OWU - Ohio Wesleyan OTR: Rock Jones And FCA Involvement

Rock Jones And FCA Involvement

Posted by ohwesleyang 10/02/2008 8:00 PM
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When previous concerns about Rock Jones and his devotion surfaced last year about pushing particular religious believes, he was quick to share with the Transcript, the campus newspaper, in January 2008 the following:

"It is not something that I would in any way want to impose on the community,” said Jones. “I understand the concern about ‘would I bring an agenda that tried to impose a particular faith understanding or faith tradition,’ and I do not bring that."

So much for that. Today, he incidentally meets with an organization the Campus Crusade for Christ via its satellite organization FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at 9pm. I guess no Palin debate for him to do something more important and support actively the FCA mission of "the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church."

How sad and how one-sided! But that was to be expected. I wish he was as active as he is about this cause about something worthwhile as minority representations, civil rights issues or other pressing academic issues that exist on our campus. Yep, keep hoping...

+ 7 comments

Anonymous says,

Dear ohwesleyang, with this post I believe you are jumping to a number of conclusions prematurely. First, the explicit claim in Plamen Nikolov's Dec 13, 2007 Transcript editorial (and your implicit one here) that "Rockwell Jonesâ�� background as a pastor will influence the perception of potential students" in a negative way is not based on solid evidence. Although, the statement of the Chaplain's Office, that Jones used to run, does read, "Hendrix College understands that opportunities for spiritual growth, theological exploration, moral development, and the growing expression of one religious faith are central components to fulfilling the purposes of liberal arts education within the context of the Judeo-Christian heritage", a statement that I'm not happy comes short of OWU's broadly inclusive ecumenical spirit, but there is no way to know if (1) this is Jones' personal belief or a mission statement written by higher-ups, (2) Hendrix's Chaplain's Office was, by order of the trustees or school constitution, supposed to minister to folks of Judeo-Christian backgrounds, (3) how this would even affect Jones' work as president of OWU.

Which brings me to what I believe is your second premature conclusion. You state, "[Jones] incidentally meets with an organization the Campus Crusade for Christ via its satellite organization FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)." Now, I didn't do a ton of research on this, so if you find any evidence of this I'd be happy to be enlightened, but I found nothing on the websites of either FCA or CCFC (or their wikipedia pages) that suggests the organizations are connected in any way. As a side note though, CCFC does have an athletic satellite group called Athletes in Action. Maybe that's what you were thinking of, but you just assumed it was the same as FCA.

Third, you imply that by meeting with FCA, Jones is somehow furthering a "one-sided" agenda . According to the wikipedia site, I found that an early supporter and underwriter of FCA was Major League Baseball executive, and OWU favorite son, Branch Rickey. I only graduated from OWU in '05, but I remember FCA being an active group since I arrived as a freshman. I don't know why you would have a problem with the university president meeting with an active campus group, long supported by a celebrity alumnus. In fact, I would hope you'd be happy that the president was taking time out of his evenings to meet with students, just like a sorority or an academic club or something.

The funny thing is I'm not a Christian, and I wasn't on any organized sports teams when I was on campus, and I certainly wasn't a member of FCA. Additionally, I've only met Dr. Jones once, so I have no personal reason to defend him, I'm just aggravated when people like you jump to conclusions, especially when it affects the reputation of good people and good organizations. Posted 10/07/2008 01:36 AMReply

ohwesleyang says,

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the comment! I simply quoted the mission of FCA as it appeared on the organization's website. The information that appears on their site (http://www.fca.org/AboutFCA/StatementofFaith.lsp) is bound to make many non-Christians on campus uncomfortable. There are many other great Christian organizations on campus that do not share the extreme perspective of FCA or of the CCC. Why not support as actively the other religious organizations on campus? There are many Muslim, Jewish students; the vast majority of students is, in fact, agnostic. Whatever happened to the Muslim or the Jewish chaplains? Embracing all perspectives, instead of actively supporting one extreme viewpoint, is what diversity is all about. If you truly value diversity.

But more importantly, the recent Ohio Wesleyan University Self-study report reveals some serious problems in the areas of student retention, admission selectivity, faculty recruitment, and other important aspects of the college. It will make sense to me that focusing on these areas than on controversial ones that incidentally happen to further your own perspective, will generate a higher bang per buck for the University as a whole. Posted 10/07/2008 02:02 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Dear ohwesleyang,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Aside from our more specific discussion about the rights and wrongs of Dr. Jones attending a late night FCA meeting, I think you raise the more important issue for Ohio Wesleyan: How does OWU establish itself as an institution of prestige in minds of 21st century higher education?

I would agree with you that the developing a reputation for fostering and promoting diversity is an essential element of establishing OWU's reputation in this quickly evolving world higher education. Aside from its basic moral value, it also works on several fronts from a sustainability perspective. First, according to the US census bureau, by 2048 people of color will outnumber whites. Not to mention the fact that current minority populations are younger than America's white population. With these trends, and as more minority families can afford to send their children to college, the university who can establish itself as a hub of diversity stands to benefit from the demographic change. Additionally, with international students both looking for US schools of prestige and a place that might welcome them so far from home, a university with a reputation for focusing on diversity stands as an attractive choice. On top of this, many (if not most) international students pay full tuition at US colleges. Thus, serving as another sustainability advantage of trying to develop a culture of acceptance and celebration of folks of all different backgrounds at OWU.

So, although looking at the sustainability benefits of diversity is crass, keeping that in mind is essential to make sure that OWU is still around for the next 166 years. Of course, personally, focusing on diversity is simply a moral mandate, but when you're talking to any administration it's a lot easier to get them to listen if there are economic benefits to boot. Posted 10/08/2008 3:56 PMReply

ohwesleyang says,

Dear anonymous,

Your comments are very interesting! Are you at the University? Posted 11/02/2008 8:30 PMReply

Anonymous says,

I think it's a shame that it has become commonplace to discredit a person's respect for diversity merely because he or she chooses to pursue one's own faith.

Dr. Jones has brought a breath air to Ohio Wesleyan. He actively seeks out students, faculty, alumni, and community opinion. He has repeatedly expressed his interest in improving residential and athletic facilities, supporting Greek life, and other forefront issues to the institution. His passion in accomplishing these goals is contagious (see Inauguration).

To criticize Dr. Jones for his faith is irresponsible and irrational. This country was built upon the fundamental truth that each man or woman has the freedom to practice his or her own religion. To suggest it is not Dr. Jones right to speak to people (be they students or otherwise) about his own faith is, in fact, a gross infringement upon his civil rights (rights which you championed in your blog).

Respect for other faiths is not lost by practicing one's own faith. Posted 11/21/2008 2:02 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Supporting Greek Life at Ohio Wesleyan is a "breath air" (whatever that is? i suppose you "a breath of fresh air")? It is quite clear that strong Greek Life is in contrast to a rising academic profile, so I am not entirely clear if you then support Jones lack of ambition to do anything about the declining academic profile of the school, the declining retention rates but instead his focusing on his controversial faith and the schools' fraternities? How is that contagious? Posted 12/01/2008 03:12 AMReply

Anonymous says,

"It is quite clear that strong Greek Life is in contrast to a rising academic profile"

http://www.princetonreview.com/schoollist.aspx?type=r&id=724&uidbadge=%07&RDN=1

Vanderbilt, Lehigh, PSU, Wake Forest, Bucknell, etc... all have the MOST active Greek life, AND strong academic profiles. Nearly all Ivy League schools have Greek Life. When you make such a "quite clear" claim, could you cite some evidence?

To state the Dr. Jones has a lack of ambition to do anything about the academic profile of the school is ludicrous. Have you been on campus or living under a rock somewhere? There's hardly a day that goes by where Dr. Jones can't be seen walking around campus, talking to students, faculty, and members of the community- about how to improve the school. The man has a passion for making this school better. It's people like you who contribute to the school's low retention rate... by not giving someone who genuinely wants to make this institution great a chance to do so. Check the numbers, Greek Life improves retention. Why do you refuse to accept the positive aspects of Greek Life as reality? It's easy to focus on the negatives. As far as the SLUs are concerned, it is my understanding that plans are being made to build new facilities for them. The Greek Life Study leaves the door open for the empty fraternity houses to be used by SLUs or Sororities. I don't know to what extent the plans are finalized, but it's a step in the right direction.

You go on to criticize him for his "controversial" faith? Is this a joke? OWU's liberal vision is supposedly of acceptance of anyone- despite faith, background, demographic, etc. That doesn't mean we ask people to drop their beliefs at the door! It means we respect each individual's right to practice his or her faith! If President Jones were Muslim or Jewish or atheist would it be wrong of him to say so? Would it be wrong of him to meet with students of the same faith background? I think not. Posted 12/23/2008 9:21 PMReply