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2005 Epistle, Haverford College, June 16-19
The joy of seeing old friends
and making new ones;
deep conversations at the
table and on sidewalks between sessions;
buttons—“I think therefore
I’m dangerous.” “What’s our oil doing
under your sand?”;
babies and children—Habib’s
four, Kathleen and Roy’s two and one-half-year-old son, Kori’s two-month-old
son:
Nearly two hundred of us,
eighty plus for the first time, gathered for the 2005 annual meeting of the
Friends Association for Higher Education at
In the first plenary, Habib
Rahiab, Afghani scholar-at-risk, described his country’s struggle to develop an
adequate educational system. At risk of
loss of life, Habib witnessed for human rights and reminded us of our tradition
to “publish truth.” We were called to
faith by his gentle way.
The next morning, in the
privileged company of elders among us who knew personally Haverford professors
Rufus Jones, Thomas Kelley, and Douglas Steere, we studied their scholarship
and discussed their lives to query ourselves.
Are scholarship and research the same activity? Are “witness” and “testimony” terms which
apply to scholarship? Is love a
scholarly virtue?
With sound attention to
scholarship, research, witness, and love, Michael Klare engaged us vitally, taking us to the heart of
American global oil policies. As John
Woolman would remind us, so did Michael.
The seeds of future wars for resources are planted. Are we bold enough to see the link between
our way of life and Habib’s world? If we
are, then Anne Dalke’s trust in modern technology, ably demonstrated in our
final plenary, will lead the way. With
her and the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Group, we will learn
how to mobilize one community through Internet links and “dangerous
discussions.”
Forty-two different sessions
surrounded these plenaries, making connections and applying values. Experiential learning projects, liberation
pedagogy, Quaker epistemology, death row photography, the environment, energy
and the moral economy, clearness committees grounded in worship, George Fox in
relation to Adam in Genesis, Wittgenstein and Chesapeake Bay—the range of
choices reflected the depth and integrity of Quaker scholarly pursuits and the
need for serious, sustained online discussions.
A lively discussion among the presidents and directors of seven
With Elise Boulding’s
biography for sale on the book table and Quaker Institute for the Future
organized to follow up Kenneth Boulding’s hopes for Quaker Studies on Human
Betterment, we trust that the generation of scholars we honor here would take
heart that their hopes for the future are being realized in the lives of those
present at this conference.
We grounded our work in our
worship each day. With T. Canby Jones,
we gave thanks as he ministered to our sense of being held, awash in holy
silence.
And we closed our gathering
with holy song in concert with Beats for Peace.
Young people whose rhythm and love of hip-hop foster social
consciousness not only gave us hope for the future, but also reminded us of the
relevance of the work we have shared and the friendships we have made and
deepened.
With gratitude for each
person who prepared and held this privileged time and space for us, we look
forward to seeing one another again next year, God willing.
The 2005 Epistle Committee:
Jim Anderson Judith
Jenner Glenn
Hinson
Rebecca Mays