410 Forum — Opinion
UNC's Crusade Chapter Seems To Be Shrinking
By Trent Gillespie
Numbers dominate our lives. We learn to count at a young age and never forget it. I remember being a child and thinking the more coins I had in my piggy bank, the richer I was. The more words I spelled correctly, the smarter I was. The more strikeouts I pitched, the better our team would be.
Numbers are relative. Some people learn this early on and others die never knowing it.
UNC’s chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ, also known as CRU, at UNC is playing the numbers game.
In the last three years, the organization has seen attendance drop from over 500 to slightly above 100 attendees. Three years ago, weekly meetings required using the massive Rocky Mountain Grand Ballroom in the University Center, which has a capacity rating of 675 people. Now, the organization has a hard time filling the Mount Evans Ballroom, which has a capacity rating of 225 people.
So what is going on here? How do you lose four-fifths of your audience?
Two years ago, Christian Rainbolt became the director for CRU at UNC and attendance started to take a dive. Is the problem Rainbolt’s fault? Of the staff members that I’ve talked to, Rainbolt’s popularity is rather high. They agreed, however that Rainbolt’s leadership skills are too passive to generate the energy the organization needs to attract new students.
Student leader Patrick Deal estimates that of the 100 or so students who attend each week, 20 of them are new, which would add up quick. However, of those 20 or so new attendees, Deal estimated that he sees five of them return.
So is the problem a Rainbolt problem? Possibly. In Rainbolt’s defense, UNC has experienced stagnant enrollment numbers over the past two years. In 2005, enrollment was 13,877 and in 2006, it increased slightly to 13,932. 2007 numbers were not available on the UNC Institutional Analysis Web site.
Of course, Campus Crusade for Christ is not here to turn a profit, but let’s analyze its purpose for existence. According to the organization’s Website, their goal is to minister to college students about Christianity and provide a helpful resource to those interested in religion.
A drop in the amount of attendees and dismal outlook of the organization goes against the overall idea of promoting Christianity on college campuses. Does UNC’s drop in attendance effect the organization on a whole though? Probably not.
The Campus Crusade for Christ organization spans across the entire United States and has movements on over 1,400 campuses. If UNC’s chapter were to fail, the result would be minuscule. Neighboring colleges, such as Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, have seen increases in attendance, according to Deal.
“I wish we had the chance to minister to more students each week, but if we see 100 a week, that’s still 100 more than we would see if we didn’t have CRU at UNC,” Deal said.
Numbers are relative, but I can’t help but look past the problem CRU is currently facing. Students have become less and less interested in the organization. The problem isn’t easy to pinpoint, but something needs to change. Whether it’s a change in staff or a different outreach approach, I say “out with the old, in with the new.” Give it another three years and we might see not have a Campus Crusade for Christ at UNC.
