Tony Campolo: A Plug for Eastern University
July 13, 2015Tony Campolo: A Plug for Eastern University
I’m retired. That means that I don’t teach there anymore, but I still think that Eastern University is a really GREAT school.
The faculty is tops. Everywhere you turn in this academic community you will run into PhD’s. While most of them are outstanding authors, those on the faculty at Eastern are primarily committed to teaching. They enjoy the small class size that marks Eastern as special, as well as the opportunity to get to know students personally, and to be able to provide for them the kind of counsel that students need to optimize their potential.
Eastern is in the mainstream of Evangelicalism. Added to that is its well established commitment to social justice within its community. There is a variety of opinions on social policies, and there is room for divergent viewpoints on the social issues that confront our contemporary world. One graduate remarked to me, “my friends at some other schools are told what to think. At Eastern I was taught how to think!” One thing that Eastern’s students and faculty members hold in common, is a commitment to the values of the Kingdom of God. They take it seriously when they pray in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done; on earth as it is in Heaven.” That means that Eastern is endeavoring to raise up a generation of Christians who will invade every sector of society in order to be change agents for Christ. Eastern wants its graduates to be what Jesus called, “the leaven” – that means, to be people who permeate societal institutions in order to move them towards being all that God wants them to be.
Of course Eastern has just about everything else that a good school should have these days. Its campus has been voted by US News and World Report, as one of the most beautiful in America. It’s full range of student activities, including an outstanding athletic program, is such, that unlike massive state universities, creates the possibilities for all students to participate.
Because of Eastern’s evangelical roots and emphasis (go to Eastern’s website and check out the school’s doctrinal statement at: http://www.eastern.edu/about/our-faith) many students have come to study here who are oriented to full time church vocations. The school has one of the highest rated programs for youth ministry. Preparing students for missionary work both in third world countries and here in urban America is another one of the school’s specialties.
This university is seeking out committed Christians who are socially progressive in their thinking, and is, even now raising special funding for students who are heading into church vocations (http://campolocenter.org). I’m an old man now, but I look back on the days I spent as an undergrad at Eastern as some of the most fruitful and joy-filled days of my life. So when thinking about higher education, think Eastern!
