Jane Hong, Occidental College

The Parachurch Revolution: Asian Americans and the New Campus Evangelicalism, Jane H. Hong, Occidental College

Campus parachurch groups have long been at the forefront of hot topics in U.S. evangelicalism. Among the most abiding and contentious is how evangelicals should engage race and multi-ethnicity in the post-civil rights era.Between the 1970s and early 2000s, students of Asian descent transformed campus evangelicalism through their participation in groups such as Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF/JEMS), InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), and Cru (formerly, Campus Crusade for Christ). By exploring how different organizations negotiated fast-changing campus demographics, this paper reveals how Asian Americans—dominated by post-1965 Asian immigrants and their children—stretched the meanings and practice of racial diversity and racial reconciliation beyond the black-white color line.

Respondent: Barbara Dobschuetz