PHILADELPHIA (BRN) – Monday morning started with a text message from Drexel University’s Dean of Students asking if I was free the next day at 5 p.m. Because of the friendship I have with the Dean, I immediately answer yes without much context. I trust her.

She lets me know that Drexel will be hosting members from the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States. There will be a student program, “Made to Connect,” in partnership with MTV and our counseling center at 6 p.m.,  focusing the role quality relationships have on supporting mental health in young adults. Before the event, they want to have a small group discussion with a few Drexel administrators. Young adult mental health is one of the six current priorities for the Surgeon General, and they specifically asked for a campus chaplain to be included in the conversation.  

Drexel does not have an official campus chaplain. No one is paid by the university to coordinate spiritual and religious life on campus. Drexel facilitates it through relationships with specific off-campus religious organizations to provide clergy members to the university.

The Baptist Resource Network (BRN) is one of only seven organizations in relationship with the university to have official clergy representation with access to the campus. The other organizations are the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Eastern PA United Metodist Conference, Every Nation Campus, Hillel International, Chabad and the Muslim Student Association.

When I started at Drexel 18 years ago, there were only three recognized. It took us five years of hard work for the official relationship between Drexel and the BRN to be established.

However, even though I am not an employee of the university, my relationship with the administration is one of mutual trust and respect. They are my friends. That means when the Office of the Surgeon asks for a campus chaplain to be present in a meeting, I get a text message to see if I am available.  

After agreeing to be present for the meeting, I received the calendar invitation from the head of the counseling department at Drexel.

I noticed the other invitees. There are only eight of us, and some of the others are the Dean of the College of Medicine, the Vice President for Health and Wellness, the Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success, the Dean of Students and the Executive Director for the Counseling Center.

This meeting is shaping up to be something different than what I had expected. Not only will it be an opportunity to engage with the Office of the Surgeon General, but I will be able to meet Drexel administrators that I have not met with yet. I need to wear a tie.

When I get to the meeting, I am informed that the eight of us are not meeting with representatives from the Office of the Surgeon General but with the Surgeon General himself. Having an undergraduate degree in Biology and several years of experience in pharmaceutical research before becoming a campus minister, I was excited.  

The Surgeon General enters the room and individually greets each of us. He guides the 30-minute conversation with two questions. He wants to know our opinion on why mental health is such an issue with young adults.

My colleagues all give good answers. They mention the influence of social media causing a lack of face-to-face relationship and creating constant avenues for comparisons. They highlight how online personas create a false perception creating a rose-colored image of what life ought to look like. From a university perspective, they mention the stress that comes from academic success and failure.  

When it is my turn to speak, I agree with everything my colleagues have previously said, but I am able to add a unique point: We have fewer intergenerational relationships.

Young adults have very few significant open relationships with those older and wiser than them. They do not hear advice or stories from older adults about how to successfully navigate the issues of being a young adult from the perspective of people who have made it through. I get to emphasize how churches are inherently designed to help facilitate these intergenerational relationships.  

Surprisingly, the Surgeon General pulls a note card out of his jacket pocket and writes down a comment in reference to my contribution. That is a win.

In some small way, I influenced how the Surgeon General of the United States looks at the role churches can have in support of young adult mental health.

Also, some very important Drexel administrators saw me do it. Their opinion of the role of spiritual and religious life regarding young adult mental health specifically on Drexel’s campus will be affected by that moment.

The second question focused on how young adults define success. I did not have as good of an answer for this question. However, I suggested that we can learn how young adults define success by paying attention to what they post on social media in hopes of getting others to celebrate with them. 

After the meeting, I was not able to stay for the event. I had to go to the other end of campus and check in with one of my Christian student organizations and their weekly Bible study.

The Dean of students needed to leave at the same time, and I was able to walk her to her car. Along the way we prayed for a student situation that she dealt with earlier that day. Not only did we have a conversation about student mental health, but I also was able to check in on her well-being.

Over the years, it has been these small personal conversations of care and support for my colleagues at Drexel that have earned me their respect and trust and allowed me access to some of the larger conversations.  

Brian Musser, the Baptist Campus Minister at Drexel University, is a self-funded missionary through the North American Mission Board in partnership with the Baptist Resource Network, along with all the other Baptist Campus Ministers in Pennsylvania and South Jersey. His salary is entirely dependent upon the generous gifts of churches and individuals. If you are interested in becoming a financial partner in his ministry, please visit: missionaries.namb.net/full/brian-musser.