On a Saturday night, 10 students gather around a table to share a meal together and grapple with some of life’s biggest questions: what does it mean to live a good life? How do faith, morality and beauty shape who we are?
This intimate gathering is part of Communio, a fellowship within Whitworth University’s “Call and Character: Educating Mind and Heart” initiative, a multi-faceted program funded by the Lilly Endowment and in collaboration with Wake Forest University. The project encourages Whitworth’s campus community to explore questions of character, human flourishing, social justice, spiritual life and other things that make for a life worth living. Communio, conceived by David Henreckson, assistant professor and director of the Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith and Learning, provides students a space to wrestle with these ideas in conversation, reflection and community.
Hosted in the home of Henreckson and his wife, Elise Leal Henreckson, associate professor of history at Whitworth, a typical session is structured around a deep conversation about an assigned reading, poetry, prose, nature, or film. Every session also includes an active listening assignment of either classical or folk music pieces connected to the discussion.
“It’s loosely structured, but if the conversation is going a certain way, unlike in a class setting, there the professor might reel it back, we just keep following that direction,” said senior Chris Mahn, a neuroscience major, “But the first thing we do is eat together, and they make good food.”
The syllabus includes works from Plato, C.S. Lewis, guest mentors and podcasts, to name a few. Not all sessions are hosted at the Henreckson’s home, with some outings to the Spokane Symphony or art museum.
“We have these incredibly deep, meaningful conversations about truth or beauty or goodness or art or the problem of evil,” said Henreckson, “And there is something about having these conversations outside the classroom that just opens it up to the possibility for friendship and conversation in ways that a sterile and formal classroom can’t.”
In the spring semester of 2025, students interested in joining the Communio Fellowship submitted a letter of application and were required to have a GPA of 3.4 or higher. Finalists were then invited to interview with Professor Henreckson. The fellowship spans both the fall and spring semesters, and upon completion, each student participant receives a $2,400 award.
“It’s very diverse, we have English majors, STEM majors, political science majors, but I think that’s part of the reason Communio is so special,” said Sydney McLean, a senior health sciences major, “You have all these unique perspectives coming together to talk about things.”
The fellowship offers something even rarer: a chance to be paid to discuss life, love and art.
“To get into a program to talk about philosophy, theology and literature and get paid to do it, that sounded crazy,” said junior Celeste Depew, a psychology and English double major, “But I hope to get a greater depth of knowledge and a greater understanding and appreciation for community.”
