October 19-21, 2012, The University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana

The Lilly Fellows Program National Network of Church Related Colleges and Universities recently held its annual National Conference at the University of Indianapolis.  Here, official representatives of the  Network colleges and universities met to consider a significant issue of faith and learning, exchange ideas and practices regarding their mission, and foster the whole range of Network programs and activities.   This  year, the theme of the national conference was Incorporating Service: The Body at Work.
           
Attendees were invited to think about how service has been enacted in the history of various church-related colleges and universities as well as to reflect theologically about what it means to embody service and how  to  make service more integral to the missions of LFP institutions of higher education.

The three speakers were:                                                

• Dr. Jeff Bouman, Director of Service Learning at Calvin College, Faithfully Present: Building the Universe, Each in Our Own Inexplicable Ways
               
• Dr. Samuel Wells, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, Rethinking Service
               
• Dr. Regina Wolfe, Wicklander Senior Fellow in the Institute of Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University, Minding the Common Good: Creating and  Maintaining a Mission-Driven Institutional Culture

Dr. Jeff Bouman

     Dr. Samuel Wells

Dr. Regina Wolfe

In addition, UIndy’s Theatre Department staged a one-act play during the dinner on the first evening of the conference authored by Jim Ream, Chair of the Department of Theatre.  
           
The National Confce also introduced participants to the First Cohort of Lilly Graduate Fellows, which  completed its three-year fellowship last year, who also attend this year’s National Conference.  The Graduate Fellows attended a Reunion Conference the two days prior to the National Conference.
           
Participants were treated to the wonderful hospitality of the University of Indianapolis and had a chance to explore the city of Indianapolis during the conference.

Photographs from the conference can be viewed here.