The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
August 2007

St. Mary and MGDs: Close to Home

By Charlie Knuth

We are now at the halfway point in the schedule set by the U.N. for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While Utah parishes have explored many different organizations and charities working for global outreach and development, some, such as St. Mary's in Provo, need look no farther than their own immediate community for opportunities to address the goals.

Mary Karanu, an international student at Brigham Young University from Nairobi, Kenya, now finds herself in a financial crisis. In the fall of 2006, BYU drastically increased its tuition for its non- LDS students. With this tuition hike, Mary's sponsor, already straining to support her, could no longer pay for her tuition and fees. Forced to take a second job, Mary's grades suffered, and she lost her scholarships as a result.

BYU is one of the nation's largest private universities, and a significant portion of the cost of operating is paid from the tithes of LDS Church members. Because of this, the school's Board of Trustees believes that members have already made a monetary contribution to the operation of the university. To equalize this cost, non-LDS students have traditionally been assessed tuition twice that of LDS students, a practice that BYU likens to the policy of state universities charging higher tuition to nonresidents. In addition to this, the trustees recently announced that BYU will raise its tuition for all students matriculating during the 2007-08 school year by 6.1 percent.

Forced to take this past semester off, Karanu sought out her parish priest. The Rev. Kathleen West, Rector of St. Mary's, Provo, says that "the most striking part of Mary's story is that she is Anglican and part of an Anglican family in Kenya, and although it would help her financially to convert to the LDS church, she cannot as a matter of conscience. She told me that she would not play tricks on God."

West and her congregation have started a scholarship drive that has already raised several thousand dollars for Karanu.

A junior majoring in Genetics and Biotechnology, Karanu hopes to someday go back to her native Kenya and help people produce food more efficiently. "I have the opportunity to utilize all that I have learned at BYU through a friend in Kenya who co-ordinates a non-profit organization that aims at poverty alleviation through better farming," she said.

"I intend to work with him and initiate a biotechnology project that will help the local farmers in my community reduce the costs of food production while at the same time improving the quality of food."

But can one humble Biotech major make such a difference in people's lives? W. Kerry Hammock, Karanu's career counselor, feels that Mary has already had a huge impact on her college community, and that it is only a matter of time before she does the same back home in Nairobi. Before being dismissed from school, Mary was responsible for organizing a campus-wide collaborative learning project in preparation for National Exams. When she spoke of the importance of working together as a campus community, her peers listened.

Hammock jokes that walking across campus with Karanu is an "experience." Mary is able to recognize students from even her largest lecture course and ask them about their successes in other classes, their social engagements, and their personal concerns. "Mary has seen the joy that education can bring into the lives of people and she strives to help those around her find this same joy," says Hammock. "I firmly believe that helping Mary will help many."

Charlie Knuth is a student at Grinnell College and is serving as an intern in diocesan communications this summer.

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