Monday's News & Ideas - 2/21/2022

College endowments boomed in fiscal 2021*
Inside Higher Ed: The average endowment’s size increased by 35 percent, leaving 19 percent of institutions with endowments worth more than $1 billion. But experts say few students benefited from that growth.

Black seminary grads, with debt higher than others, cope with money and ministry
Religion News Service: Data shows 30% of Black graduates in the 2020-2021 academic year had debt of $40,000 or more, compared with 11% of white graduates.

Iowa’s United Methodist Church issues directive permitting same-sex marriage, gay clergy*
The (Iowa) Gazette: After a denominational schism and years of tension, state leaders articulate a vision for LGBTQ inclusivity. But is it too late?

The surprising link between religion and good grades
Deseret News: New research explores the link between ‘intense’ religiosity and high school GPAs.

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast is conspicuously silent on race*
Christian Century: Mark Driscoll’s megachurch radicalized white men by weaponizing the white nuclear family.

The Spark

See (the worst people in) the world!
How defiant COVID-era customers turned a dream job — flight attendant* — into a total nightmare, The New York Times says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers