1

Alyson Hellenack
Mrs. Grant
UWRT 1101
November 24th, 2014
Campus Outreach Ethnography
The UNC Charlotte campus is filled with numerous amounts of discourse communities.
Though some may be easy to point out, others not so much. Most people focus on a lot on their
academic communities that they tend to know little about spiritual organizations on campus, such
as Campus Outreach. Campus Outreach, or well known as 9:09, is an organization on campus
that helps students gain a closer relationship to God. It is called 9:09 because it is held
precisely at 9:09 every Tuesday. Students on campus tend to forget their spiritual sides from all
the academic work they get wrapped up in, but this organization gives a special time where
people can set aside their work and come together to talk about God. The observations conducted
in this paper show how the Campus Outreach organization is definitely a discourse community.
It not only shows Swales six characteristics, but Johns communities of practice rules as well.
I first was introduced to the campus outreach organization a few weeks into the first
semester of college. I hadnt thought much about what the organization was about in the
beginning, but now I can safely say it is a discourse community. The campus outreach
organization specifically focuses on helping students with their spiritual growth and developing a
special relationship with God. While speaking to the campus outreach womens coordinator, Joni
Clayton, she stated Im very passionate about my faith and what a difference it has made in my
life that I want to help others experience the same thing I did (Joni). As you sit in a meeting you
can tell how focused and passionate every member is about what they are sharing about God and

their own personal and spiritual experiences. Campus outreachs main form of communication is
the Bible. Bible scriptures are used every meeting for examples of the topic that is discussed that
night. Without the Bible there would be no way students could grow in their spiritual faith. The
Bible is a way that everyone can connect with each other and grow to have a better
understanding of God. The Bible gives us vital information about the past, present, and future
relationships we can have with God.
The campus outreach organization does a good job at keeping the students aware of
upcoming events and discussions by using different means of genres. We use Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram. Texts are usual sent between student leaders to let them know what the
topic will be the prior week and of course we have face to face meetings every Tuesday night at
9:09 (Joni). PowerPoints are used as well to display different biblical verses and to share
upcoming events in the organization. During group discussions and regular conversations several
biblical references could be brought up such as, events, biblical names, verses, etc. People who
dont have a lot of knowledge about the Bible may not know this certain lexis. For example,
people who have not grown up in the Christian faith may not understand what the phrase John
3:21 means. Students in campus outreach know that John is the book of the bible from the New
Testament and it is located within chapter three verse twenty-one. There are also segments
throughout the discussion that only students involved in campus outreach would understand. For
example, part of the 9:09 meeting is a segment called 180 Degrees where a certain individual
shares there testimony and how Jesus changed their life.
Within this community it is easy to tell who the experts and newcomers are. I think the
newcomers are mainly a part of weekly meetings or bible studies and the experts are involved in
leader training (Joni). The new members of the organization are still learning about all of the

opportunities, so they may not be as involved as students who have been there for a while. The
experts are definitely the leaders who have been walking with God for a while and have more
experience with the Christian faith.
Campus Outreach is a discourse community as well as a community of practice according
to Ann M. Johns. Some members of the community may have difficulty understanding what their
relationship with God is. They might come to campus outreach to answer some of their questions
they have about God that the leaders would gladly talk to them about. The leaders are the ones
who have authority in the community. They are the most passionate about wanting to help
students find out more about their faith. Campus outreach can be stereotyped by other people
outside of the community. They may think we are hardcore Christians, so maybe they wouldnt
want to join. Campus outreach though is made up of many diverse individuals, but we all believe
in the same thing, God.
People who are spiritually interested and want to learn more what the Bible says and
how Jesus should have an impact on their life should definitely join campus outreach(Joni) The
campus outreach organization is a great place to meet and connect with people who share the
same spiritual emotions towards God. When attending campus outreach new friendships are
made and peoples understanding of the Bible grows. When the organizations goals are met by
having members understand and respect their spiritual faith those members then can reach out
and help new members or even people outside the campus outreach community. It is a big
spiritual cycle where the leaders help the newcomers and when they become leaders they can
help the others. Campus outreach is a community that makes an impact on students lifes more
and more every day, you just have to join to see.

Works Cited
Angle, Jaden. 9:09 Lecture. UNC Charlotte. Residents Dining Hall, Charlotte, NC. 11
November 2014. Campus Outreach Lecture.
Clayton, Joni. Personal interview. 10 November 2014.
Lee, Tyler (CO_UNCC). Join us tonight at 9:09 in RDH! How can you love and trust in God in
a world like this? #comeandsee #thechallenge 11 Nov. 2014, 10:49 a.m. Tweet.