Pass It On: Q&A With Baylor University’s Phi Kappa Chi Fraternity
In the fall of 2023, Baylor University fraternity Phi Kappa Chi named Show Hope their official philanthropy, led by Senior Philanthropy Committee Chair Gabe Jensen. Although this unique connection has only existed for less than nine months, Phi Kappa Chi has already begun to incorporate Show Hope into the life of their fraternity, including completing Pause Campaign, promoting Show Hope through their homecoming float, and even hosting a fundraiser competition.
We recently sat down with Gabe, Junior External Vice President Joey Leeper, and Sophomore Philanthropy Committee Member Riley Davis to learn more about Phi Kappa Chi and their support of Show Hope.
Show Hope: Tell us about Phi Kappa Chi (Phi Chi).
Joey Leeper: Phi Chi is a locally founded Christian fraternity here at Baylor. We care deeply about serving people, so philanthropy is something we should be excelling in. Gabe took the position [of Philanthropy Committee Chair] with that in mind. We want to serve and give our time, effort, and money to something that makes an impact outside of the walls of our fraternity. I’m excited to see the philanthropy committee grow and to see people get excited about Show Hope, from our active members to alumni.
SH: How did you connect with Show Hope?
Gabe Jensen: I had the opportunity to meet Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman through my aunt and uncle, who [have supported] Show Hope in the past. During the summer of my junior year, I felt pressed by the Holy Spirit to go into a giving season and to learn what it means to live a giving life. I don’t think people our age really understand how the Lord calls us to give whatever we can, whatever he’s blessed us with. I saw this connection with Show Hope, and I thought, This is amazing work. My goal, as philanthropy chair, was to make sure our fraternity was unified with one philanthropy that we can support going forward.
SH: What did Show Hope’s Pause Campaign (Pause) look like for your group?
Riley Davis: Gabe brought Pause to us as an awesome opportunity to start off the semester by being in tune with what the Lord has to say about adoption. It seemed like an awesome way to start the semester, just disconnecting and reconnecting with what the Lord has to say.
GJ: Show Hope sent the material, and we distributed those on a Sunday and created a group chat. We knew we were going to have to use digital communication. We encouraged everyone to use it as their daily devotional.
Quiet time is very important here at Baylor, and it is a practice that is culturally known. So we used Pause Campaign as an opportunity to reconnect with the Lord and disconnect from social media. We would send in our daily lessons, what we learned, what we took from it, and what we can apply to our lives going forward.
JL: The thing I remember most from was the feeling of, Man, I miss being online. I miss seeing things that are going on in the world. It was an opportunity to check my privilege of how blessed we are to go to a school like Baylor and to be around other guys who love the Lord. God doesn’t give us blessings to hoard to ourselves, but he gives us talents to multiply. Pause helped in setting the tone for the philanthropy committee and the rest of our fraternity.
SH: What did you take away from Pause Campaign?
RD: It was pretty hard-hitting. We get pretty comfortable in the life that we live and the things that come so easily to us. When you read these things [in Pause Campaign] and read what the Lord has clearly stated, for us to go and care for the orphan and the widow, it was eye-opening.
GJ: One of the key verses of Pause Campaign is Psalm 68:5 (“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”). At the time, I didn’t really understand what that last part of it meant. When you look at the scripture and the context, holy habitation is “where he dwells.” If God dwells within us, then in turn we become doers, protectors of the fatherless.
SH: Why is this important for college students to learn and care about?
JL: One of the reasons is the heart behind why we chose Show Hope for our philanthropy. There are a lot of great organizations out there, but we really focused on the question of, What would Jesus do if he were here on earth? I think that is an awesome starting point for us to ask the question How can we take care of those who Jesus cares about?
With Show Hope, we have the opportunity to educate a group of guys on the realities of what is going on in our world and hopefully prepare them to support one day, either financially or through the sacrifice of going through the process of adoption or foster care.
SH: Did you learn anything surprising during Pause or since?
RD: My youth pastor back home was in the process of adopting and I remember talking to him about how stressful it is. I was confused because I felt like you just go do it and I didn’t understand the financial burdens and the long process that it takes. The lack of knowledge that I had was revealed to me as we went through this, so I’m just super thankful to understand it a bit better now.
GJ: I learned from the discussion on what it means to visit orphans in their need. The way that Pause broke down the term visit and the biblical context of being there with people in need at that moment. I appreciated that because it helped develop the empathy that comes with this process.
SH: Tell us about the Show Hope fundraiser competition that you did?
GJ: We had an internal competition within Phi Chi as our first [fundraising] initiative. We knew that there was a Steven Curtis Chapman concert coming up, so we had a link fundraising competition. We told everyone to send the link to their family and friends, and the top two donors would get a ticket to the concert.
SH: Looking forward, what are your hopes for this partnership between Phi Kappa Chi and Show Hope?
JL: Now that we have solidified our relationship with Show Hope, I really want to make sure that we are working to plan another event or competition where we can raise money for Show Hope. We want to have something that is fun and that people are excited about, but overall, the goal is to raise money for our philanthropy. I get really excited thinking about the impact that we can have for Show Hope and for this message—that spreads not only the name of Jesus but also the ministry of what Show Hope is doing.
RD: Something that Gabe has done a great job of is education within the fraternity and getting all of us hyped about it and excited to keep it going. But something that I would love to see is a recurring event that not only raises money and spreads awareness but also reaches everybody on campus. I’m excited to continue to advocate for this cause, and watch it grow over the next couple of years, and then hopefully pass it on to people after me.
This story is part of our annual Summer Newsletter. To learn more about Pause Campaign, we encourage you to visit showhope.org/pause.
Stories like this are not possible without the love, support, and generosity of faithful donors. We would be honored for you to join us in this work through a financial gift. You can give today at showhope.org/give.
