In a cozy West Village apartment living room, a group of five to 15 New School students gather every Monday night to eat pizza, sing hymns, and pray. Relaxed and spiritually ignited, they sway and clap along to the music. This is The New School’s chapter of Cru, the international ministry present on over 5,000 different campuses across the globe.

“When I found Cru, it reminded me so much of that comfort of home,” says board member Saryà Dany, a sophomore studying strategic design and management at Parsons School of Design.

The ministry was founded in 1951 at UCLA and was brought to TNS in 2021 by Michael Dunaevksy, a pianist currently in his senior year at the College of Performing Arts, and Haley Hudson, a senior at Parsons School of Design studying interior design.

Cru is not exclusively for Christians. Their meetings are a place where anyone can learn more about the faith, ask questions, and see what Christianity looks like in practice. 

Cru is unique from the three other Christian groups at The New School (Remnant Christian Fellowship, Ecclésia Christian Ministry, and Encounter Christian Fellowship) because it is not affiliated with a specific church or denomination. 

“There are four or five different churches among like seven people [within the club],” says  board member Jake Wendel, a sophomore at the College of Performing Arts.

When Dunaevsky first began at The New School during peak Covid, he was in the process of converting from Judaism to Christianity and wanted to cultivate a Christian community of his own. 

Hudson also found herself drawn toward Christianity at the same time. “There was a lot of despair…I think just to see the overall need for Jesus in my life and then to see it in other people’s lives, it moved my heart…it propelled me into moving forward with Cru,” Hudson said.

Dunaevsky met a Cru staff member at Church of the City in 2021 and was encouraged to begin the TNS chapter. Dunaevsky, Hudson, and Maite Sa, a student at the College of Performing Arts, began unofficially meeting that fall. 

Once they gathered enough students and found a faculty advisor, Fiona Dieffenbacher, they applied to be a Registered Student Organization. TNS recently approved their application, making this the first academic year that they are registered in Narwhal Nation.

The ministry was originally called Campus Crusade for Christ, but in 2012 decided to shorten the name to “Cru.” 

“It was a different time [when the ministry first began],” Sarah Muller, Cru board member and a sophomore studying communications design at Parsons School of Design said. “We’re not trying to sell you a product, that’s not what we’re here for…This isn’t a place where you have to assimilate into something that you’re not.” 

Their programming consists of Monday night living room worship, weekly coffee meet-ups for conversation and Bible study, and pickleball games. They also participate in larger events, such as prayer groups and retreats, with other Cru chapters in the city. They post information on Narwhal Nation and on their Instagram page.

Dunaevsky is inspired by the positive conversations that guided him on his own religious exploration and wants Cru “to be a place where people feel like they are spiritually open.” 

“We want to build relational equity with people first,” Muller said. “We want to hear your heart.”

“Human connection and emotional connection is our biggest goal,” Dany said.