Harvard Christians "Agree With Tina"

Tina A.A. Ayeni '01 stood up yesterday in front of a crowd of about 100 students in front of the Science Center, surrounded by sky blue t-shirts declaring, "I agree with Tina," to tell her story of finding Jesus at Harvard.

Ayeni's speech served as the finale to the Veritas Forum, a week-long conference on Christianity.

Ayeni spoke about the depression that engulfed her during her first two years at Harvard when she found herself failing to achieve the academic, athletic and extracurricular success that she had in high school.

"It was really the first time in my life when things didn't go the way I had planned, and I didn't know how to deal with it," Ayeni said.

"I had always defined myself by my talents as an academic, a leader and an athlete," Ayeni said. "But without those titles, who was I?"

But when Ayeni began studying the Bible, she said her life changed.

"I came to know Jesus for myself," she said. "Activities, awards, recognition...these are just temporary things that could never offer the same fulfillment that I have today in my relationship with Jesus."

After her speech, Ayeni was greeted with hugs and congratulations from fellow Christians.

Posters advertising the event had appeared throughout campus, and event organizers took out a full-page advertisement in The Crimson yesterday relating Ayeni's experience.

Heather A. Woodruff '03, one of the organizers of the Veritas Forum, said that she thought many students could identify with Ayeni's message.

"We all came to Harvard wanting to be everything we were in high school-

we were the big fish in a small pond," Woodruff said. "Everyone's had to confront the reality of not being that when they got here."

"The goal is people see that Jesus is real in our lives and that he does provide for our lives and influence our lives in a positive way," Woodruff said.

While many students simply paused out of curiosity before continuing on into the Science Center, others listened attentively.

Alrick S. Edwards '04 said that as a first-year, he has already witnessed the depression that Ayeni talked about.

"It's the personal experience of a lot of Harvard students, just coming here and facing a lot of pressures that they didn't have at home," Edwards said.

He said it was encouraging to see Ayeni be able to tell her personal story to strangers.

Last year, M. Kyle Sims '02 became famous on campus when posters mysteriously appeared asking, "Do you agree with Kyle?"

Sims' speech drew 200 observers and the organizers decided to make a personal testament to Jesus by a student an annual event.

Jennifer L. Whiteside '01, an organizer of the Veritas Forum, said she got the idea for the "I agree with Kyle" slogan from a similar event at Penn State last year.

This year, the organizers tabled outside of the Science Center throughout the morning, playing Christian rock music and giving away 750 of the blue "Tina" t-shirts in an effort to generate spirit for Ayeni's speech.

Whiteside said she hoped Ayeni's speech would increase awareness on campus about the Bible.

"The idea of having a student stand up every year and identify themselves with their faith is a really unifying thing," Whiteside said. "The reason it can be done every year with a different person is we can all identify with a common faith."