Carthage College —Kenosha, Wisconsin

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are delighted to celebrate our ongoing partnership with you in the name of Jesus Christ. This relationship continues to demonstrate our interdependence and our mutual service and love for God's people. As we seek excellence as a liberal arts college, we also humbly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we can effectively meet the spiritual needs of our academic community. As our students search for vocational clarity, we support them with a wide variety of religious programs that provide opportunities for prayer and worship as well as opportunities to engage the difficult questions of faith, science, public policy, and social justice. We want our students to be shaped by our Lutheran heritage and become critical thinkers and lifelong learners who will serve in the church and in the world with wisdom and character, fulfilling both a conserving and a reforming role in today's society.

After last year's devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia, we sponsored a special program, Aftershocks: Restoring the Foundations of a Fragile World. This all-day event (March 30) examined the far-reaching impact of natural disasters and explored how relief agencies respond. We emphasized the particular work of Lutheran Disaster Response, but we also discussed the importance of interagency cooperation and strong partnership with local people. Because of our interdisciplinary approach, Carthage students were able to look at the tsunami tragedy from many angles, and they have been challenged to recognize the interdependence of religion, culture, science, and economics as people work together to alleviate human suffering. After Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. gulf coast last August, we continued to pray, educate and support disaster relief. Our students have raised $2,000 for Lutheran Disaster Response, the Salvation Army, and the American Red Cross. During our spring break this March, twenty students and several members of the faculty will travel to Louisiana as part of a multi-campus relief effort in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and Lutheran Disaster Response.

Other special programs have included:

• "Wrestling With the Future," a two day event (April 12-14) examining the expanding debate concerning stem cell research;
• "Transformation Starts With You," a three day Diversity Conference (November 4-6) featuring the internationally acclaimed poet, scholar, diplomat, and Jungian psychoanalyst, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés;
• "How Can I Keep From Singing?" an enormously successful Christmas Festival (December 2-4) that brought several thousand people to campus to celebrate the nativity of Jesus with a traditional service of readings and carols.

As we look back on these and other events, we are grateful for the strong cooperation among students who represent the campus religious organizations. Their leadership is an essential component of campus life. Many of them are your sons and daughters, and you should be proud of them as well. With an enrollment of more than 2,100 full-time students, we delight in the opportunities we have to nurture both faith and intellect. Please continue to pray for Carthage as we seek to fulfill our own vocation as a community shaped by the pursuit of truth, the power of compassion, and the promise of transformation.

Your brother in Christ, The Rev. Dr. Harvard Stephens, Jr. + Dean of Siebert Chapel

Carthage College Ÿ Kenosha, Wisconsin 53140-1994 Ÿ www.carthage.edu