Eastern University has served as the evangelical left’s laboratory
The school has produced limited doctrinal controversy—and a lot of prominent advocates for justice.
Set on the grounds of an old estate in the leafy Philadelphia suburbs, the campus of Eastern University signals gentility, restraint, and respect for tradition. After all, the university, originally known as Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was founded in 1925 to raise up future ministers.
But impressions can be deceiving. While there is indeed a strong respect for tradition at Eastern, the school has also been something of a maverick among evangelical colleges. Before there was a self-identified evangelical left, Eastern was its laboratory, distinguished by its emphasis on social action more than on individual transformation.
The driver behind Eastern’s down-to-earth approach to social justice could be called simply “the Campolo effect.” Tony Campolo, a seemingly indefatigable whirlwind of canny idealism, came back to his alma mater in 1964 as a professor of sociology. He was soon appointed chaplain as well. Campolo rallied undergraduates at Eastern—and before long, from across the country—to venture outside their classrooms and into the most economically disadvantaged areas of America’s cities.
