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News Release
For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) – The 2009 list of top U.S. colleges and universities, compiled annually by showcases the best that this country has to offer educationally. It also illustrates the fact that many Christians are getting an elite education without sacrificing their faith.

A total of 108 ������Ƶ chapters offer students and faculty Christian fellowship and discipleship at the 25 schools that top the U.S. News list for 2009. (See list below.) Harvard University, this year’s number one ranked school, has eight ������Ƶ chapters. That includes ethnic specific chapters, academic discipline specific graduate chapters, and a faculty chapter.

As Michael Lindsay pointed out in his book Faith in the Halls of Power (Oxford University Press, 2007), there has been “a significant shift on the campuses of America’s top universities.” Faith is a growing part of the educational experience. Lindsay quoted professor and minister Peter Gomes, who said, “There are probably more evangelicals [on Harvard’s campus today] than at any time since the seventeenth century.”

But it’s not just the elite schools where faith is growing. ������Ƶ has over 865 chapters on 580 campuses, with a presence at many state schools and even two-year commuter colleges. ������Ƶ is currently three years into a five-year campaign to plant 100 additional chapters at schools across the country.

“The first two years of the campaign saw 23 new chapters planted,” said ������Ƶ president Alec Hill. “There are 780 students and faculty participating regularly in those chapters and we’ve seen 68 new believers come to faith because of their activities. We have a great deal to celebrate but more exciting days are ahead.”

The challenge for incoming freshmen of finding Christian fellowship on campus has also gotten easier with the new website sponsored by the Youth Transition Network (YTN). A student or his parents can go to the website, identify a campus, and find out which ministries are operating on that campus. They can also send an email to connect with staff at that ministry. YTN is supported by ������Ƶ and a number of other campus ministries.

������Ƶ is an inter-denominational ministry that has been active on U.S. college campuses since 1941. Its national office is in Madison, Wisconsin.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608-443-3688

 

US News & World Report 2009 Top 25 National Universities

 

1) Harvard University – Cambridge, MA

• 8 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and faculty

 

2) Princeton University – Princeton, NJ

• 3 ������Ƶ chapters – grad and faculty

 

3) Yale University – New Haven, CT

• 1 ������Ƶ chapter – undergrad

 

4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, MA

• 7 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and faculty

 

4) Stanford University – Stanford, CA

• 4 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and faculty

 

6) University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA

• 4 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad, faculty and international

 

6) California Institute of Technology – Pasadena, CA

• No current ������Ƶ chapter

 

8) Columbia University – New York, NY

• 7 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, faculty, undergrad and international

 

8) Duke University – Durham, NC

• 7 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, faculty, undergrad, and Greek

 

8) University of Chicago – Chicago, IL

• 7 ������Ƶ chapters: grad and undergrad

 

11) Dartmouth College – Hanover, NH

• No current ������Ƶ chapter

 

12) Northwestern University – Evanston, IL

• 9 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad, faculty, and Greek

 

12) Washington University – St. Louis, MO

• 4 ������Ƶ chapters: undergrad and international

 

14) Cornell University – Ithaca, NY

• 6 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, faculty, and undergrad

 

15) Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore, MD

• 3 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and international

 

16) Brown University – Providence, RI

• 2 ������Ƶ chapters: grad and undergrad

 

17) Rice University – Houston, TX

• 3 ������Ƶ chapters: undergrad, faculty and grad/international

 

18) Emory University – Atlanta, GA

• 5 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad, and faculty

 

18) University of Notre Dame – Notre Dame, IN

• 1 ������Ƶ chapter: grad (Law)

 

18) Vanderbilt University – Nashville, TN

• 6 ������Ƶ chapters: undergrad, faculty, grad/international

 

21) University of California at Berkeley – Berkeley, CA

• 8 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad, faculty, international, Greek

 

22) Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, PA

• 3 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and faculty

 

23) Georgetown University – Washington, D.C.

• 3 ������Ƶ chapters: grad, undergrad and faculty

 

23) University of Virginia – Charlottesville, VA

• 2 ������Ƶ chapters: undergrad and Greek

 

25) University of California at Los Angeles

• 2 ������Ƶ chapters: grad and undergrad

 

Chapter information taken from