Ruben Rivera, history professor and chief diversity officer at Bethel University, joins us to discuss the importance of cultural diversity and racial reconciliation at Christian colleges and universities — and why so many of those institutions struggle to build communities that resemble the vision of Revelation 7:9 (“a great multitude… from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”). Offered as a teachable moment: one of the most embarrassing failures in my own career as a teacher and podcaster!

Further reading:

• Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2000)
• Edward Gilbreath, Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity (IVP Books, 2006), especially ch. 3
• Damon A. Williams and Katrina C. Wade-Golden, The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure, and Change Management (Stylus, 2013)
• ActSix, “a leadership and scholarship program that connects local faith-based community affiliates with faith- and social justice-based colleges to equip emerging urban and community leaders to engage the college campus and their communities at home…”
• Pew Research Center, The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the United States