THE VERITAS FORUM — April 6-13, 2003

For Immediate Release Contact: Kyle Klopcic (617) 493-3392 March 31, 2003 Or Heather Woodruff (617) 512-1643

Cambridge, MA – In an age in which colors politics both domestically and internationally, students at Harvard University are coming together this April to examine the intersection of faith and salient societal issues. The week-long Veritas Forum, which will run from April 6th through April 13th, aims to explore the intellectual and personal relevance of the Christian worldview in relation to the issues affecting the world today, from race relations to social justice.

Believing that their faith will withstand the questioning of their Harvard peers, the various Christian student groups who organized the Forum will submit their faith to public challenge from intellectual, philosophical, and practical perspectives. Dr. and Dr. Quentin Smith, co-authors of Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology, will be the featured speakers at the opening event of the Veritas Forum, where they will be questioning the in a debate co-sponsored by the Harvard Secular Society.

A wide range of spiritual and societal issues will be addressed throughout the Forum, ranging from slavery and the spiritual roots of jazz to domestic and international social justice. These topics will be investigated via lectures, panel discussions, and workshops with guest speakers such as D.J. Grothe of the Council for Secular Humanism; Gary Chapman, President of the International Justice Mission; Ten Point Coalition founder Reverend Eugene Rivers, and Westminster Theological Seminary Professor William Edgar. A diverse group of performers will provide such unique events as a concert by Dispatch lead singer Brad Corrigan, and a reflection of the spiritual roots of jazz by Dr. Edgar and gospel singer Ruth Naomi Floyd.

This move towards exploring faith and academia began in 1992, when Christians at Harvard hosted the very first Veritas Forum, which derives its name from Harvard’s motto, the Latin word for truth. The Forum continued throughout the 1990s at Harvard before it grew into a national organization, which organizes similar venues at universities across the country. The lectures and discussions in the early Forums evolved into the book Finding God at Harvard by the Forum’s founder, Kelly Monroe. The Forum was absent from Harvard’s campus around the turn of the century before it was revived in 2001. From April 6-13th, Harvard’s campus will again examine whether faith and scholarship are compatible.