PODCASTS

Tag: college
Diversity of viewpoints on a SUNY campus (an update) – 3/14/24

Diversity of viewpoints on a SUNY campus (an update) – 3/14/24

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:48 — 9.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

“Faith Under Fire” from Family Life

A reversal by campus leadership will now allow a group of conservative students to receive official recognition for their local chapter of Turning Point USA at SUNY/Cortland. The student senate there had initially vetoed approval of Turning Point as a campus organization. However, a First Amendment lawsuit was filed, claiming that the senate had discriminated against the students’ Constitutionally-protected viewpoints and that opponents had launched a planned assault on the students bringing a petition for consideration. According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the petitioners endured 100 minutes of questioning and demeaning responses from student senators and a philosophy professor. Students Gabriella Delorenzo and Megan Rothmund next took there concerns to the college president. Erik Bitterbaum warned that they would likely be denied again, telling them, “We silence voices all the time in this country. That’s the tragedy and also the greatness of democracy.”

A review committee at the State University of New York school reversed the rejection, giving the Turning Point chapter the same rights and privileges of other officially-sanctioned campus organizations.

In this exclusive Family Life interview, ADF attorney Matthew Hoffman gives background on this specific lawsuit (which as of now continues to be pending, as ADF wishes to assure that SUNY/Cortland’s policies protect a full range of viewpoints in future decisions). Hoffman, who also works with ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom, also offers his perspectives on freedom of speech and thought on campus and in the culture, and the danger that officials who try to shut down or punish prominent groups and speakers also have a “chilling effect” on others who agree with divergent viewpoints.

 

For more information:

The Alliance Defending Freedom:  ADFlegal.org

Specifics on the case and SUNY’s two actions:  adflegal.org/case/turning-point-usa-suny-cortland-v-cortland-college-student-association

Matthew Hoffman:  biography

Turning Point USA:  national website

SUNY/Cortland:  Student Government Association

Family Life News has also reached out to SUNY officials for their comments.
Capital Connection – Voting districts, Trapped in bets, Silencing students – 3/01/24

Capital Connection – Voting districts, Trapped in bets, Silencing students – 3/01/24

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:26 — 14.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

Gerrymandering in New York

Gambling Addiction in Pennsylvania

Conservatives Silenced at SUNY-Cortland

Christian activists Jason McGuire and Michael Geer tackle the tough topics facing today’s families each Friday during “Capital Connection”.  It’s a front row seat to all that’s happening in Albany and Harrisburg.

 

Information about the New York “Legislative Day 2024” day-long advocacy event is available here.

 

 

Campus Ministry – Positive Impact for Today’s Young Adults – 2/22/24

Campus Ministry – Positive Impact for Today’s Young Adults – 2/22/24

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:29 — 13.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

Christian outreach and support for today’s young adults has transformed — yet again.

The unique needs and perspectives of this generation of college students has shaped how campus ministries are doing their work. Today on Family Life, we hear from Mike Andrews, Impact Ministry’s campus pastor at Penn State Altoona.

Andrews tells us about how the most significant impact which meets students where their lives are is primarily in small groups and Bible studies. Even for young people who have never had experiences in a church — or who have wandered away from an earlier faith — he says a hallmark of this generation is an openness to talk about deep core values and to explore spiritual issues.

Greg Gillispie also asks Andrews to give guidance to local church leaders on effective ways to shape youth ministries and to encourage the children of the church to plug into campus ministries if they go away to school.

For more information:

  • The ImpacttheU website
  • A promotional video to show high school and college students

 

 

 
Choices toward planning for college – 2/15/24

Choices toward planning for college – 2/15/24

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:09 — 13.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

This is the time of year when many college-bound students are finalizing applications for which school they intend to go to in the fall.

Also at issue: how to pay for higher education, whether that is for incoming first-year students or those who are already at a college or university.

For advice on the decision-making processes, we sought the perspective of President Wayne Lewis of Houghton University in Houghton, New York. In this Family Life Interview, you will hear:

  • How the federal delays in this year’s one-application for financial aid computations (the online FAFSA form) has affected students, families and the schools — and best “next steps to take”
  • Timelines for applying to your preferred school(s), when financial aid determinations are made, and when someone can change their mind about which college to attend
  • How current students are great resources for sorting out where a new student can attend a place which fits them — whether they are liberal or conservative or moderate, whether they are Christian or not
  • The difference being colleges which teach their students “to think” versus places which teach students “what to think”

Faith Under Fire – The New Academic Year at Christian and Secular Colleges – 08/31/23

Faith Under Fire – The New Academic Year at Christian and Secular Colleges – 08/31/23

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:34 — 11.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

“Faith Under Fire”

A new academic year begins, and the president of a Christian university in the Family Life listening area offers insights into a trend he sees: some students are moving away from traditional colleges whose curricula, faculty and motivations differ from what some families see as their own academic and social priorities. Houghton University‘s President Wayne Lewis says the 24-hour news cycle and the reach of social media has given young people and their parents more information about how students are accepted and supported in their college experience. Dr. Lewis says students should not feel ostracized if they hold positions which differ from those of their professors. At his school, he says administrators strive to assure that students feel welcome at a Biblically-centered university, wherever that student may be on the conservative-moderate-liberal spectrum.

Also in this conversation with news producer Greg Gillispie, the president offers a bright and optimistic picture of today’s college students — and the energy and faith of young Christian adults.

You can hear (or download) our previous interview on similar topics with President Lewis last semester on our News Podcasts page.

Dr. Wayne Lewis became president of Houghton University two years ago and is a strong spokesperson for the gospel and for Christian higher education. You can read his blog and hear other conversations with him here and here.

Inside Out – Secular campuses are open to faith – 02/22/23

Inside Out – Secular campuses are open to faith – 02/22/23

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:11 — 20.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS

Before heading off to university, Daniela Angulo was sure that her on-campus conversations about faith would require all the apologetics knowledge she’d ever learned.

“We saw secular college as a battlefield. That was what we expected,” she says. “We were expecting to go in with our weapons in hand.”  

What she found instead surprised her. Angulo, a student at Miami’s Florida International University, has written for The Gospel Coalition about the receptivity of her professors and classmates to learning what she, as a Christian, believes.   “I had classmates who, upon finding out I was a Christian, were more curious than anything else, and would ask me to have lunch with them,” she says.

She spends more time sharing her faith and less time defending it than she expected.

“While I still made sure to hold onto that foundation of apologetics that I needed, because I knew it would come in handy and there have been times where I have needed them, I also started approaching each class with a renewed excitement for the opportunity that God might give me to share the Gospel.”  

Her perspective today is quite different from her expectations. “At the end of the day it’s not a battlefield as much as it is an evangelistic ground of mission work,” she says. 

If your college search includes secular universities,  Angulo recommends three ways to prepare. “Know the Bible,” she says. “Whether it be a conversation, or defending your faith, you need to know what you believe. And so that foundation of just understanding what it is we believe and why is so important.”   

She also counsels that we view professors and fellow students as people God longs to be in relationship with. “Don’t view your secular classmates, your atheistic classmates, your  agnostic classmates, your liberal classmates—don’t view them as your enemies. View them as people who are lost and who we pray that God will reveal Himself to, and that  you will be able to be a tool for Him.” And lastly, pray for opportunities to talk about Jesus. God will give them.  “I started praying for that opportunity and it came,” she says. “The opportunity came.”

Read Daniela Angulo’s The Gospel Coalition article that inspired this podcast here.

Faith Under Fire – Dr. Wayne Lewis – Staying Faithful, as a Christian University – 02/16/23

Faith Under Fire – Dr. Wayne Lewis – Staying Faithful, as a Christian University – 02/16/23

By |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:44 — 9.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS | More

Academic freedom and the Christian college experience

We explore higher education and how recent cultural movements shape the college experience for today’s students. Pennsylvania and New York have a number of universities founded as Christian outreaches, and those Christian colleges are facing those pressures as are secular schools.

Houghton Univ's sixth presidentTo get a snapshot of what is happening now, “Faith Under Fire” spoke with Dr. Wayne Lewis, president of Houghton University in New York’s Southern Tier. Dr. Lewis speaks about the uniqueness of being a Christ-centered institution, how schools can assure all voices are heard, and why it is important to assure that all students — from all sectors of the political/theological/social spectrum — feel at home on their campus and in their classrooms.

Tap here for further information: Dr. Lewis…   Houghton University…

 

EMAIL FAMILY LIFE

Fill out my online form.

© 2024 Family Life Podcasts