A new "Pew College Society" that will be established at Hope College during the 1997-98 school year through a three-year grant from the Pew Younger Scholars Program and the Pew Charitable Trusts will encourage Hope students to pursue scholarly careers as
Christian Service.

"The goal of the Hope Pew Society," according to
Marc Baer, professor of history and director of the program,
"will be to encourage some of our most gifted students to
see college and university teaching as a field of Christian
service, and thereby help prepare the next generation of
Christian scholars."

In addition to challenging academically successful
students at Hope to pursue scholarly careers as avenues to
Christian service, the society will also help them gain
admission to Ph.D. programs at major universities. While
designed primarily for students in the humanities and social
sciences, the Hope program will be open to all students
interested in integrating Christian faith and the academic
enterprise.

The Hope Pew Society program will build upon
existing curricular and extracurricular activities that
promote interaction between senior scholars and students.
Such activities include departmental honor societies, weekly
seminars featuring professors from research universities,
and encouragement of student research.

New activities to be sponsored by the Pew Society
program include meetings especially designed for minority
students interested in academic careers; day trips to
research universities such as the University of Michigan and
the University of Chicago; and a mentoring program.

Those interested in further information are
encouraged to contact the director of the Hope Pew Society
program, Professor Marc Baer, by phone (395-7589) or through
e-mail (BAER@HOPE.EDU).