This is an email I sent out to students, staff, faculty, pastors, and campus ministers on my Veritas email lists:
Green Wave Greetings!
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to thank all of you who have been a part of moving The Veritas Forum at Tulane along this year. We have big shoes to fill after last year's wonderful event with Dr. Francis Collins.
I want to keep you all up to date on where things are, now that we are moving from the idea stage towards reality.
As previous updates have mentioned, we are not trying to duplicate last year's event with Dr. Collins. This year, we are planning to have two smaller conversations on Feb 1st and Feb 8th, each following a general theme of what is good/right/just, and how do we arrive at those ideas and pursue them well. Also, each conversation will target a different niche of the campus.
Mon, Feb 1st with Dr. Mary Poplin ~ 7pm.
Currently scheduled for the LBC's 1834 Club, though other venues are being researched.
Dr. Poplin is a frequent guest for Veritas Forums, and has a compelling personal story.
Read her biography at Claremont Graduate University here
Browse her Veritas conversations here
We will look to partner closely with these and other segments of the university, especially, for this evening:
Newcomb Institute, School of Social Work, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and International Development.
Mon, Feb 8th with G. Marcus Cole ~ 7pm.
Currently scheduled for the LBC's Kendall-Cram Room.
Cole is a law professor at Stanford who is new to the fold of Veritas presenters. We look forward to being the first to host him.
This conversation will not only involve Q&A from the audience, but we hope to secure a dialogue partner for Prof. Cole to discuss issues relating to morality and law, and hopefully moving toward the areas of human rights, and where we secure legitimate grounding for our conception of those rights. Prof. Cole knows Dr. Eric Mack of Tulane's Philosophy Dept, and believes he would be a good partner for this dialogue. We will be contacting Dr. Mack with an invitation by the end of this week.
Read about Prof. Cole here
We will look to partner closely with these and other segments of the university, especially, for this evening: School of Business, School of Law, Philosophy Dept, Political Economy Dept, Social Policy and Practice Dept, Economics Dept, Murphy Institute.
We will also look to partner closely with these segments this spring; both conversations may connect well with them: Newcomb-Tulane College, School of Liberal Arts, History Dept, Religious Studies Dept, History Dept, Anthropology, Sociology, and Cognitive Studies...
As you can see, the niches we are aiming for are actually quite large. I believe we will find some strong partners in some of these entities, and look forward to developing those relationships.
What Now?
1. I'd love to be able to write a long email to you explaining the vision behind The Veritas Forum, and our vision here at Tulane, but that would be beyond our scope tonight. However, I do hope to type up something soon and share it with you, and hopefully accompany it with a video version. In the meantime, please take a moment to glance at www.veritas.org especially their mission and values.
There is so much more to this endeavor than hosting interesting programs. We are working to build bridges for the message of life in Jesus Christ to the whole university.
2. Please keep Veritas in mind (spread the word) and in prayer.
Join us for prayer at the Rogers Chapel Seminar Room tomorrow (Thursday) from 9:30-10:30am and/or Monday (the 7th) from 9-10am.
3. We will need help securing finances for this exciting endeavor. An estimated, generous, budget is set at $5,500. We will land somewhere between $4,500 - $6,000.
If you (yes individuals can give big or small) or your organization would like to partner with us financially, you can send gifts directly to Veritas, just be sure to indicate that the gift is for the Tulane Forum. Information on giving is located here.
Also, please pass this information along to others who might be interested, and to your churches.
4. We need help planning and pulling off these events in multiple areas. If you have connections with the university in areas that would be helpful (segments we hope to connect with or others not listed), or some ideas to share, or just a desire to help, please contact me right away.
There is so much more to share, but I will call it a night for this email. Be on the lookout for more information soon.
For Veritas!
-matt
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