Research that explored the experiences of White administrators at Christian institutions of higher education within the United States who have demonstrated a commitment to anti-racism.

1. Examining the Intersection
of Christianity and Social
Justice Advocacy on Faith-
Based Institutions
Alexander Jun, Ph.D. Professor, Azusa
Pacific University
Allison Ash, Associate Dean of Student Care
and Services, Wheaton College
CCCU Diversity Conference 2015
Chicago, IL

2. Roadmap
 Introduction
 Theology of Diversity
 Research & Findings (theology of anti-racism)
 Two Models: Cycle of Consciousness &
Awareness and Engagement Continuum
 Questions

3. Introduction
 Elephants and giraffes
 Hospitality
 Microaggressions & Implicit Bias
 Intent vs. Impact
 Gaps in Discussion
 Need to Over Communicating the Problem
 Theological Foundation for Anti-Racism

4. Paul, Race, and Unity
 Galatians 2:11-14
 Family Story
 Peter and the Gentile Christians in Antioch
 Tension between Christ and Jewish Christians’ expectations
 Peter’s hypocrisy
 Paul: they were not “acting consistently with the truth of the
gospel.”

5. Paul, Race, and Unity
 Galatians 3:23-29
 Jewish Christians and the law
 Insistence on connection to Abraham (through the
law/circumcision)
 Paul’s correction
 Abraham’s heir; not through law but Christ
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer
slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all
of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs
according to the promise.”

6. Paul, Race, and Unity
 Galatians 3:23-29 (con’t)
 Not you WILL BE one, you ARE one.
 Not there is not difference between…
 Paul’s allowance of circumcision and freedom from it
 Paul’s condemnation of assimilation
To the extent that they were looking to other things to
unite themselves, they were taking the focus away from
the uniting work of Christ.

7. Diversity & Unity Today
 Unity is Central to the Gospel
 Past failures of the evangelical church
 Focus on evangelism and salvation at the expense of Christian unity
across racial lines
 Christian higher education has been largely silent
 One of our participants: church vs. higher education
 Colorblind Ideology
 Problem with colorblind
We strip away racial distinctions and maybe unknowingly
expect our unity to come from people looking and acting
just like us.

8. Purpose
To explore the experiences of White
administrators at Christian institutions of higher
education within the United States who have
demonstrated a commitment to anti-racism.

9. Research Question
“What characterizes the experiences of White
administrators from Christian institutions of
higher education within the United States who
choose to engage in anti-racism* programs,
activities, and initiatives?”
*Social Justice

10. Methods
 Narrative Inquiry
 Individual Interviews (20 participants)
 Grounded Theory Approaches
 Recruitment and Sampling

11. Anti-Racism
“…an action-oriented strategy for
institutional systemic change that addresses
racism and other interlocking systems of
social oppression” (Dei, 1996, p. 252 ).

12. Findings
 Cycle of Critical Consciousness (Model)
 Awareness and Engagement Continuum (Model)

13. Cycle of Critical Consciousness

15. Questions/ Discussion
Final Thought:
CONTACT INFO:
 Allison: aash12@apu.edu
 Alex: ajun@apu.edu