation in this series has been very light, in spite of very stimulating presentations by the leaders. The opening workshop with Jack Kirk, Andrew Wright, and Mark Tope drew the most with twelve. Subsequent Tuesday evening programs have drawn 8-10 very engaged attenders. Much good material has been shared, and it is hoped that a synopsis might be prepared and made available.

It is anticipated that the fall series in QRP will be a study of Brent Bill's forthcoming book on the spirituality and practice of Quaker silence, complemented by classic thought on Quakerism and worship. The winter, 2006 QRP program will be a Saturday workshop on singing led by Peter and Annie Blood-Patterson, authors of Rise up Singing.

Funding

Our inability to get the annual fund-raising letter out before December 31 is proving to be a real damper on this year's goal of $50,000. As of April 15, $30,660 had come in. We will send out our usual "last gasp" letter in May, hoping to close the gap before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The shortfall has not affected Friends Center operations, as income off the endowment continues to provide basic support, and budget savings provided by the Lilly grant ease the financial burden.

Friends Center Fund Drive

The Quaker Life Committee of the Guilford Board of Trustees received the recommendation of the Friends Center steering committee regarding a Friends Center fund drive and reported to the full Board that Friends Center would be embarking on a campaign under the umbrella of the anticipated Guilford College campaign.

I have had meetings with staff in the Institutional Advancement Office of the college, Mike Poston (VP) and Anne Hurd (Director of Development), and we have begun planning for the "quiet phase" of the campaign. They have been very helpful and supportive and anticipate a successful fund raising effort. Ed Winslow of the Quaker Life Committee has been especially helpful in interpreting for the Board and the Institutional Advancement staff the importance of Friends Center's efforts and the role Henry Freeman has played.

Mike Poston and Anne Hurd will both attend our steering committee meeting to discuss the campaign and respond to any questions.

Quaker Recruitment

While numbers of Quaker prospects from North Carolina remain low for the fall class at Guilford, retention and satisfaction among those who enrolled last fall have been good. Overall Quaker numbers in the anticipated entering class of 380 appear good, and applications to QLSP are pushing the program's capacity. Interestingly, this year's prospects have an unusually large number of old ethnic Quaker names: White, Strawbridge, Biddle!