46 SEPT | OCT 2016 THE GAZETTE cthe Christian Association at 125

BY DAVE ZEITLIN

At the turn of the last century, the CA pioneered the idea of service at Penn with settlement houses and summer camps, and has since been at the forefront of anti-war protests and movements for civil, women’s, and LGBT rights. In the 21st, it’s still providing a “safe space” for students and making a difference on campus and beyond. aTHE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2016 47 nder an elevated train track, It might seem like an odd place for the ways, it’s also the perfect snapshot of in a park struggling to shed CA to be represented, even among such an the Christian Association, which has its reputation as a drug haven, eclectic mix of people. Kensington is a long always kept one eye on its rich history a group of 50 or so people way from Penn’s campus, in every sense, and the other on creating a better future. Ugathered beside a blossoming cherry tree and the rally had no direct ties to the swaying in the wind. University. But the Christian Association— Settlement Houses, Medical Missions, If you were passing through McPherson which will celebrate its 125th anniversary and Summer Camps Square in ’s Kensington neigh- this fall as the oldest active ecumenical Around the turn of the 20th century, Josiah borhood that late April afternoon, you campus ministry in the — C. McCracken M1901 took a stroll past might have wondered what could have has always spread its wings well beyond Franklin Field, where he starred on Penn’s brought them to this rough part of the city. Penn, especially in impoverished neigh- football and track teams, and kept going They seemed to have little in common. borhoods. In fact, for much of the last east on South Street. He did not like what Within the semicircle formed around a century and into this one, the organiza- he saw. Across the Schuylkill River, just makeshift podium, a man in priest’s gar- tion has been a beacon of social justice beyond Penn’s campus but seemingly a ments stood beside someone wearing a and a champion of progressive causes in world away, was a gritty neighborhood Brian Dawkins Eagles jersey. There was a West Philadelphia and around the city filled with needy boys and girls. So he woman gently rocking a baby in a stroller and even, for a time, internationally. decided to do something about it. next to a hipster in jean shorts. One man Gurnee, who gives off something of a McCracken, who served as president of in a suit and another wearing a Harley laid-back Billy Bob Thornton vibe, got his the Christian Association for three years, Davidson shirt stood a few feet from an undergraduate degree in political science began by starting a Sunday school for employee of the nearby El Bar (who point- and a law degree from Emory University, those kids. Before long, he became one ed out what used to be the “heroin bench” and worked for a number of years in bank- of the first Penn students to set up and and the “coke bench” in what had been ing and finance. He says he always had a volunteer his time at CA-run settlement dubbed “Needle Park.”) complicated relationship with his faith, houses, whose purpose was to provide Only by moving closer to these men and believing at first that religion meant “a women of all ages, races, and backgrounds judgmental God.” But after realizing he … straining to hear over the screech and was always “the guy sticking up for the rumble of the El train passing … and see- consumer and the hourly workers in our ing the four T-shirts stretched on spikes company,” he became more conscious of dug into the grass, was it possible to deter- what he wanted to do with his life. He mine why they had gathered. On two of switched gears to run an interfaith coali- the T-shirts were written names, ages, tion before landing his current job with and dates. The other two had the words the CA six years ago. Unnamed Male and Unnamed Female. The day before the rally, sitting on a The shirts memorialized the victims comfy couch at the CA, Gurnee talked of a recent quadruple shooting in Kens- about how important the issue of gun ington, and faith organizations from violence is in the city and nationally. “It’s around the city stood beside local mourn- the most basic of all commandments, ers to pray for the victims of these trag- right? ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’?” he said. “I edies and call for action against “straw just feel that God calls us to love one sales” by local gun dealers. “It’s blood another, and guns are a significant thing facilities and mentorship to children, money,” boomed Bryan Miller, the exec- that gets in the way of that.” develop what organizers called a “good utive director of Heeding God’s Call, the The Christian Association made sure neighborhood feeling” toward all ethnic faith-based gun-violence-prevention this message got across loud and clear last groups, and offer opportunities for Penn movement that organized the rally and December when it displayed on its lawn students to share in “Christian service.” press conference. “It shouldn’t happen. 200 T-shirts representing Philadelphians The CA opened its first settlement house And we want to get it changed.” killed by gun violence in the previous year. at 2524 South Street in 1899; in early 1907, Also among those gathered, listening Also featured prominently outside its it opened another at 2601 Lombard Street intently, were Rob Gurnee, executive building—which lies in the same historic in a building it purchased for more than director of the Christian Association at complex that houses the Tabernacle $50,000. It was a noble effort and one that the University of Pennsylvania, and Church and the Iron Gate Theater—is a remained a crucial part of the CA’s mission Megan LeCluyse, the campus minister of Black Lives Matter poster, an LGBT flag, for several decades. But remarkably, the that venerable institution, which for and a sign that touts the CA as “a public settlement house idea was not all decades occupied the building at 36th voice for progressive Christianity.” McCracken had in mind. and Locust Walk that now houses the To the average passerby it may seem According to University Archives and Arts, Research, and Culture House (ARCH) jarring for such forward-looking mes- Records Center director Mark Frazier Lloyd, and since 1999 has been headquartered sages to be displayed outside a national McCracken was a devout believer who “saw at 37th and Sansom streets. historic landmark building. But in many his medical training as a God-given oppor-

48 SEPT | OCT 2016 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE tunity to help people who did not have before retiring, leaving the country for (and later girls) who came from modest modern medical care.” McCracken didn’t good only when the school was taken over means. The opening of Green Lane Camp just bring his expertise in medicine across by the Communist government in 1952. was proclaimed with much fanfare in a 1911 a river; he brought it across an ocean too. His mission also set the stage for article: “June 26. Don’t In 1905, the CA board hatched an ambi- CA to become involved in other interna- forget the date, for that is the day when the tious plan to send McCracken to China to tional causes, which included providing University Settlement, whose headquarters study the feasibility of taking over the financial aid to Dr. Victor Rambo, a med- are at Twenty-sixth and Lombard Streets, medical school from what was then called ical missionary who dedicated his life to will open up for the summer the most won- Canton College. In his book Seeds from the eliminating blindness in India through derful camp that ever delighted the heart West: St. John’s Medical School, Shanghai, eye surgery. And back in Philadelphia, of a city kid.” And the city kids from the 1880-1952, author Kaiyi Chen notes that the CA is “widely credited with providing Philly slums ate it up, playing sports and McCracken spent seven months in China the first hospitality to international stu- swimming and running carefree around 70 and “concluded that with the support from dents,” Gurnee says, purchasing a build- acres of tree-shaded country land. the home base, he ‘could do far more in ing on Spruce Street in 1918 to serve as “The Christian Association, from China than he could ever do at home.’” So the home for the International Student McCracken to 1960, was the beacon,” Lloyd in 1907, McCracken returned to China to House. Although the International House says. “It was the voice on campus that was operate the medical school in Canton, which separated from the Christian Association was renamed the University Medical School. 25 years later, the CA continued its focus McCracken was “the person who real- ly started to put credibility behind the idea of the Christian Association,” says

Opening spread: Images of the former Christian Association building at 3601 Locust Walk and its current home at 37th and Sansom streets. These pages, L to R: first graduating class of University Medical School in China, settlement house playground, camp life.

Lloyd. “The establishment of a China on helping Penn’s international commu- saying, ‘We have a responsibility to inner- missionary medical school wowed every- nity, and since 1997 has run a weekly city youth. We have a responsibility to body. That was amazing. And he was program called Slanguage in which alcoholics and other addicts. We have a greatly admired and respected.” American slang, culture, and justice responsibility to help people across the McCracken remained in China up until issues are taught to foreign students. world have better medical care.’ If you were the 1950s, spending most of his career Meanwhile, the settlement program—in 19 or 20 and at Penn as an undergrad, or training Chinese doctors and helping thou- which everything from religion to athlet- 23 and here as a professional student, and sands of sick people by improving the ics to arithmetic was taught by a large you cared about a bigger world than just region’s medical care. He served as the team of volunteers—continued to expand, the pursuit of a degree, the Christian Asso- University Medical School’s president until with several more houses opening in ciation was the place to go.” 1913, then became dean of St. John’s South Philadelphia before 1950. It also Aaron Bocage C’70 SW’75 was certainly University’s medical school until the invad- spawned another exciting venture for the one of those students who got into the CA ing Japanese deported him and his family CA, which purchased land in Montgomery because he “cared about a bigger world.” in 1942. He came back to China in 1946 County and opened a summer camp for But Bocage, who has remained heavily

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION / UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION CHRISTIAN and resumed his post for another year many of those same neighborhood boys involved with the CA in the four decades

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2016 49 since graduating, quickly learned that wanted to thank him. “Otherwise, it hardships and unhappiness and of actu- helping others is also what helped him wouldn’t have had folks from all walks ally setting them on the road to a new grow into the person he is today. After of life still trying to reach back and hold and better world.” But as time passed Penn, Bocage went on to create youth entre- onto it 50 years later. I was lucky enough and conditions changed the CA had to preneurship programs and is the co-found- to be a part of it.” shrink its reach and sell its camps. er and president of the Education Training That in turn led to a new era for the CA, & Enterprise Center (EDTEC). He regards Activism in the Catacombs which would focus much of its energy on working as a counselor at Green Lane as While the summers may have been serene fighting for the rights of African Americans, one of the best experiences of his life. “The for Bocage, the school year was consider- women, and the LGBT community. “I think camp,” he says wistfully, “had as much of ably more chaotic—but in a good way. It what the CA did with the activism in the an impact on us as we had on the kids.” was the late 1960s, the country was on ’60s was kind of consistent with what it had He has vivid memories from those sum- fire, and during his junior year Bocage been doing the half-century before that,” mer days. One is hearing a prominent lived in the CA’s former home at 36th and Lloyd says. And it all happened right from alumni supporter use the phrase “an unbro- Locust Walk. Literally. His only respon- the center of Penn’s campus. ken chain of strong men working to serve sibility in exchange for the free accom- Bocage didn’t know much about the CA poor kids” to galvanize the counselors at modations? He had to chase out all of the when he arrived at Penn as a freshman orientation. He remembers the pow-wows activist groups that met in the building from New Orleans. And he never really and the campfire songs and the “frog pond.” so he could lock up around 10 or 11 p.m. thought the basement of a Christian He remembers how the cabins were racial- It was easier said than done. organization would become the hub of ly integrated even though many of the chil- dren came from segregated neighborhoods. And, of course, he remembers the day he woke up early to cut grass with a young woman named Tessa ... who would later become his wife. It’s a testament to the camaraderie of the group that he would not

L to R: Saluting the flag; CA building under construction; dancing tonight, circa 1950. “All the campus protests, the anti-war anti-war activism and heated political movement—the CA was at the center of all conversations for students like him, of this stuff,” Bocage recalls. “So much of determined to avoid service in Vietnam be the first or last to meet his spouse the stuff was organized there. So many stu- at all costs. (Bocage says that if he had because of the CA. While there’s no way to dent groups met there. The catacombs in been called, he planned to go to Canada, calculate exactly, Bocage counts seven mar- the basement was the coffee-house for folk even though it “wasn’t a real popular deci- riages among camp staffers coming out of music, food, political groups, debates.” sion with my parents.”) the four years he was there—a “pretty high By then, the CA’s settlement projects He probably wasn’t alone in his surprise: rate,” he says, “considering there were only and camps were beginning to slow down. the building certainly didn’t look like a about 30 staff per summer and probably They had flourished under the leadership counter-cultural haven. For its first 30-plus half came back for two or more years.” of the revered Dana G. How, CA director years, the CA had mostly held its meetings “Something happened there,” says from 1928 to 1958. In a 1940s-era pam- out of an office in Houston Hall, so when Bocage, who recently received a Facebook phlet, How called for people to “join with the organization commissioned its own message out of the blue from one of his us through your gifts in the happy priv- building in the 1920s, the primary concern

“awkward, very shy” campers who just ilege of lifting hundreds out of their was to create a permanent home—accent / UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION CHRISTIAN

50 SEPT | OCT 2016 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE on permanent. The CA’s board at the time lesbian Christians about their “common happened to Fergie?” someone pondered decided to spare no expense, creating a and yet different spiritual and sexual as Catalina Mullis C’16 passionately sang grandiose structure with marble floors, journeys” even as the Culture Wars raged “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” wood paneling, an auditorium, and sev- beyond the CA’s walls. She concluded: OK, so maybe there are more pressing eral expansive dining rooms, offices, and “The building at 36th and Locust stands issues than the whereabouts of certain lounges. Over time, while those amenities a symbol of what happens when people pop stars who may have slipped off the became somewhat the worse for wear, the of faith open their hearts and their intel- cultural radar. But that moment was prob- basement, or “catacombs,” as it was called, lect to consider the age-old questions of ably a representative one for the students took on a life of its own, becoming a place meaning, purpose, and then seek to learn who today call the CA home—and come where people came for the co-ed dances, to work together to build a better world.” often to lounge around, sing, play games, the whole-wheat pizza—and so much more. Dale served as the CA’s director from devour the free meals that are provided If that “building could talk [it] would 1989 until 2010, overseeing its 100th anni- every Wednesday, and, most of all, just be tell the stories of being the only neutral versary in 1991 and the protracted and themselves. “My favorite part of the CA and safe space that was off limits from often tense negotiations to sell its building is just this building,” said Mullis, who uptight white administrators in the tur- to the University in 1999. She was not only majored in theatre arts with a minor in bulent 1960s where African-American a female campus minister at a time when Hispanic studies, shortly before belting students could audaciously organize a there weren’t many but also an enlightened out her favorite Fergie song. “We have a Black Student League and where anti- voice for homosexuality and sex education, meditation room upstairs, which is so war protestors could organize against organizing programming and conversa- calming and comforting. Food is in abun- the Vietnam War,” former CA director tions for such issues around campus. dance here. You just have a feeling like Even though she movingly eulogized the this is a home away from home. Everyone CA’s Locust Walk home in her Gazette letter, here is very nice and so supportive. We Dale insists that selling it was absolutely love to play Catch Phrase here. It’s just a necessary to grow the nonprofit organiza- place we like to come to de-stress.” tion’s progressive vision and get out from For all of those reasons and more, Mullis under the huge amount of debt the CA had traded some silliness for tears at this par- carried since the 1920s. “I’m proud I got rid ticular late-April service as campus min- of that building,” she says today. “There was ister Megan LeCluyse offered prayer and no sufficient endowment to take care of the advice to the seniors who were about to building and do ministry. My fear was the graduate from Penn. “As you go out, you alumni would be really upset and I’d go down will need strength and you will need faith in history as the woman who torpedoed the and you will need love,” LeCluyse told them Christian Association. But my hope was to during their senior sendoff ceremony. “We get rid of the boondoggle and free up funds hope that at the CA, you have found these to do some good stuff.” things.” Then, with a piano playing in the The negotiations turned out to be more background, she handed out something difficult than she anticipated—“just more permanent for them to take with headaches upon headaches,” she says. them on their journey into adulthood: But the CA was eventually able to iron rocks inscribed with inspirational words. out the details of the “multi-million- Upon receiving hers, Mullis hugged dollar sale” in 1999, which also included LeCluyse and Gurnee for a long time, as part of the agreement a free 25-year and then shared an embrace with anoth- lease on their current space. er senior, Scott R. Gautsche Sprunger Beverly Dale wrote in an impassioned Naturally some alumni remain nostalgic C’16. “It kind of just hit me that it’s over,” letter blasting the Gazette two years ago. when it comes to their old home, which Sprunger, a philosophy major, said soft- (We had suggested, in an article about they considered the “original safe space” ly when the service had concluded. Then the ARCH, that alumni were most likely on campus, since the CA has never been he cradled his new rock in his hand. “I to remember the CA for that whole-wheat officially affiliated with the University. picked one with the word ‘Love’ on it.” pizza or “a meal at the Gold Standard or And even some current students regret the Sprunger “probably spends more wak- Palladium restaurants.” —Ed.) group is no longer so centrally located. But ing hours here than I do at home.” But Dale’s letter went on to highlight mov- if the old building on Locust Walk no lon- when he first got to Penn, he had “no ie-and-spiritual-discussion nights in the ger houses the CA, its spirit lives on. interest in participating in a Christian 1980s, talks by “key liberation theolo- group”—he didn’t think he would “have a gians” in the 1990s, support for the bur- A Safe Space for Everybody place in it” because he was gay. He wasn’t geoning women’s movement from femi- As students took their seats for the even sure if he believed in God anymore nist clergy, and the “astonishing conver- Christian Association’s final prayer service despite going to church throughout his sations” that took place among straight of the 2015-16 school year, a vital philo- childhood. Trying to balance his sexuality Evangelical Christians and gay and sophical question was posed: “Whatever with his religion was an “exhausting” inter-

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2016 51 nal battle he was ready to leave behind. Butler W’16, who is black and, like Mullis, Since then, the CA has been increasingly in But during his junior year, he discov- calls the CA his “home away from home” competition with other religious groups ered the Queer Christian Fellowship over the last four years. “I think the peo- established over the years. Currently, (QCF), which runs under the umbrella of ple aspect is something a lot of Christian LeCluyse says, there are 31 Christian church- the CA. From there, he learned of the CA’s organizations overlook. We have to draw based groups and student organizations remarkable history and how, to his sur- people in, not push God on people. We operating on campus. prise, it pioneered peer counseling for have to give everyone an opportunity to Gurnee and LeCluyse say they have gay students in the 1970s, even before explore their own faith.” tackled the rebuilding challenge by stress- what is now Penn’s LGBT Center got its University Chaplain Charles L “Chaz” ing community, establishing a stable start in 1982. And then he met Gurnee Howard C’00, who was a member of the student board, scheduling dinners week- and LeCluyse, who immediately welcomed CA as an undergraduate, sums it up best: ly rather than every two weeks, and add- him and encouraged him to embrace his “Martin Luther King used to say that ing a worship service afterward. LeCluyse sexuality rather than try to hide it. Sunday mornings are the most segre- jokes that the free meals “tends to be the “It’s just not a priority in the Bible, and gated hours of the week, referencing how selling point,” but adds that students find things like God’s love are,” LeCluyse says of churches tend to separate based on race the CA in all sorts of ways—brought along her views on homosexuality. “If a student and class and politics,” he says. “The CA by a friend, visiting the organization’s is questioning their sexuality, [my approach really pushes back on that.” website (upennca.org), or simply walking is] just reassuring them that God loves them, past the building and wondering what’s that I don’t think they were created the Then and Now inside. Recently, a student knocked on wrong way, that I think being gay and being Growing up in Phoenix, Megan LeCluyse the door, distressed because at the last Christian is totally doable. And it’s just help- says, she knew “very little that’s 125 years Christian group she was part of, her ing them maybe reinterpret those passages old.” So when the opportunity arose to friends told her that she needed to “stop that are used against it, or understanding be the campus minister of the CA after asking questions and just believe.” A few them in a different way.” she had come East to attend Princeton days later, she and LeCluyse sat down for Empowered by his new minister’s mes- Theological Seminary, she jumped at it, sage, Sprunger became recommitted to hoping not only to honor the organiza- Christianity—so much so that he made tion’s history but to add to it. “One of the plans to pursue a master’s of divinity. “At things that excited me about the CA was the CA, to be openly gay, unlike other that it was this place that had this rich, churches I’ve been a part of, is I have a deep history,” she says, “and yet it was sense I can fully be myself here,” he says. also in a season of kind of starting over.” “I have a much deeper confidence about The CA certainly was at a crossroads myself, where I feel like my self-worth isn’t when Gurnee was hired in 2010 and determined by what certain Christians LeCluyse two years later. There was some would say about me—which has been an controversy over Dale’s exit—she claims excellent gift the Christian Association she was ousted as a result of “political has given to me. shenanigans”—but the CA had also been “As much as I have trouble with it, struggling with declining membership [Christianity] has informed so much of and fewer alumni and church donations my sense of morality and the extent to ever since the heyday of its activist lead- which I care about justice,” he adds. “I ership. As Mark Lloyd puts it, “the ’60s an hour and a half, the questions about want the church to be better than it has kind of flamed out, and the CA flamed her faith flying in from all angles. been historically. And I think I can do out,” at least compared to its pinnacle. “What’s really important [about] the CA some small thing to make that the case. Dale claims that when she arrived in is that we’re not going to tell you what to So that’s what I’m going to do.” 1989, the organization “had been in flux believe, whereas there are definitely parts Sprunger says he will miss the CA’s diver- with a changeover of a couple of leaders, of Christianity that will tell you, ‘This is sity, which is the “number one thing I but it was in the context of denomina- what you have to believe if you’re Christian noticed” and what “really drew me in.” At tional Christianity disintegrating.” and this is what you’re supposed to do,’” the final senior sendoff, there were students And times—and the campus culture—had LeCluyse says. “We really do want a space of all genders, gay and straight, whites, changed. In the first half of the 20th cen- where anyone is welcome. And we do want African Americans, Indian Americans, and tury, if you were “the big man on campus to be a space where people can disagree Asians. Many stayed long after their final and Christian, you were heavily involved in and have different opinions.” service ended to share memories of the CA, the CA,” Dale says. (Josiah McCracken, for “These days, I say Millennials are post- explain their own interpretations of example, the CA stalwart and sports star, denominational,” Gurnee adds. “They just Christianity, and enjoy some craft beer. was also president of his class all through want to know, ‘How is God relevant in my “I’ve never been in a space like this his student days, as well as president of the life?’ and ‘Can I come to a place that’s safe where I can be different than everyone Houston Club and associate editor of the and ask a bunch of questions and not be else and that’s perfectly OK,” says Josh school paper, then just The Pennsylvanian.) judged?’ And that’s what we do.”

52 SEPT | OCT 2016 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Gurnee and LeCluyse know that neither Mullis, Sprunger, and Butler hope to program for high-school students in West their views on Christianity nor the CA’s remain active in their alumni years too, Philadelphia. And Bocage and other CA mission of promoting cultural diversity but their graduation has brought a very alumni, through a small foundation called and interfaith education will appeal to real concern about continuity—like a col- the Dana How Social Service fund, cur- everyone. In the past, LeCluyse says she lege sports team losing a deep senior rently fund West Philly kids’ attendance has noticed people walk away when they class. “It feels like we’re in a perpetual at a summer camp as well. see a rainbow QCF sticker on the CA’s state of rebuilding,” bemoans LeCluyse, Pointing to Penn’s reputation for ser- table during activities fairs on Locust who admits that she would “love for more vice, Gurnee ties it back to the efforts of Walk. And Melanie Young C’15 GEd’16 students to know about us.” Josiah McCracken and his successors. recalls sitting in a CA office not long ago Mullis agrees that the CA is “not a very “Through camps and settlement houses when someone angrily called in to demand well-known place” and that making it and through ministry to international they take down their Black Lives Matter more familiar among the general student students, it really sort of emanated out sign, saying hateful things about the body is “something that we grapple a lot of the CA,” he says. “I’m really hoping the movement. The CA “didn’t take it down,” with here.” Butler believes the problem 125th will allow us to showcase our his- Young says. “They got a better sign.” could be that the building is “hidden” tory but also highlight the things we still Young, who is African American, was away from the main campus arteries. do in support of Penn students and sup- proud of how the CA stood firm in that And Sprunger thinks the Christian port of the Penn community.” (To share moment, just as it has throughout its Association name itself can seem “a your CA memories, or for more informa- history. And she credits Gurnee and little intimidating,” and not necessarily tion, email [email protected].) LeCluyse for not only being her “campus something you’d equate with a progres- During its official 125th anniversary parents,” but teaching her valuable les- sive group. celebration, which will be held during

The CA today: taking a stand against gun violence, group portrait, memorial display commemorating Philadelphians killed by illegal guns. Homecoming weekend in November, the CA plans to recognize Chaz Howard, among sons about the CA’s philosophical pillars: And yet the progressive charge contin- others. It’s a fitting honor for Penn’s chap- hospitality, faith exploration, and service ues. In many ways, Gurnee says, the CA is lain, who called the CA “deeply impactful” and advocacy. “I didn’t really think about now “doing the modern-day version of what in his own spiritual journey and who firm- issues of social justice when I thought was done a while ago.” For example, in the ly believes the organization has played a about my faith,” Young says. “Now it’s mid-1960s, the CA organized student ser- “crucial” role in the University’s history. extremely connected. Any type of ineq- vice trips to Mississippi to register people And even if the Christian Association today uity when it comes to poverty or people to vote and build tent homes and facilities might not be exactly what it once was, he generally persecuted in society, I really for striking tenant farmers who had been knows that it will continue to be on the see my faith through that lens.” evicted. (One student, according to Lloyd, front lines of the causes it believes in, open Even though she graduated in 2015, was former Penn President Judith Rodin its doors to anyone in need, and push for- Young found herself coming back to the CW’66 Hon’04.) More recently, its members ward in its mission, just as it has for the CA throughout the past year. “Every helped rebuild homes destroyed by past 125 years. time,” she says, “it’s like I’m coming back Hurricane Sandy, among other service “I think that as long as Penn’s here,” How- home.” She plans to continue to return, projects. And while they don’t maintain ard says, “the CA’s going to be here too.”◆ joining a core group of Penn alumni who their own settlement houses and camps Dave Zeitlin C’03 writes on a variety of subjects

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CHRISTIAN care deeply about the CA. anymore, the CA does offer a mentoring for the Gazette.

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2016 53