This is both a justice issue as well as important economically in the U.S.
— Dale Reed, Grad Fellowship Founding Member
Hearing From A Founding Member
Dale Reed (pictured above) could have ignored the state of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), skeptical that anyone could do much to improve them, especially someone outside the system. However, Dale had experience in listening to, and following, God’s lead in changing the world around him. Dale was a founding member of the Northwestern Graduate Christian Fellowship thirty years ago. At our 2018 Fall Retreat, Dale and his wife, Desiree, shared what God did 30 years ago in starting the grad fellowship at Northwestern, and what he’s done in their lives since then.
“It was a dynamic and vibrant group”
When Dale first arrived as a grad student at Northwestern he could not find a campus fellowship that fit his life stage well. Together with an IV staff and another grad student, they sensed God leading them to reach another corner of campus. Dale was inadvertently blessed through his faithfulness in starting GCF with a support group that eventually helped him finish his PhD and a space to grow closer to his future wife.
“This is both a justice issue as well as important economically in the U.S.”
Faith and work integration was a common topic of study at GCF. Dale noticed there were far fewer students from disadvantaged areas seeking computer science careers and realized it was a lack of exposure at the high school level. He saw it as “both a justice issue as well as important economically in the U.S.” Dale, a computer science professor, sensed God calling him to use his training beyond campus in the Chicago Pubic Schools.
“Lord, you can figure out a way to do this”
Following God’s lead, Dale has spoken to over 10,000 high school students. He joined other educators in building a computer science curriculum for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and eventually influenced CPS to make computer science a graduation requirement. In meeting new challenges, Dale prays, “Lord, you can figure out a way to do this. We certainly don’t know, but we think this is really important for our kids to have this option in the future.” You can read more about Dale’s here.
The next 30 years…
After hearing from Dale we heard from Dick Ryan, our long time InterVarsity Arts Ministry staff and Dave Ivaska, the InterVarsity staff who founded and has staffed GCF the longest. Together, they helped us pray and dream towards the future.
Chief among those dreams was the overarching desire to reach every corner of campus and to establish an alumni network that could pray for, give to, mentor, and otherwise resource this dream. Would you consider making this dream come true? We are grateful for the alumni who have already begun investing on campus with us.
Please continue to pray for our students (some pictured below at the retreat) as they seek to follow God’s call, like Dale, and not settle for the status quo but instead change the world around them.