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EC Folks Show Up in Big Numbers for For Immediate Release: 
Trayce Peterson (left), Tom Hamm and Cathy Habschmidt pause during the Friends World Committee for Consultation's 70th anniversary celebration on Sept. 15 at Swarthmore College. (Photo Credit: Sharon Gunther Photography) RICHMOND, Ind. — The Friends World Committee for Consultation's 70th anniversary celebration at Haverford and Swarthmore colleges on Sept. 14–16, was evidence that whenever a Friends organization has a large gathering, Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion are well represented. "I would say the majority of people there had some sort of Earlham connection," says Tom Hamm, who served as keynote speaker. Hamm, Earlham professor of history and archivist and curator of the Friends Collection, counted at least eight speakers at the celebration with Earlham ties, and many more in attendance were graduates or parents of graduates. "With just about any Quaker organization of moderate and liberal Friends, you are going to find Earlham and ESR groups involved," Hamm says. "Earlham produces a disproportionate number of people who take Quakerism seriously and work to keep it going." Hamm explains that a variety of reasons have caused other Quaker colleges to shift away from their Quaker roots through the years, while Earlham's Quaker identity has been strengthened. "It was after World War II, when we transformed ourselves from a residential Midwestern church college to a national institution, that we re-emphasized our Quaker heritage," Hamm says. "We are more Quaker now than we were 70 years ago." FWCC was established in 1937 to encourage fellowship among all branches of the Religious Society of Friends. FWCC works to bring together Friends from different traditions and cultures to express the Quaker message to the world. Today, FWCC sections serve Africa, the Americas, Asia and the West Pacific, and Europe and the Middle East. The FWCC World Office is based in London, England. "FWCC is unusual in that it brings such a wide variety of Friends together," Hamm says. "I think the focus (of the anniversary program) was to understand where we've been, how we've experienced FWCC and where we might go." Trayce Peterson, director of the Newlin Center for Quaker Thought and Practice, moderated a panel titled, "The face of Friends in the future," and Earlham Controller Cathy Habschmidt and Rachel Stacy '07, served as speakers on this panel. Habschmidt says FWCC changed her life. "Making deep connections across the boundaries that divide us is, in my opinion, crucial for the ongoing vitality of the Religious Society of Friends. None of us has the whole truth, and each of us can learn from the others," Habschmidt says. "Those of us who are working to bring Friends together across the barriers that divide us do not have as our goal the reunification of Quakers or the resolution of our fundamental disagreements. Rather, we are striving for deeper individual and corporate spiritual growth and more effective social action. We want to be the best Quakers we can be." In addition, ESR graduate Margaret Fraser '97 presented a welcome and description of the program. ESR graduates, Manuel Guzmán '97 and Max Carter '75, and ESR adjunct faculty member Doug Gwyn also served as panel speakers. — EC — Contact:
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Earlham
College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |