Sarah Katz, Staff Writer
A faith-based organization will be joining one of approximately 50 registered student organizations on Wingate University’s campus in fall of 2018, said a university representative.
“Delight is a college women’s ministry built for the purpose of inviting all women to strengthen and learn about their faith,” said Skylar Mize, cofounder of Delight on Wingate’s campus.
Based on information from the website, Delight was founded by three women at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The women wanted to create an environment that would foster relationships between women and God. They did this through a Bible study and then by expanding Delight to multiple universities.
“I discovered Delight through an old friend from high school who recommended I check it out,” said Mize. “The more I learned about Delight, the more I felt called to bring it to campus.”
Based on the website, Delight has three goals. Delight wants to create a Christ-centered community, foster vulnerability and transform stories.
“The goals of Delight are an outline for us to run this organization on campus,” said Alex Matranga, cofounder of Wingate’s Delight chapter. “This gives a foundation for us to help grow our and other’s faith in an impactful way.”
Delight also incorporates nights of worship, service to the community and activities called Delight dates. “I am excited to help establish a support system for girls on campus so that we can help with anything that weighs heavy on their hearts,” said Matranga.
Based on the website, the second goal of Delight is to foster vulnerability. Delight wants to provide an environment where women feel safe and comfortable sharing Christ in their lives without the fear of judgment.
“The organization is built off of diversity and creating a safe space where all women feel welcome and comfortable sharing regardless of their past,” said Mize. “Delight is only for women which helps those who may not be as comfortable sharing in a co-ed group.”
The website states that Delight’s third goal is to transform stories. Delight wants to create an environment where women can encounter Christ and change their stories in the pursuit of him.
“We want this to be a judgment free zone where we can hear and share stories so that people understand how their stories can be used to spread God’s word,” said Mize.
Delight will be one of approximately 50 organizations offered by Wingate University. Only seven of the organizations offered are faith-based, according to the university’s website. “Delight will be the first of its kind at Wingate and it will be a new way for women to encounter the grace of God,” said Matranga.
Delight became a registered student organization at Wingate through committee approval during the spring semester of 2017. Mize and Matranga said they communicated with the founders of Delight to discuss the process of starting Delight on campus and identified people to be part of the leadership team at Wingate.
“We learned everything we could about Delight because we wanted to be able to answer any question thrown at us by the committee or women wanting to learn more,” said Matranga. “We wanted to have the knowledge to make sure that we were correctly informing everyone of what Delight stands for.”
Based on their website, part of Delight coming onto campus requires members to sell $180 in books in order to support the organization. These are book written by and for the Delight community.
“We are hoping that required sales will not be an issue but Alex and I both believe in this organization strongly enough that we will buy the books ourselves if we have to,” said Mize.
This organization will be new to campus and with that comes a level of uncertainty. Mize and Matranga said they met with their leadership team multiple times in order to ensure that all members are on the same page.
“We are excited for the start next year,” said Mize. “Our goal is not to have the most people coming to our meetings instead we want to have an impact on the people we meet.” Delight will officially start on Wingate University’s campus at the beginning of fall semester 2017.
Edited by: Brea Childs
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