[Imc-newsroom] IDF Press Release

Thu Mar 17 13:36:57 CST 2005

Hi--

My name is Jen Tayabji and I am the Executive Director of the Illinois
Disciples Foundation. I am attaching a pdf of a press release (and it's
below) about our 100th anniversary.

Please feel free to email or call me (217-352-8721) if you have any
questons!

Sincerely,
Jen Tayabji
Executive Director
Illinois Disciples Foundation

**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 17th, 2005

For more information:
Jen Tayabji, IDF Executive Director
(217) 840-8248 or tayabji at shout.net
Aaron Smith, Assistant Director
(217) 369-2039 or redherng at shout.net

Or visit www.prairienet.org/idf.

Illinois Disciples Foundation Celebrates 100th Anniversary:
A Century of Struggle for Peace with Justice

This April, the Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF) is celebrating a
tremendous milestone: the IDF¹s 100th anniversary. The IDF is a pioneering
peace with justice campus ministry, located on the University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign campus, which was envisioned in April 1905 and later
chartered in 1916.

The story of the IDF can best be understood by the ideals, traditions, and
socio-historical circumstances that have shaped the past one hundred years.
Since 1906, the tireless and visionary efforts of numerous individuals have
kept the IDF at the forefront of campus ministry. The theology behind many
campus ministries, like the IDF, is known as the Social Gospel Movement, a
reaction to mainstream religion¹s failure to respond to the growing
consciousness that the evils in the world had a social origin and were not
merely evidence of the failings of individuals. IDF¹s Campus Minister
Emeritus, Rev. Jim Holiman, describes the religious nature of the IDF as ³a
regional unit of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Illinois and
Wisconsin. We represent the Anabaptist tradition of the Disciples, which is
historically focused on doing social justice work.²

As one of the first campus ministries in the United States, the IDF has
offered people of faith and conscience in the University of Illinois
community an outlet for channeling their faith into social change. Joseph T.
Miller, the current IDF Board Moderator, recently commented, ³In my work
with IDF over the past 17 years, I have found it to be the most consistent
and most visible peace with justice campus ministry in our area. We have
made a difference here. We have nurtured generations of peace and social
justice activists who continue this work wherever they go.²

Throughout the past hundred years, the IDF has been involved in countless
social justice struggles. In the late 1950s, the IDF helped organize
anti-racist protests targeting the local business owners on Green Street who
denied service to African Americans. The IDF became heavily involved in the
civil rights movement and the struggle against the Vietnam War. As part of
the IDF¹s anti-war work, the IDF worked with the Selective Service Project
which: trained military counselors, counseled GIs, informed GIs about their
options in obtaining Conscientious Objector (CO) status, prepared GIs to go
through the CO process, and much more.

One of the most important projects the Illinois Disciples Foundation worked
on was the Neighborhood Service Ministry. In the early 1970s, the IDF did a
survey of the surrounding neighborhood, which at the time was primarily
lower income people of color, to see what needs were not being addressed. At
that time, three priorities became clear: transportation, crime prevention,
and low-cost food. In 1973, the IDF put the Neighborhood Service Ministry
into action. First, the IDF purchased a van, which was used to help
transport people to the hospital, pharmacies, groceries, etc. This gave
people who did not have personal transportation and could not afford taxis a
way to get around to take care of their basic needs. Plus, this was before
the mass transit system was established. Next, the IDF started a
Neighborhood Watch program, modeled after a similar program started in
London, since the surrounding area around the IDF had the highest rates for
burglaries, robberies, murder, and rape in CU at the time. Finally, the IDF
established the Food Co-op to address the need for a local and affordable
store, now known as the Common Ground Food Cooperative. When the doors
opened in August 1978, members of the IDF Board and the Campus Minister,
Rev. Jim Holiman, ran the program for five years as a test-run to determine
the feasibility of the Co-op. After five years, the Co-op leadership and
membership transitioned into local community members and grew from there.

In the 1980s, the IDF became a public sanctuary for political refugees from
Central America. In response to the numerous Guatemalan and Salvadoran
refugees fleeing violence and seeking political asylum in the U.S., the IDF
Board unanimously decided to make the IDF a Public Sanctuary where these
refugees would have a place to stay, despite the legal consequences that
could face IDF.

In its early days, one of the IDF¹s programs, now known as the Progressive
Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC), helped lead the local anti-war movement
against the first Gulf War. Since then, the IDF has been involved in the
recent anti-war struggles, the movement against the racist symbol of the
University of Illinois, ³Chief Illiniwek,² and the global labor injustices
perpetrated by Coca-Cola. The PRC has been involved in the anti-³Chief²
movement since the beginning when Charlene Teters began protesting the
symbol in 1989.

Currently, the IDF has five programs: the Activist Forum Speaker Series, the
Common Ground Food Cooperative, the Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative,
Uprisings, and the Women¹s Direct Action Collective. Overall, the IDF,
largely through its program work, is a place where divisions are bridged and
communities are strengthened through work and commitment to social justice.

As part of the IDF¹s centennial celebration, the Illinois Disciples
Foundation staff and Board see this milestone as chance to reflect in the
rich IDF history and look forward to the next century of social justice
struggles. In affirming our history, the IDF is constantly renewing the
struggle for social justice and re-energizing those who seek human
liberation. Locally, the PRC is still fighting against ³Chief Illiniwek.²
Nationally, the IDF has joining thousands of groups in fighting our
government¹s policies limiting our civil liberties. And globally, the IDF
must keep up the struggle against the U.S.¹s supposed war on ³terror,² which
has proven to be a means for U.S. globalization and has led to the death of
over a hundred thousand people.

One of the activists whose vision and commitment has moved IDF forward in
great strides is Rev. James Holiman, the Campus Minister Emeritus at the
IDF. On April 19th, 2005, the IDF will host Rev. Holiman in the Activist
Forum Speaker Series in a talk is entitled, ³Deep Memory and Uprising Hope.²
The Activist Forum Speaker Series provides a source of inspiration and
experience for people who are currently active in social justice work, or
those who are looking to become involved. This semester the IDF will also
host its Third Annual Human Rights Film Series, which will feature five
documentaries‹Soldiers Pay, Plan Colombia: Cashing In On The Drug War
Failure, Ballot Measure 9, End of Suburbia, and Brothers and Others‹that
each address a current social justice issue (a press release for this film
series will be coming out in the next two weeks). Also, the IDF in
conjunction with the PRC will be hosting an anti-war speakers panel on
Saturday, April 16th.

Each new day, the IDF continues its struggle for peace with justice. Jen
Tayabji, the IDF Executive Director since April 2002, reflected, ³As a
freshman at the University of Illinois, I became involved in the programs.
It allowed me to be pro-active and constructive in addressing my social
justice concerns. I think the IDF empowers people to take action through
grassroots organizing on the issues that affect their lives.²

###

********************************************
Jen Tayabji
Executive Director
Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF)
610 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, IL  61820
(217) 352-8721 * cell (217) 840-8248
http://www.prairienet.org/idf

"And they can call me crazy if I fail
All the chance that I need
Is one-in-a-million
And they can call me brilliant
If I succeed
Gravity is nothing to me
Moving at the speed of sound
I'm just gonna get my feet wet
Until I drown... 

Cuz I don't care if they eat me alive
I've got better things to do than survive
I've got a memory of your warm skin in my hand
And I've got a vision of blue sky and dry land"

--Ani Difranco

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