Here on Guilford campus, ten percent of our population is comprised of Quakers. Though they may be recognized by a friendly smile or possibly a healthy beard, their traditions are even more recognizable and are the backbone of the Guilford we know and love.
Maintaining a 19-year tradition, Guilford’s annual Quaker Festival kicked off the week of Sept. 22. Since the fall of 1990, Guilford students have come together in a week full of fun, education, and worship, Quaker style. Though the activities are largely for enjoyment sake, the festival has a very important goal. It is a way of heightening awareness on campus and keeping the essence of Guilford alive.

The Quaker Festival is a great way for students to learn about Quaker heritage and the unique history that surrounds Guilford’s campus. Historically, the Guilford community was a place of peace. The area where Guilford College currently stands was once part of a Quaker settlement called New Garden, which was disrupted by the battle of Guilford Courthouse during the American Revolution. The Quakers, traditionally loving all of God’s people the same, cared for wounded Union and Confederate soldiers alike. They actually buried the dead opposing soldiers side by side. “You may notice we don’t have any active military recruitment here on campus,” said Campus Ministry Coordinator Max Carter, alluding to the impact of Guilford’s peaceful history on our campus today.

Carter explained further, “We don’t fly the flag prominently from a flagpole here on campus, because we are emphasizing a global community.”

“There is a reason we don’t have fraternities and sororities on campus, or why we don’t call each other by titles, or why we have active African American studies and women’s studies programs as well as Hispanics United at Guilford. It’s a Quaker testament of equality,” said Carter. “It’s not just a wussy, ‘age of Aquarius’ kind of thing. It’s a fundamental testimony of Quakers.”

Guilford’s roots are in simplicity and the belief that everyone has something to share within the community.

“There is a reason that our campus does not look like other campus around such as Elon, High Point, or Duke,” said Carter. “Sure we could invest a lot of money in looking glitzy, but is that where we want to put our focus?” On the Quaker value of simplicity, junior Tim Bradley joked, “I took a class on simplicity once and the book was actually quite thick.”

“What some people call simplicity is trying to live your life without burdening others,” said Bradley, condensing the book to a nutshell the best he could.

Junior Luke Arendasky, a Quaker, explained this idea using the cigarette butt problem we have here on campus. “The only conclusion I can come to is that some smokers don’t realize that cigarette butts are litter,” said Arendasky.

“I am a smoker, but I can take comfort in the fact that none of the butts are mine.” Employing ideas he has learned through Quaker teachings, Arendasky shows the nature of what Quakerism is all about.

“If I see someone about to throw a butt on the ground I resist the urge to go scold them and I just tell them to give the butt to me and I go throw it away,” he said.

During the Quaker Festival, introspective daily themes of “act like a Quaker” and “dress like a Quaker” gave students a chance to have some fun while being mindful of the essence of the Quaker lifestyle.

“It raises the question of just how do Quakers dress,” Carter said. The style of a Quaker is not based in appearance; it comes from the principle of being intentional.

“‘Who made these clothes? Why did I buy them?’ are questions Quakers should be asking themselves,” Carter said. “Quakers used to have dress codes, like no clothes with dyes,” said Arendasky. “In today’s world it’s more about the idea of cutting down on materialism.”

As gas prices rise all over the country, banks are broken, and materialistic over-spending is at an all-time high, it seems Quaker values could play an integral part in our near future. Having this experience of attending one of only 13 Quaker colleges in the United States, Guilford students are ahead of the curve. Next time we hear the words “let’s have a moment of silence,” we should stop and actually think, as the Quakers do: how can we make the world better for those around us today?