God's Harvard : A Christian College on a Mission to Save America

Tiny Patrick Henry College, a Christian school just outside the nations capital, grooms ambitious young evangelicals into tomorrows conservative elite. The future front lines of politics, entertainment, and science will be commanded by these idealistic graduates, who plan to lead the battle in reclaiming a godless nation. Hanna Rosins "superb work of extended reportage" (Chicago Sun Times)takes us into the halls and dorms and hearts of Patrick Henry, following students from the campus to the White House, Congress, conservative think tanks, Hollywood, and other key centers of influence. Lively and evenhanded, her account reveals the evangelical movement at a moment of crisis and climax, its future leaders struggling to resist the temptations of modern life even as they try to remake the world in their image. Hanna Rosin has crafted a vibrant, insightful look at kids who may very well be in charge of our country someday.

Chapter 1Welcome, Surfer Ninjas and KnightsMany seventeen-year-olds brag or exaggerate on their college applications. Not Derek Archer. Even when he wrote to Patrick Henry College about the year that had set the course of his lifethe year when he, a homeschooled missionarys kid from a depressed suburb of Akron, got to see President George W. Bush in personDerek kept his hubris in check. I would be a fool to believe I made it through the past few months by my might and my power, for truly it was by the Lords grace and His Spirit alone! Derek was not one of the schools usual incoming freshman stars known as the 1600sthe handful of kids each year who get perfect scores on their SATs and ignore courting letters from Harvard and Stanford to come to Patrick Henry. What he had was not something the six-year-old college could easily boast about in press releases, but what it valued much more: a near-perfect balance of ambition and humility, the one impulse pushing him toward the White House and the other always reminding him Who was really in charge. In a few heady months during the fall of 2004, the Bush campaign had served as one endless, amazing high school field tripbetter than going to Europe or Disneyland or Papua, New Guinea, where his family once lived in a house on stilts. He had made phone calls and knocked on doors in the critical swing districts in Ohio, near where he lived. He had won a contest for registering more than 100 voters. He had learned to take verbal abuse with grace. He had created a minor local celebrity by writing articles and flyers under the fogyish nom de plume Franz Holbein who complained about some of the most appalling displays of disrespect this nation has ever seen. Twenty minutes before the polls closed, a car full of rowdies whizzed by him, screaming Kerry won! Kerry won! He prayed it couldnt be true, and his prayers were answered. In the battle between the forces of righteousness and unrighteousness, the right side had won. Those few months have had a powerful impact on my life in preparing me for the ministry of political activism, he wrote to Patrick Henry. If in any matter I can bring glory to my God and King, may He grant me the grace to do just that. Its not just that Derek was a missionarys kid and knew how to say the right things. Patrick Henry prides itself on not being your run-of-the-mill Bible college: It doesnt give automatic preference to MKs, who can be just as rotten as any kids. Instead the school takes the measure of its students constantly, probing the nature of each individuals personal relationship with Jesus Christ with the care and trepidation of a parent monitoring a fever, or a schoolgirl checking whether youre still her best friend. Under that microscope, Derek glowed. Gods voice was like the sound track to the movie of Dereks life, lending texture and meaning to every action. In return, Derek thanked God for everything. He thanked Him when a seemingly chance meeting led to a gr

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Excerpted from God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America by Hanna Rosin
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