Where the heck is Grinnell, Iowa?

Posted by admin on June 16th, 2010 filed in InterVarsity

Grinnell, Iowa is a small town of about 10,000 people. It is almost exactly one hour straight east of Des Moines, where I will continue to live. Part of being an IV intern versus full-time staff is that you have another part-time job on the side. I’ll be putting in 15-20 hours a week on campus at Grinnell, and another 15-20 hours a week at my internship in Des Moines. Logistically, it’s a slight pain in the butt, but I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity!

Grinnell College was founded in 1846 and was the first institute of higher learning west of the Mississippi. It is a private, liberal arts school with only around 1,500 students. It is regularly regarded as one of the best academic institutions in the entire country, and in 2004 was actually voted the “Best All-Around College” by Newsweek.

Grinnell is known for its academic rigor and passion for social activism. As I’m sure you can imagine, Christianity is not the norm on this small campus even though it is situated nicely in the Bible Belt. It is also an incredibly diverse school. Of the 15 students I’ve met so far, only two were local Iowans. Otherwise they were from Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Maryland, Taiwan, Ohio and many other places I’m forgetting.

At Drake, the default religious stance seems to be “Christian”. At Grinnell, it seems to be “Atheist” or “Spiritual, but not Religious”. This might make my task of campus minister seem difficult, but I’m rather excited for it. It means that those who do claim Christianity aren’t doing so out of social pressure or conformity, but genuine love for Christ.

These students who are part of IV at Grinnell are hungry for Jesus, and it is my hope and prayer that I’ll be able to bring my skills to this chapter and help students be transformed.

Tomorrow of Friday I’ll give some more details about the chapter at Grinnell and more specifically what a couple of my roles will be.

Love and Peace,
Jeremy


4 Responses to “Where the heck is Grinnell, Iowa?”

  1. Bob Swanson Says:
    June 16th, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    Jeremy,

    Don’t know if you remember me or not, but I grew up in Grinnell. It, apparently hasn’t changed in 50 years. Good luck on campus and we’ll keep you in our prayer.

  2. Jen Says:
    June 16th, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    Couple more fun facts – Grinnell was part of the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad. The college has roots in the church – it’s a little foggy, but I’m pretty sure some of the first settlers of the town and founders of the college were congregationalist ministers! Hence the social justice focus and more liberal education tendencies.

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