In light of the recent news that Macalester will not be able to fund Chaplain K.P. Hong’s position as Assistant Director for Religious and Spiritual Life for the 2013-2014 academic year, we, the members of the Institute for Global Citizenship Student Council (IGCSC), are writing in support of Chaplain Hong and the importance of his position at Macalester.

The IGCSC maintains a close relationship with the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life (CRSL), and can testify to the impact the CRSL and Chaplain Hong have on students within the IGC. The IGC’s mission is to promote and support rigorous learning, innovative scholarship and meaningful service. All the CRSL staff, and Chaplain Hong in particular, have been incredible partners in this mission by helping students engage in self-reflection and promoting exploration and embodiment of the ideals of global citizenship.

The combined impact of all the CRSL staff is particularly apparent through the Lilly Program, under the IGC. This program pushes students to ask broad questions about values, ethics and vocation. K.P. Hong and Eily Marlow have been instrumental in implementing the Worthy Questions and Lives of Commitment programs. With support from the entire CRSL staff, Lilly Programs have had profound impacts on hundreds of students across campus.

The CRSL staff, and particularly Chaplain Hong, have also played significant roles in the Live It! Fund. The IGCSC works with K.P. Hong and Eily Marlow to provide a training on the ethics of service to Live It! recipients. Recipients have continually cited this training as highly beneficial to how they understand and carry out projects, and instrumental in their own thinking about what it means to be a global citizen.

Many of the IGC’s programs rely heavily on the continual support of CRSL staff. While these contributions may seem somewhat intangible, CRSL support and guidance has been instrumental in shaping the pedagogy of our programming, as well as the discourse of global citizenship at Macalester. Chaplain Hong and the rest of the CRSL staff provide incredible wisdom regarding the ethical dilemmas Macalester students face as global citizens. The presence of an Assistant Director for Religious and Spiritual Life plays a key role in instilling all Macalester students with the pillars of excellence the college strives to uphold. We hope that future generations of Macalester students will continue to have the chance to learn from these dedicated staff members, and strongly support continued funding for this position.

Sincerely,

The Institute for Global Citizenship Student Council