New Purdue housing lets students live their faith
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.— For some college students, getting a degree doesn’t necessarily mean learning the difference between an Irish car bomb and a mind eraser, or how to score notes for missed Friday morning classes after a Thursday night of partying.
Purdue University junior Erin Harden is one of them. She said it was difficult to connect with many of her peers during her freshman and sophomore years when she lived in Windsor Halls on campus.
“They were definitely not opposed to the party scene like I was,” the 21-year-old told the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/197eKQf ). “A lot of people’s downtime on campus is spent at parties. ... I’ve never had alcohol before. I felt a little bit out of the loop.”
When Lafayette-based Faith Church opened a 119-bed, faithbased housing complex in West Lafayette this summer—part of the Faith West community center—Harden was among the first to move in. She was not alone.
When classes started in August, every one of the suitestyle apartments was booked. Before moving in, residents were required to sign a “ministry housing agreement” that discourages vulgar speech, premarital sex, the use or possession of alcohol or tobacco, immodest dress and more.
“We are just trying to help these kids live out their faith,” said Josh Greiner, pastor of Faith West Community Ministries.
Faith West is unique in Greater Lafayette, but faith-based housing is popping up at secular campuses across the country. Proponents say the draw is a safe environment for religious students, shelter from the college party scene and a focus on community living.
Similar Catholic dormitories popped up in August at Troy University in Alabama, University of Nebraska, and Florida Institute of Technology. A 278-bed facility on the Texas A&M University—Kingsville campus is expected to open in October.
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue is considering a student dormitory to be located within several blocks of the church, which is near the campus center. The church held public meetings in June to discuss the issue.
“It’s still a go,” said the Rev. Patrick Baikauskas, director of campus ministry for St. Thomas Aquinas. “We are in conversation with the university about available property. We had discussions about financial funding options. But the location has still not been settled. I’m confident within the next six months we will have the location chosen.”
Baikauskas agreed that such housing affords students more than just a quiet place to study.
“It’s more than providing faithbased housing,” he said. “We see it as an extension of our ministry. We are going to offer them another opportunity, and it’s a way for them to live out their faith.”
For Erin Harden, she believes her college “party” life has just begun.
“Every night is a weekend night in our apartment” she said. “We always have people over. ... We’re always watching a movie or playing games. Sand volleyball, we do that a lot.”
As an underclassman, Erin spent Friday nights out with friends from Purdue Bible Fellowship, Faith Church’s campus ministry that she joined her freshman year. There, she studied the Bible, sang worship songs and socialized with students.
She continues that tradition at Faith West, where the fellowship service is now held.
Erin shares a suite at Faith West with her younger sister, Emily, a freshman. The Harden sisters said they were raised in a Christian home in Warsaw. Their father, Greg Harden, is a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Oswego.
He said his daughters chose to live at Faith West, and he was supportive of their decision.
“One of the biggest problems with the church and Christianity is that communities assume it’s only one day a week,” he said, “but it actually permeates every part of life. That’s what the students are trying to do.”
Although new to campus life, 18-year-old Emily, shares a similar view as her sister.
“I really liked the community here (at Faith West) where I can go on campus and have my classes and be able to interact with nonbelievers, because I feel like that’s very important,” she said. “But I also wanted to come back and be able to relax and let my guard down a little bit and be around people who had the same values. There’s a lot less temptation to get into things like partying.”
“Emily and I love parties and such,” Erin added. “But the whole purpose and reason behind the parties we throw and the events that we have are very different than any that my friends or roommates had in the past.”
“We like to have people in with the sole purpose of leading them closer to the Lord and having that deep fellowship connection that I could never have had with some of the crazy brawls that tended to happen in fraternities and house parties and stuff on campus.”
“It’s neither wonderful or horrible,” said Peter Bunder, chaplain at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd Episcopal campus ministry and a West Lafayette city councilman. “I think the downside is the lack of integration with different folk. If you are living with an atheist, then that gives you a different experience.”
As a council member, Bunder supported the development of Faith West but opposed the city’s cooperation in helping Faith Church obtain financing. After a heated debate in the summer of 2012, the city acted as a conduit, funneling about $7 million in municipal bonds, bought by JPMorgan Chase, to Faith West. Faith West must repay the bonds over the next 20 years. It involved no West Lafayette taxpayer money, and the city is not liable.
Bunder argued that the city’s cooperation blurred the line between church and state.
Baikauskas, however, doesn’t think faith-based housing is limiting. No matter where they live, students will meet people who are diverse through classes and other organizations on campus.
Kelli Kirtley, a first-year veterinary student who lives at Faith West, is aware of the criticism. “I didn’t want to just hide away but I wanted the support system,” said the 22-year-old.
She said part of the draw is the “spiritual foundation,” but she hopes living atop a community center will help her become more involved.
Residents are required to participate in a ministry activity on a regular basis, according to the ministry housing agreement. A ministry activity can be any type of service, such as manning the front desk or mowing the yard of a residential neighbor.
Greiner said Faith West’s housing units are open to diverse students, such as those of a different faith or sexual orientation, as long as they sign and live by the ministry housing agreement.
Even so, the housing agreement requires residents to regularly attend either Faith Church or a Christian church that has similar practices and beliefs and discourages sexual relationships outside of heterosexual marriage.
If someone violated the contract, the matter would be handled on a “case-by-case basis,” most likely starting with a conversation about the issue, Greiner said.
“There’s not going to be anybody policing the students or monitoring them,” he said. “We are setting up expectations and hoping that’s what everybody is going to do. We don’t think people are signing up to live here and then planning on breaking the rules. We try to teach principles to residents so they know how to live life. There’s not a discipline book.”
Jordan Bray, a freshman at Ivy Tech Community College, welcomes the rules. It was his decision to live at Faith West.
“They have (Purdue Bible Fellowship) instead of your average frats and Friday night parties,” said the 18-year-old. “They really encourage you to get involved with the ministry.”
His mother, Angel Bray of Williamsport, tried to talk him into staying home.
“I didn’t want him to have to work and go to school,” she said while helping Jordan move into his apartment on Aug. 10. “(But) he said he was led by God to be here.”
However, seeing the accommodations for the first time put Angel at ease. Each suite comes fully furnished with couches, beds and a washer and dryer.
Plus, she called the rent affordable. It ranges from $425 for a five-bedroom suite to $515 for a two-bedroom. The rent includes membership to the on-site fitness center, cable and Wi-Fi.
The suites are designed to blur the lines between apartment and communal living. The bedrooms and bathrooms are private, but the living and kitchen areas are shared among roommates.
Residents can study in their suites, which are on upper floors of the four-story building. The can venture down to the main floor to study in the public lounge, which is decked out with lofted ceilings and modern furniture, or pick from six study rooms that are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.