Student Activities cont.
STUDENT MISSIONARY UNION The Student Missionary Union is a student organization of which every undergraduate student of Biola University is a member. A major function of SMU is to provide opportunities for students to share their faith in Christ by various means of evangelism. These opportunities take place locally in ministries to East Los Angeles , Watts, La Mirada and the surrounding vicinity. In addition, many students spend their summers in overseas ministries with experi enced missionaries through the Students Abroad program. Each week SMU sponsors the chapel program by which students are challenged and informed concerning mission opportunities, and each year they present the annual Missionary Conference. Other activities include mission multi-media presentations, organizing mission prayer groups and financing missionary projects of several thousand dollars. ATHLETICS Intercollegiate athletics at Biola University provide men and women with interest and ability in athletics an opportunity to compete with other institutions of higher education whose size and athletic policies are similar. Intercollegiate competition for men is conducted in the following sports : baseball, basketball, cross-country, wrestling, soccer, tennis and track and field. Women compete with other colleges in basketball, tennis and volleyball. Intramural activities are organized in both team and individual sports for men and women who do not have the interest, ability or time for varsity teams, but who desire well-planned physical activity and sports competition. STUDENT PUBLICATIONS The undergraduate student body sponsors two student publica-
tions: a weekly newspaper, The Chimes, and a yearbook, the Bio/an, which also contains a fine arts section. These serve to transmit news, keep a record of school life and provide further opportunity for student creativity and expression. FORENSICS In recent years Biola University has been ranked in the top ten percent of successful speech squads among colleges and universi ties nation-wide. As an active member of the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association, Biola regularly attends debate and individual events speech tournaments throughout the western states . Each year in the fall and spring, Biola hosts intercollegiate speech tournaments on campus . STUDENT MINISTRY A distinguishing feature of Biola University is its emphasis on student ministry for undergraduates which gives the student prac tical experience through a program of in-service training and Christian character development. At present , students serve in more than 300 churches in Southern California. Opportunities are provided in gospel teams , youth directorships, hospitals, released time education classes , Juvenile Hall, child evangelism and other activities. While enrolled at Biola , the student is given the privilege of expressing his preference in Christian outreach and is encouraged to accept the opportunity which best suits his desires and abilities. Each student is expected to devote a minimum of three hours each week in his assigned area. Since completion of one assignment for each semester is necessary to satisfy graduation requirements, a record is kept of completed ministries.
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