On Sunday, September 11th, 2016, I had the wonderful privilege of meeting with Reverend Katrina Jenkins and discussing her new project, We Choose Love. The newly appointed Dean of Religious Life at Rollins College is leading a movement on campus entitled We Choose Love. During our interview, we spoke about what students can expect from this year-long program, and what kind of presence it will hold on the Rollins College campus.
Rev. Jenkins comes to Rollins after holding a position at Illinois College and Bentley University. Working at Rollins is the "best of both worlds" according to Rev. Jenkins, "There are a lot of bright, enthusiastic students, and a lot of things for me to work with. I have a robust interfaith, in terms of student groups, representation."
We Choose Love is an extension of a something that was started by Jenkins at her last institution, and she wanted to bring it to Rollins to give the students a safe space for honest and open discussion. This project was started last November, shortly after the attacks on Paris. Rev. Jenkins had the thought "What is the one thing we can all agree on, because there seemed to be so much unrest and so many things being done in hate or what have you, so the one thing that we can get together on no matter what is the concept of love." Speaking of how it is not easy to love someone, and how it takes understanding and patience, Jenkins thought that love was something that we could all grasp.
"A lot of my students were saying, 'Well this is much bigger than me, I don't know what to do. How do I change things?'" With that came a sense of being overwhelmed, and she came up with a concept that if we can do our part, if we can do just one thing that shows love to someone else, then hopefully that will spread. The notion that one good deed, one act out of love, could expand and engulf a body of student who would carry that ideal throughout their lives and spread this idea of 'I love you, but I am holding you accountable.'
We Choose Love is a commitment to make the world a better place, to engage in acts of love, random acts of kindness and a commitment to the program. Attend different events, service opportunities, and to step out of one's comfort zone. "When we deal with each other, if we can have a foundation of love then sometimes we can have those harder conversations." We can expect to see Rev. Jenkins where the students are, and she is working to make this program known on campus. With many interfaith events, speakers, class talks, retreats and service opportunities planned for this year, We Choose Love is hitting the ground running and starting with an hour of silence in the name of peace for World Peace Day on Saturday, September 24th, 2016.
Join Rev. Jenkins on Tuesday, September 13th at Rollins College, and make the pledge to Choose Love.
