by Judith Cebula, director

Just this week – in time for Homecoming 2013 – a new set of banners are up outside the Butler Center for Faith and Vocation.

“10 Years. Center for Faith and Vocation. Founded 2003.”

 

A decade ago there was no Blue House at Butler. No dedicated place where students could connect with diverse perspectives on faith. Where they could learn to meditate. Where they could talk together or with an advisor about the longing to live a meaningful life.

There was no Muslim Students Association. No Orthodox Christian Fellowship. No association of Methodists or Presbyterians. Hillel was a tiny group. The Catholics on campus were struggling to reorganize. Grace Unlimited was still in the shadows of a fledgling Lutheran-Episcopal ministry.

The Center was hardly a center. Rather it was a small office space in Jordan Hall 212 and an idea that Butler could become a campus that nurtures religious and spiritual engagement, exploration, faith, and doubt.  There was a hope that the university’s rich history in the liberal arts and sciences tradition, and its strong professional colleges could foster a culture of calling. There was a hope that Butler could become known as a place where students could connect their deepest beliefs and their gifts to make a difference through community and career.

Today Butler is becoming that place.

The CFV has its own house – affectionately called the Blue House – on Sunset across from the Schrott Center for the Arts.  The number of diverse religious and spiritual student groups on campus has nearly doubled since 2003. Each week , nearly 100 students take part in some form of religious, spiritual, or discernment practice or reflection.  Since 2003, more than 100 professors and staff leaders have taken part in workshops and other events to them discover their own calling in education as they become stronger mentors to students.

Across each academic year the CFV intersects with commuter students, Greek chapters, the Center for Global Education, student interns and activists, exploratory students, and numerous other academic programs and classes in welcoming students to pause, reflect, and discover their calling, their vocation. Students back from a semester abroad come over to talk with each other about how their lives are different now that they have lived and studied in Spain, or India or Australia. Pre-pharmacy students stop to consider if a career in healthcare is a reflection of their gifts in math and science, or part of a greater longing to serve. Business majors are connecting their acumen in marketing, finance, or management  with interests in non-profit careers. And pre-med and pre-law students are working as interns in clinics that serve immigrants, refugees, the uninsured and other vulnerable individuals and families.

It has been a privilege to lead the Center for Faith and Vocation from its founding and to be here today as Butler works toward even more. We can grow our internship opportunities at faith-based sites. We can find more ways to support the distinctive ways all six colleges form their students as compassionate, creative leaders. We can find new ways to help professors be even better teachers and advisors. We can strengthen true diversity of thought, belief, and practice – for people of faith and no faith – as inspiration for the greater community of Indianapolis and beyond.

And the CFV is inspired to see how our experiences with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Indianapolis religious organizations can benefit Butler’s new venture: the Desmond Tutu Center. It is a joint project of Butler and the Christian Theological Seminary.

A decade ago I walked away from a 14-year career in journalism and into life at Butler. My own sense of calling to support religious diversity and the intersection of faith and work brought me to Butler. But it is Butler that has nurtured the call in me.  My hope is that Butler can continue that work for decades to come.