REVIEW: Manifesting James Davison Hunter’s Concept of “Faithful Presence” in Student Affairs Professions

• Koinonia - Summer 2011 Issue
• Apr 26, 2011
• Caleb Farmer, Joel Looper

Reviewed and written by Caleb Farmer and Joel Looper 

James Davison Hunter’s new book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (2010, Oxford), has drawn a fair amount of positive press since its release in April. Practically every subset of “Christian” America ends up under Hunter’s sociological microscope, and, though Christian Higher Education isn’t heavily scrutinized, student affairs professionals who pick up his book are bound to feel the weight of his remarks.

Hunter wants Christians to practice a “faithful presence,” to bring peace (“shalom”) to those people within their circle of influence, as opposed to spending our energies only in four spiritual laws-style evangelism or engaging in scorched-earth power politics. This faithful presence means wielding power in order to increase this shalom for ourselves and others rather than to increase or maintain our own social or political standing, even if it’s done “for the good of the Kingdom.” But, Hunter emphasizes, we need to be wise—not just sincere—in this work. If we are, the end of all this will be human flourishing, which is why Christ came in the first place (Jn 10:10).

Of course, this applies to student life professionals as much as anyone else. Christian higher education has always aspired to be more than Christian individuals providing a diploma to other Christian individuals. We would like to think we’re making changes in our institutional structures that help our students flourish as human beings, not just making sure they obtain a well-regarded degree. We would like to think we’re doing more than copying the best ideas of our secular counterparts ten or fifteen years after the fact.

So then, how can we appropriate Hunter’s insights? For practicality’s sake, let’s focus on the role of resident director, appropriating three of Hunter’s categories to focus our thoughts: we need to be faithfully and fully present to our colleagues, to our tasks, and to those—primarily students—within our spheres of influence.

Hunter’s first area of faithful presence, present to each other, isn’t an original concept. The lure to be less than present with colleagues is stronger than ever because of new technologies and the speed of university life. We all know the experience of sitting in a meeting when the person in the next chair is perusing the internet or checking email or, worse, engrossed in a Facebook exchange. Or, again, the feeling of slugging through a small group discussion when one of the participants is sending two or three text messages per minute. The experience is familiar because we ourselves are often the person behind the screen, and it’s completely justifiable because we can all feel the weight of our inboxes growing by the minute, every minute of every meeting. However, Hunter would argue, and we would agree, that we are robbing ourselves of something very important by not fully embracing the moment. A nuance of communication is lost, a sliver of respect withheld and moments of inefficiency add up when colleague after colleague mentally takes leave of the task at hand. In sum, shalom takes leave of the department. Certainly, most would agree that the gold standard in student affairs is not all about multitasking or about how one most efficiently works through their inbox and calendar. But, in practice it’s these very things that our profession rewards.

Secondly, Hunter’s call to be fully present in our tasks is even more challenging, and doubly so for the resident director since he or she wears various hats at various times of the day and semester. It is essential that we are fully present in these various tasks, and not just those moments that include face to face time with our residents. While, admittedly, it is sometimes difficult to be “faithfully present” during one-on-ones in the office with certain students, and even more difficult when the familiar sound of an email arriving pulls one’s eyes to the computer screen, there are simply times when it’s a struggle to be present in any significant way. Being fully present to our tasks is only made more complicated and challenging in a position where it feels like we never quite punch out, never go home and leave work behind at the office. The evenings and weekends, the on-call days and phone calls at midnight make it seem like we’re at work a much higher number of hours than we really are in any given week. All this helps us feel a little more justified about a day spent mostly on Youtube and Wikipedia.

I think Hunter would say that the way we use our time in the office, how we think, strategize, and create long term plans for our programs and buildings is the essence of faithful presence. Faithful presence means an accounting for every minute during a professional workday, fully utilizing our time for maximum effectiveness. Our students need no less from individuals who have chosen to make this their vocation. Resident directors must be thinking strategically about what their programs will look like both next semester, next year, and the year after the next director has taken over the program. To do this, we must move beyond a reactionary stance and into a prepared, forward-thinking agenda that addresses and nurtures many of the problem areas in our communities. This is essential, but it’s also impossible if the director is not fully present in every task that must be accomplished.

Finally, we need to be fully present in our spheres of influence. In other words, we need to understand that our sphere of influence is both larger than we realize and smaller than we try to make it. Hunter notes that every relationship and even every interaction we have impacts others. The resident director often minimizes his or her role in university life. We don’t offer the expertise gained through years spent working toward an advanced degree, giving us a unique niche of knowledge. Clearly, most faculty and administrators around campus aren’t coming to the resident directors to ask their opinion about how students will develop through a program or how to increase engagement and attendance at a given function, so the temptation is there to minimize what the resident director has to offer.

Being fully present within our sphere of influence is necessary if we are to find innovative ways to enhance these programs with observations and knowledge. This also means not missing small moments that are ripe with potential. It’s those lunch line conversations, violation meetings, and pick-up basketball games where we are faithfully present to those within our circles of influence which bring shalom into the lives of our students. 

Hunter’s hope that we will be faithfully present to each other, to our tasks, and within our spheres of influence is, let me say, only the tip of the iceberg. To Change the World is filled with observations and information which will be invaluable for the student affairs professional.  But before we read Hunter’s book, or one from the stack of books we were already “supposed to” have read, our inboxes, and the flood of texts on our cell phones, let’s sit down for a while and be faithfully present with one another.  

Caleb Farmer serves as the Brooks Residential College Resident Director at Baylor University, located in Waco, Texas.

Joel Looper serves as an administrative assistant in the Paul L. Foster Success Center at Baylor University, located in Waco, Texas.

 References

Hunter, James Davision. (2010). To change the world: The tragedy, irony, & possibility of

            Christianity in the late modern world. New York: Oxford University Press. 

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