Pre Launch Status (August 2010)

COM = Cross on the Moon; Tomorrow begins the Fall semester for most campuses across the US. Middle schools and high schools also start. Last week was student orientation. Freshmen arrive to learn the school’s policies and expectations. Students make friends and acclimate to new settings.

I enjoy this time of year. It is refreshing to see the eagerness on young faces. Being an adjunct faculty for CMU in Pittsburgh, I often spend time on campus. Last week it was to prepare for a research paper. Observing the public notice boards is always a fun past time. What pleasantly struck me were the appeals to join a worship group, mostly Christian but not exclusively. The school has an inter-faith council and groups wanted to be clear that they were a member of it.

Many decades have passed since my freshman days. My faith was immature then and I regret not aligning with Christians to help grow my relationship with Jesus. It takes courage to explore both the universe and our relationships in it. I find students in my classes to be bright academically, and if one listens carefully, they are asking questions about God at the same time. I hope parents would support their sons and daughters choice to join a campus worship group over some other social choices campus life offers.

The class of 2014 begins tomorrow. It is the largest in my University’s history. We have significant international and cultural diversity. 12 freshmen had perfect SAT scores and some with perfect scores did not get accepted. I can appreciate that similar statements can be said at other universities. This gives me hope that people we are training to be tomorrow’s science and engineering leaders, may be guided by moral choices they develop from studying their faith.