Left of College Station

'Void' Fills Gaps Between Faiths

By Brittany McNamara (Reporter)

From the Baylor University Lariat

"Void," a new collective, welcomes people of all faith, Baylor students and Waco residents to discuss and provoke questions about faith, doubt and existence. The group will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at Treff's Bar and Grill.

College of Arts and Sciences adviser Adam Moore said he envisioned beginning a faith collective, based not on an evangelical message or standard preaching and teaching methods, but on questions.

"The last couple years I've been thinking and talking to people about what it might look like to have a space, not a church, but a space, open for exploring different ideas relating to faith, religion and the uncertainty of it all," Moore said.

A handful of those interested have spent the past months planning to begin the collective. Though the majority of the group claims to be Christian or come from a Christian background, all religious preferences are welcomed.

Waco junior Aaron Ellis affirmed the openness of the group.

"People hesitate to be honest for fear of conflicting some ideology or group belief," Ellis said. "Any gathering of people that's open and honest, done through a lens of creativity, is a valuable enterprise to engage in."

Developing the group specifically in Waco holds significance. Certain expectations come along with living in Waco, Ellis said. It can be easy for someone to feel marginalized.

"Waco is the type of place where when you meet someone, the second question you ask them is where they go to church," Ellis said.

Treff's Bar usually permits those 21 and over, but for this event, the age requirement has been lifted.

Moore said choosing to hold the collective's first gathering at a bar was a decision not made in vain.

He said it is imperative to the group that this event be held in public, so the discussion could be heard in the "real world."

"It's great that it will be in a bar," Ellis said. "I don't think I've ever heard God in a bar without an expletive behind it."

Void mirrors a group started in Belfast, Ireland. The first guest speaker will be Dr. Peter Rollins who studied in Belfast and coordinated a collective of his own. Moore said Rollins is a primary source of inspiration for the new collective and will speak on the subjects of faith and doubt.

He said Rollins commonly speaks on 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal and his belief that we all have a void that is empty until God fills us. Creation of the name "Void" derived from the opposite of this thought.

"What if it's the other way around, and we feel this void only when we've had some encounter with God," Moore said. "Maybe it's only then we realize the void."

The collective is open to Baylor University students, faculty, and those in the Waco area not affiliated with Baylor. Moore said he hopes it will be a Waco group that includes Baylor students, but is not exclusive to Baylor students.

According to Void's Web site, "Void is a creative, provocative, experiential event, marked by the religious question, but radically open and welcoming." For more information visit www.voidcollective.com.

Published on Friday, February 13, 2009

Nonprofit Major Puts Twist on Learning

By Jessica Belmares (Copy Editor)

From the Baylor University Lariat

Finally, students who enjoy stewardship and civic service can prepare themselves for a career through a new major offered through this year's undergraduate catalogue.

The fall catalogue for 2008-2009 was the first catalogue in Baylor's history to offer a major in marketing through the nonprofit and development track for undergraduate students and is the only university to offer this major, said Charles S. Madden, Ben H. Williams professor of marketing and director of the Baylor Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Service.

A course currently offered, Nonprofit Marketing, was offered back in the early '90s, and there are master's programs that have been around for 25 or 30 years, but never a program such as this, Madden said.

"Choosing nonprofit as a career path is relatively new," Madden said. "People would lead United Way or Red Cross but would never think of it as a career path. A lot of discipline for nonprofits has developed in the last 20 to 25 years."

Madden said the center thought the nonprofit and development track would be a graduate level discipline, but they came to the conclusion this could probably affect more students at the undergraduate level.

"People get interested in nonprofit somewhere along the way because of personal interest," he said. "Years later they realize they don't have much background. Some of them go back and get master's degrees, but that still doesn't prepare students coming out of undergraduate school to be prepared to lead and develop nonprofit organizations."

Students can major in marketing through the nonprofit and development track by completing 24 hours of coursework in that discipline. Some courses that are currently offered are Professional Selling and Communicating for Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Marketing, and Stakeholder Data Management for Nonprofit Organization.

These courses give students a chance not only to learn, but to gain real world experience working for nonprofit organizations, Madden said.

Directed Studies in Marketing, a project course offered for Spring 2009, provides students a chance to work with a nonprofit organization and help to market or raise funds for that organization, Madden said. Students registering to take this course in the spring will be working with KWBU, a public television and radio program serving central Texas.

In the spring, students who took the project course worked with World Hunger Relief, Inc., a Christian organization committed to the alleviation of hunger around the world, according to www.worldhungerrelief.org.

"Fundraising is critical," said Neil Rowe Miller, executive director of World Hunger Relief, Inc. "We always have a need for skilled and unskilled labor in the front. Students come and work alongside interns and volunteers as well as our professional staff labor. It's just a really big help."

San Antonio entrepreneurship and marketing major senior Kenneth Cook took the project class in the spring and helped World Hunger Relief.

"I learned very quickly that the people that work there are there for the sheer fact that this is what they love to do," Cook said. "They have a very strong dedication and this Christian spirit of selflessness."

Cook said it's very possible he will be using what he learned from this course when he graduates and begins his career.

"I hope in the future to start a nonprofit wildlife farm," Cook said. "This course gave me a better understanding of how to raise capital and the process to gain funding."

Even students who major outside of the business school can minor in marketing through the nonprofit and development track.

"We found the big thing that everyone wants to do is raise money," Madden said.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Service surveyed several hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including Red Cross, and asked them under what conditions they would hire students directly out of college, Madden said.

"It came back very strongly they would hire them into their fundraising area and that they have trouble finding people who have undergraduate preparation and the desire to do that," he said.

Madden has been a faculty member since 1983 and has served as vice president for university marketing and university relations. Madden said when he finished, he came back to the business school because that is what he really felt committed to do.

"This is my passion ­-- to see people prepared for leadership," Madden said. "We care to see (students) working, but more for just working for something they really care about."

Published on Wednesday, November 3, 2008