Asbury University has many academic, social, and spiritual requirements for its students. One of these requirements is a Cross-Cultural Engagement (CCE) class and trip that students must participate in while at Asbury.
CCE refers to the generalized class about culture as well as a cross-cultural trip. The class is required for all students attending Asbury, no matter their past cultural experience. In theory, the class is a good concept and can be helpful for most students who have never been to other countries or experienced other cultures before.
However, many of the student population are third-culture students, students from missionary families, or students from other countries. According to Asbury’s most recent student population statistics, 4.43 percent of the students come from 31 foreign nations, and 21 percent are intercultural students. Many of these students have grown up in other countries, learned multiple languages, and experienced how to interact in multicultural settings, making the CCE class redundant. The CCE trip requirement can also be a burden to students who may not have the time or the financial resources to participate in a trip.
In light of this, it would be beneficial for those in charge of the CCE program to evaluate students before deciding whether or not it is necessary to require them to take the class or go on a trip.
In addition to the international and third-culture students, there are many students who were able to study abroad in high school, partake in exchange programs, or do global missions during a gap year. According to the CCE requirements listed on the Asbury website, no student can use prior cross-cultural experiences to fulfill their CCE trip requirement.
The reasoning for this requirement is, as stated on Asbury’s website, “To ensure a student has reached the maturity level and received adequate preparation to experience a cultural immersion to the fullest extent.”
I have talked with many Asbury students who feel this requirement is unfair because the institution assumes that students are only mature enough to benefit from these experiences once they reach college. People vary in maturity; just because a student is in college does not mean they are mature. In addition to this, plenty of other organizations and people are qualified to provide the proper cultural preparation for students.
Kaitlyn McCracken, a junior attending Asbury, shared her experience of trying to get a previous intercultural experience approved to cover her CCE requirements. McCracken took a gap year before attending Asbury and had the opportunity to participate in a five month program called the Discipleship Training School through Youth With A Mission.
“You have three months of training for two months of service,” McCracken said. “Because they do take it very seriously that you educate yourself on culture.” Due to this extensive training, McCraken thought it would be enough to fulfill her CCE requirements. Unfortunately, it was not.
“They were open to it until the minute that I said it was before my time at Asbury, and they immediately said it does not count,” said McCracken. “The experience I had with YWAM was much more thorough and well rounded in cultural education, but I had to pay thousands of dollars to have a less educational experience.”
McCracken is not the only student who has tried to get their prior experience to fulfill their credit. Asia Stubenrauch is a second-semester sophomore from a missionary family. Stubenrauch was born in Thailand and lived there for seventeen years before moving to the States to attend Asbury. Stubenrauch also participated in the YWAM Discipleship Training School before her time at Asbury, spending three months training in Hawaii before going to Jordan. Even with this extensive experience in other cultures and significant time spent abroad, Stubenrauch was still required to go on a CCE trip in order to graduate.
“I feel really frustrated by it because they are still making me do it,” said Stubenrauch, “and that’s a bummer because that’s expensive, and a lot of international and third-culture students are not going to be the ones who necessarily have the money to do that.”
It is no secret to students that college is expensive. On top of the tuition, housing, and meal plan costs, Asbury may be placing even more of a financial burden on students by requiring that they participate in a CCE trip to graduate. Only some students have a scholarship or assistance paying to attend Asbury. Because of this, many students are stressed, attempting to pay for college and a CCE trip on their own.
Stubenrauch shared that she believed it would benefit Asbury to evaluate students before making them take the CCE class or requiring them to participate in the trip.
“If you have the cross-cultural experience, you have it; you’re not going to unlearn it,” Said Stubenrauch, “I am twenty-one, and I have spent time all over the place, and I’m not going to forget that in a couple of years.”
As a university with a significant intercultural population, many students from missionary families like Stubenrauch, and students like McCracken who have had more substantial training in cross-cultural missions, Asbury should begin rethinking the CCE class and experience requirements.
Article written by Landrie Nickell.
