Press Release

Students Collaborate For Campus Secret Art Project
EUGENE, Ore. — Students from the NCU campus have joined together to share a secret: they are not alone. Inspired by the Post Secret Campaign begun in January 2004, when 3,000 postcards were distributed for people to share their secrets anonymously, students at Northwest Christian University have also taken 126 postcards—some blank, some with designs, others with pictures and personal drawings—and are sharing their anonymous cards as a reminder of the need for living wholly without unhealthy secrets.
Elizabeth Seybold, Area Residence Coordinator at NCU, shared the vision for Campus Secret is “to provide more awareness for what students are carrying around campus.” Within the element of confession and repentance, she hopes that “people are experiencing freedom from sharing these things on their heart” in a Biblical sense.
As this is the first time Campus Secret has been held on this campus, many are questioning the authenticity of these secrets. Seybold responded “While I don’t know if all of them are true, I think there is truth behind all of them…But I’m treating them, like they are true, as this was the intent of the project.”
These postcards range from zany, funny, and strange to heart-wrenching confessions with images of teardrops. The most common secret shared is the feeling of being alone and unnoticed in the midst of such a small campus. Along with this posting, people have left anonymous responses: “You are not alone” and “You are loved.”
“I didn’t know this project was going to be so big,” Seybold commented. “I’ve been really, really impressed with the response and that people took it seriously.” Seybold hopes, along with many other faculty and staff members that this project will bring about a time of healing and communal bonding. As Seybold shares, quoting the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”