A proposal written by a class of students at Tabor College has won a $5,000 Creation Care Fund mini-grant from the Council for Christian Colleges & Univer?sities.
Tabor was one of six schools chosen from among the 24 applicants by a review panel of specialists in the field of creation care and environmental sustainability.
The other grant recipients are Carson-Newman College (Tenn.), Eastern Nazarene College (Mass.), King?s College Univer?sity (Edmonton, Alta.), Milligan College (Ky.), and Northwestern College (Iowa).
According to the CCCU, the purpose of the Creation Care Fund grant is to encourage and equip campuses that are at the beginning stages of their ecological efforts.
Newly formed creation-care groups at the six colleges will join in a telephone conference April 20 to learn from specialists how to begin eco-friendly projects on their campuses.
Tabor College President Jules Glanzer, who learned to care for creation as a youngster growing up on a South Dakota farm, was delighted to learn that Tabor College had won the award.
?As stewards of God?s creation, we are called to use our natural resources in a wise and prudent manner,? Glanzer said. ?Environmentalists call it ?going green.? We Christians call it ?creation care.?
?I am so pleased that a Creation Care Fund grant has been awarded to Tabor College,? he added, ?because we have a lot of work to do in this area on our campus.?
The mini-grant application was prepared by students in this semester?s Principles of Public Relations class, which has been studying the ?Greening of America? and the emerging creation-care movement among evangelical Christians.
The class, taught by Grant Overstake, was looking at Tabor College in relation to other colleges concerning its overall attitude toward environmental issues, and asking what changes would have to be made in campus life, curriculum and overall outlook in order to honestly market the ?T? logo with a green T, to show its commitment to creation care.
The PR class recommended, and Glanzer agreed, that an important first step to creating more environmental awareness at Tabor was for the president to officially recognize those who are passionate about creation, to give them group status and empower them to lead the initiative on campus.
?The class discovered that we weren?t even close to being able to use a green T when describing ourselves,? Glanzer said. ?But it did find some individuals to become charter members of our new Creation Care Task Force. These individuals are making a difference and leading the way in living out their own personal commitment to creation care.?
While the public-relations class was making this recommendation, it discovered the mini-grant opportunity through the CCCU, to help foster the formation of creation care groups on Christian college campuses. The grant could provide $5,000 for eco-friendly initiatives at Tabor College.
?The students voted to shelve its syllabus to focus solely on winning this grant for the college,? Glanzer said. ?They solicited biographical information from prospective Creation Care Task Force members, and facilitated a focus group discussion from which ?baby steps? were identified to help Tabor College begin its creation care projects.
?I believe the application process has been a tremendous hands-on learning opportunity for our students, and I believe that our new Creation Care Task Force is destined to make an eternal impact on the Tabor College campus, the community and the world,? Glanzer said.
