Essay --

Designing Fear A Brief History of Hate Crimes at Elmhurst CollegeElmhurst College is a sm any, private, four-year college. Though affiliated with the join Church of Christ, the college seeks to educate its students for lifetime in the global society. As such, Elmhurst College welcomes students of many faiths. At the heart of the colleges spiritual life is the college chaplains office, which offers worship programs, community service opportunities, and spiritual focussing for students from all faith traditions. To ensure that the college can represent, embrace, and engage all of the religious communities on campus, the chaplains office employs nineteen co-chaplains and religious advisors. Leading the charge as the campuss primary chaplain is the Rev. H. Scott Matheney. In the fall of 2008, Rev. H. Scott Matheney had been the chaplain of Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois for 11 years. A graduate of Whitworth College and Princeton Theological Seminary, Matheney arrived at the E lmhurst College with having already served for many years as the Presbyterian and United Church of Christ Chaplain at Columbia University and New York City. In his first decade at the school, Matheney had played a key role in the arrangement of the NAACP Chapter on campus, spearheaded the annual Holocaust Education Project and Habitat for Humanity projects, instituted the Religious Lecture Series to explore different faith traditions, and provided significant outreach to all religious groups on campus wear outicularly the Muslim community. Matheney was proud of the progress made on key religious issues on campus, and felt that the campus was successfully fostering an purlieu that allowed individual members of the community to learn from each other... ..., curtains, and other items that make the space friendly and welcoming to all. If theres any good that has come from things like thisSafia, the things they see at the Interfaith Youth Core, even September 11, I think its two-fol d, Matheney says. First, theres been a dramatic movement of interfaith agendas and issues. And second, theres a recognition that the Muslim community has to step into the public square and not be a quiet minority on our Christian campusor in our Christian nationanymore. Theyve had to become able to become a force that defends, defines, and differs themselves as they engage society. There has been a detectable uptake in their engagement here since Safia left, even if things did slow down for a while. They, and we, are coming to terms with what it means to become a part of U.S. society. And were learning from each other every day.