If you thought your days of glaring peacefully at a blank sidewalk on campus had returned after the ASG elections and the recent spurts of rain you were wrong. With videos, T-shirt sales, YouTube videos, and chalk and flyers plastered all over campus, Cru has launched a viral campaign – or rather, a crusade.
It isn’t anything new, as the campaign has been adapted by Cru campus groups for more than a decade, featuring a particular group member as a central figurehead. According to strategy documents available on CruPress, an online information clearinghouse and resource aggregate for the organization, the bright shirts, slogan, and statements of faith are all central elements. At NU, it’s Matthew Markwell’s own statement of faith and Cru’s approach that’s sparking discussion and even ire.And as a proud, progressive Christian, I can’t say I’m jibing so much.
After seeing a ground chalking near the NU Library entrance, I Googled “I Agree with Markwell,” unsure about its meaning. And, unexpectedly, I found videos from students and a statement of faith from a McCormick senior detailing his belief in Christian faith. Putting two and two together based on Facebook posts I’d seen before, I realized this was a message from Cru. Videos posted on the site fall in line with a central narrative, “being good isn’t good enough.” Six students share their testimonies, yet no stance on Christian doctrine or even the teachings of Jesus are discussed. Rather, they state their agreement with Markwell and almost identically discuss a variety of experiences, including obsession with overachievement and perfectionism, looking to others’ approval for self-validation and the resulting “brokenness” and “emptiness” they felt. And that’s where these videos end. What seems to be implied is that the void was filled through their proclaimed faith in God through Jesus, and their agreement with how Markwell positions it. It reflects an overall clever bait-and-switch strategy.
The bait? Simple. The campaign focuses on an agreement with Markwell, but encountering an “I Agree with Markwell” T-shirt or chalking doesn’t bring immediate clarity. It strikes curiosity and interest at first. That’s until you ask someone wearing the T-shirt or Google it like I did. And that’s where the switch comes in – when you realize that it’s a campaign rooted in Christian evangelism.
Many NU students can relate to the videos. Many of us went through hell and high water to attain high GPAs and standardized test scores and leadership in extracurricular activities, among other impressive items meriting admission into a prestigious institution of higher learning. Of course, many students can empathize, but it’s unclear how the larger narrative translates into agreement with Markwell being the alternative to emptiness and despair. And in order to know what their agreement with Markwell actually means, one must look to Markwell’s statement.
The very statement, and the tactics associated with making it known, explains a growing swell of resentment among various constituencies across campus, with expected and perhaps unintended consequences. For starters, NU’s Secular Student Alliance has experienced an uptick in membership as a result of Cru’s campaign.
“A lot of NU is fairly apathetic in terms of where they fall on faith or non-belief,” said Weinberg sophomore Kate Stewart, SSA’s new president and former Daily staffer. “It’s gotten people talking, but it’s gotten people really involved in their non-belief.”
Another site has developed in response to Cru’s campaign called “I Disagree With Markwell.” The creators, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Daily on Wednesday that they felt it was important to create a counter initiative.
And in an interesting twist, memes utilizing Markwell’s Facebook profile pictures have been turned into topical satire. One that’s circulating features Markwell posing with what appears to be an assault rifle and rabbits he hunted and killed.
I’m sure Markwell was ready for the ridicule. Indeed, the CruPress “I Agree with…” strategy document cautions Cru members that they will be ridiculed and to choose someone that can handle this with humility and who the group believes lives out a good example of a Christian life. And that’s something various Cru members have emphasized.
In an interview with The Daily, Weinberg senior and Cru member Meghan Kollbocker detailed that the point of picking out one specific member was to spark discussion.
“If (the shirt) said ‘Jesus,’ they’d think they already knew,” she said.
While Northwestern’s chapter and others have called themselves Cru for a number of years, the larger international organization decided to officially follow suit last summer. You may otherwise know the organization by the name Campus Crusade for Christ, but there’s been a bit of a switch in tune. In an interview with ABC News, vice president of U.S. Campus Crusade for Christ Steve Sellers said there were two principal problems with the organization’s name.
While one reason cited the brand’s development outside of campus spaces, the other described the word ‘crusade’ as one that has developed an increasingly negative connotation that seems warlike and gives the impression of forcing Christianity on people. Sellers explained Cru’s name change as a way of shedding the impression that the word ‘crusade’ makes it appear that Christianity is being forced onto people by the organization.
“We believe Jesus is the most attractive person in history, so we don’t need to force him on people,” he said.
Apparently the name Jesus isn’t attractive enough to start a discussion. The campaign may have had good intentions, but this really has become all about Markwell and all about Cru. It has engaged many in discussions about Markwell, religious beliefs or a lack thereof. In that respect, Cru’s campaign has been successful.
Personally, I’m not a fan of proselytizing my Christian faith in such a manner.In the meantime, I’m sure my proclaimed (progressive) Christian self isn’t alone in praying for rain.
