Dear friends,
I am cutting and pasting some of the correspondence I have been having with some students at Princeton. I want you to eavesdrop on our conversation. These students are doing great things. We can help them. Be there with us, as we help them!

These young people have formed a chastity club at Princeton, called the Anscombe Society. They are now attempting to get the university to provide some institutional support for students who want to live an abstinent life. Here is an extract from their first communication with me:

We have been  pressing our  administration to allow for and support the creation of a "Love  and Fidelity Center" which would provide abstinent students with the institutional  resources at the University's disposal. In an effort to bring the  issue to the forefront of campus debates, we will be having a week of events (lectures, panel discussions, debates) concerning the relevant  topics. This  event week will be that of October 12-16.

Bear in mind that, like most universities, Princeton has a Women’s Center, and a center to support gay and lesbian students. Our students are not asking for much here. 
 
In any case, these kids have honored me by asking me to speak at the capstone event of this week of advocacy.
 
The Princeton  Anscombe Society would like to invite you to speak at our campus on October 16th,  the final  day of events. Although I know this is short-notice, your body of work  concerning the family, marriage, and feminism is impressive, and we would be honored to receive you on Princeton's campus. Professor George  would also be happy to hear of your visit. 

Of course, my first impulse was that I wanted to go. I sent the kids a note with my usual fees and conditions: $1,500 plus expenses. I have come up with this price as an amount that fairly compensates the Ruth Institute for my absence from the office for a cross-country trip. Many speakers of my caliber command much higher compensation levels, as I’m sure you know. 
 
Here is the response they sent me:

I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your previous email, but I had to discuss some of the details with other officers in the organization. The typical maximum Princeton honorarium among all student groups is $500 per speaker. Unfortunately, the Anscombe Society at this point in our fall funding cannot anticipate to pay a $1,500 honorarium to any speaker. We are willing to extend an offer of $750, which is above the typical maximum student group honorarium, and we believe that the extra funding would be worth the result.

However, $1,500 is quite a great stretch on our donation-based budget. If $750 is enough to suffice your needs, then we will continue to plan and move forward with the event. We truly want this event to materialize, and would be grateful for any personal sacrifices on your part to support what we consider to be such an important cause. Just let me know how you wish to proceed. Thanks again for your time and consideration.

I slept on this letter. I woke up in the night asking myself, “What am I thinking?!?!”  This is the very situation that I wanted to address when I founded the Ruth Institute. These kids deserve our help and support. I’m going.

Perhaps it was reckless of me, but, I sent them this message the next morning:

Dear Steve,
I have decided to come to your event at Princeton, without regard to cost. I believe I can find help in financing this trip. I want you students to plan on having me come. Keep your money. Use it to promote the event, or build up your membership. Maybe you can provide food at the event: that always gets students to come!
In any event, I will be there. Please send me your cell number, so we can talk about the exact topic, time of day, and other details.
 
Your friend,
Dr. Morse
 
So, this is why I’m writing to a few of my friends who support the mission of the Ruth Institute. One way or another, I’m going to Princeton in three weeks. (Holy Cow! Is it really coming up that quickly!)  Can you help me make this happen?  Realistically, this trip will cost about $2,000, including travel expenses and reasonable compensation to the Institute for my absence.
Would you be willing to contribute some or all of the $2,000 needed to make this trip possible? 
These students have put themselves on the line for chastity and traditional marriage. I can’t let them down.

Will you help me? The Ruth Institute is a 501c3 organization and your contribution to the Ruth Institute is fully tax deductible. If you can help, please click here. Thank you.
 
Your friend,
Jenny

This week's cool podcast:

Some are more Equal than others... (Click the podcast icon.) Kai Feldblum is President Obama's pick to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Her views are making waves in the religious community because she has no tolerance for any objections to same-sex marriage, even in a religious and private context.  Dr. J and Todd Wilken meet to discuss the arising conflicts in this arena, and how churches are poised to lose out.

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