Messages from the President and Chancellor
Welcome to Eastern University's Web site. We hope it inspires a personal visit. The people and commitments filling these pages certainly inspire me.
Before coming here in 1997, like many of you I only knew Eastern's reputation. It was the place of widely read and admired scholar activists and of world-changing graduates whose minds, hearts and work seemed to leap from the red letters of the Gospels. I couldn't wait to join them!
Shortly after arriving, I was asked by a prospective student, "Is there one particular quality that you would say is unique to Eastern?" My answer was, "I believe Eastern's way of teaching and learning is different from other Christian colleges. Whereas those good places integrate faith and reason, Eastern integrates faith and reason and justice. It is not a small difference."
An example might help. Two brothers, Howard and Bryan Stevenson, enrolled in Eastern as honor students. Both were active in campus life and community development in Philadelphia while earning high grades. One is now a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the other a Harvard lawyer. One's research focuses on African-American male anger, while the other's law practice grew into a remarkable organization called The Equal Justice Initiative.
Something happened to them at Eastern. The Holy Spirit showed them how to translate deep faith, unusual powers of reason, and a passion for justice into careers that demand exceptional minds and hearts. Similar stories abound here. Could yours be added to them in the future? I hope so.
Blessings,
David Black
President
Greetings from Eastern University!
The mission of Eastern University is to proclaim and model “the whole Gospel for the whole world.” As Dr. Black has mentioned in his welcome, we capture our commitment to the “whole Gospel” through our university’s emphasis on faith, reason, and justice.
The Gospel calls us to personal faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than a personal relationship with Christ and Eastern is committed to calling its students, faculty, and administration to an ever deepening faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.
Our faith is also grounded in our willingness to think well and deeply. We believe there should be no disjunction, either among us individually or corporately, between our faith – sometimes expressed as a commitment of the heart – and our minds, that aspect of our humanity that enables us to embrace God’s truth wherever it appears. I can imagine Christ studying mathematics, psychology, physics, biology, history, literature – right across the disciplines – and enjoying them all. The Creator, after all, declared that all of his creation was “good.”
The “whole gospel,” though, also includes our commitment to justice, a commitment that takes us beyond our community out into the broader world. We are committed to justice in Philadelphia, Camden, and other locales close to us. But we are also committed to “the whole Gospel for the whole world,” a pledge and obligation that motivates us as a community to ever broaden our perspective and actions to encompass the entire world.
Eastern is already known around the world for its programs in economic development, spiritual formation, and leadership training. We are actively present in Asia, Africa, India, and other key locales. Why? Because all human beings are made in the image of God, all human beings should have the opportunity to hear of the possibility of a personal relationship with God through Christ, all human beings should have the chance to learn ever more fully about the world God has created and delights in, and all human beings have the right to live in peace and freedom from poverty, injustice, oppression and fear.
If Eastern’s core values ignite your interest, we invite you to be part of our community and the future God has for us.
Christopher A. Hall
Chancellor
