Two new pastors have been hired for the fall semester to focuson women and minorities. The Wesley Foundation hired AnthonyEverett to specialize in minority students while Nikki Alexanderwill focus on women students.
“The two fastest growing college populations are women andAfrican-Americans,” said director of the Wesley Foundation,Creighton Alexander. “We need people in leadership positionswho represent the people we are trying to reach.”
The Wesley Foundation is the United Methodist campus ministry atSMU.
New Wesley minister Nikki Alexander believes it is important forall students to feel accepted and believes she can add tostudents’ comfort level.
“Creighton is a very good pastor, but there are situationswhere students can feel more comfortable talking to someone who canrelate better to them,” she said.
Amy Alexander, a junior TV, film and advertising major, thinksthe addition of the two pastors is a positive move.
“I think it’s great that they are doing this becausethey are giving special attention to groups that need it,”Alexander said.
For her part, Nikki Alexander believes her new permanentposition will provide continuity.
“We’ve had female interns in the past who could helpfemale students, but now these students will have someone who willbe there for them throughout their entire collegeexperience,” she said.
Everett, who has been in the ministry for six years and isworking on his ordination by the United Methodist Church, believesthe move will help the foundation better address students’needs and complimented the group for seeing the need.
“The Wesley Foundation had the insight to see thatthere’s a minority of people whose needs weren’t beingaddressed,” he said.
Two African-American Methodist churches in Dallas — St.Luke’s and Hamilton Park Methodist Church — providedthe funding to hire him.
Everett said they were working in collaboration with theAssociation of Black Students and that they will have services withan African-American foundation — with clapping, leading,gospel music and so on. Everett said.
“Different ethnic groups have particular ways of praisingGod,” Everett said. “We would like to bring everyonetogether.”
Junior theater major and minority student T.K. Stillmanagrees.
“I can’t wait. I think it’s exciting becauseit will bring the community closer,” he said.
Other campus ministries say the Wesley Foundation has shownvision with its move.
“There is a need to have ministers who understand aparticular situation, and I am certain this will help a lot ofpeople,” said Maria Farrell, director of administration anddevelopment at the Neuhoff Catholic Center, SMU’s Catholiccampus ministry.
Farrell says other campus ministries may follow Wesley’slead.
“This is a direction that we may go in as well, if theresources become available to us,” Farrell said.
Jennifer Jones, director of the department of MulticulturalStudent Affairs at SMU, said she is excited by the possibilitiesthis move opens.
“At a predominantly white university like SMU, studentsneed people in leadership roles who they can relate to and thiswill make minority students feel more comfortable at school,”Jones said.
In the end, Creighton Alexander believes the Wesley Foundationis just doing its job.
“This process has taken three years. I am surprisedwe’ve wound up here naturally,” he said. “We arenot the forefront intentionally, but it just feels like it’swhere we should be.”
