The midday walk from the student center to the library is the closest thing to a Times Square experience anyone will find in Nacogdoches. It is here that SFA's rich diversity is on full display. Students hustle and bustle around the fold-out tables of various campus organizations, giving some groups attention and ignoring others, as is their right.
There is one voice, however, that has been impossible to ignore in recent weeks. Evangelicals have been spreading their message in a fashion radically different from what the campus is used to. They are members of The Church of Wells, and they want to spark a revival.
The delivery of their message is similar to the old riverside preachers of The Great Awakening. But instead of robes and sandals they wear T-shirts and tennis shoes. They have backpacks on their shoulders and Bibles in their hands. Their diction is archaic, and their tone is loud.
They come to the campus with a four-man crew. Jake Gardner, Cory McLaughlin, Sean Morris and Kevin Fessler each take turns addressing the masses while the others have one-on-one chats with anyone interested.
"It is to the major tenants of Christianity that we subscribe," Gardner said. "Jesus calls on us to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. That is the Great Commission."
Reactions to their gospel are mixed. Some students try to drown them out with shouts of "shut up," some casually walk by, some sit and watch and others engage them in conversation.
Clay Brown, a sophomore majoring in secondary education, does not agree with their tactics.
"Honestly, their whole religion is a little screwy," Brown said. "They act like their religion is the only one that counts. SFA is all about unification, and this goes against all of that."
Chris Brown, a senior majoring in economics, was sitting close by as Gardener spoke.
"I respect the passion, but they focus too much on sin and repenting," Brown said. "It's kind of a scare tactic."
Blair James, a freshman majoring in deaf education, said they were going about it the wrong way.
"They're scaring people and attracting the wrong kind of attention," James said. "But I respect them for what they're trying to do."
Not everyone had issues with the evangelists.
Former SGA president Dennis Hagans defended the demonstration.
"SFA is an open campus," Hagans said. "He's practicing his first amendment rights. Opinions may differ, but it's all glorifying the one God."
Speech isn't exactly free at SFA. Any public demonstration on campus must first go through the office of Student Affairs for approval. The Church of Wells speakers have been shut down before by campus police because of a failure to register.
The reason they couldn't register is that they aren't real students. None of the four have intentions of being full-time students at SFA. Each has registered and paid for one class so their voices can't be legally suppressed. It's a loophole in the system. Gardner said he is married and has children.
"God schedules revival, not man," Gardner said. "We can't go to every pulpit in the world. We come here to tell people that the fruits of the spirit are cross-cultural."
Cory McLaughlin stood on a ledge with his hands in the air, warning students that their souls were at risk. Then a woman with a hijab covering her head walked up to him while clutching onto her books. McLaughlin lowered his voice.
"You look like you want to talk," McLaughlin said.
The two went under a nearby tree as Gardner jumped onto the ledge and picked up where McLaughlin had left off.
