The organization’s groups from all over the U.S. meet up at conferences throughout the year. Next week, students from Minot State University who are Cru members, will be traveling to Minneapolis for this year’s Winter Conference.

Tam Vu, a senior at the university, said the Winter Conference gives him an opportunity to “get out of the house” and gather with 400-500 other students from around the Midwest.

Vu has been to the conference twice. He reflected back on his first time signing up, thinking “What did I just get myself into?” He said his other option was staying at home and playing video games, and he was glad he took the opportunity to sign up because “it’s a very unique opportunity for college students to take part in.” He also said the conference is affordable to attend for college students, as various donors help to offset the cost to attendees.

Vu said he is most excited about the different speakers coming to the event, as well as the New Year’s Eve party hosted there, with lights, music, and dancing. The speakers, he said, have “a very in-depth knowledge of what Christianity is and how we can walk that path.”

Members of the Minot State University Cru are shown at last year’s Winter Conference in Minneapolis.

Vu will be graduating in May, and this Winter Conference will be his last.

Rex Keltner, a junior at the university, said Cru is “a community for college-aged people to come together and really get rooted in Christ, and a place for people to belong.” He said as a college student, he had difficulties finding a place to belong, and the group gave him an opportunity to find that sense of belonging, and offered a community.

Keltner first attended Cru as a freshman, but said he wasn’t ready at that time to meet new people and build that sort of community. After an emergency surgery the following year, he said he tried going again, and “got plugged in,” leading him to his first Winter Conference.

He said the conference was a point of transformation in his college years. Cru had offered him the opportunity to meet like-minded people, he said, and according to him, “going to the Winter Conference and being in Cru has helped every aspect of my college experience.”

At the conference, there are two sessions each day, where speakers teach lessons from the Bible, often connecting the lessons to the everyday lives of college students, Keltner said.

These lessons, he said, are typically aimed at different challenges and struggles the audience may be going through, and offer a chance to build the foundation of faith.

Keltner has been to the Winter Conference once before, and his first time going he was “quite terrified, being such an introverted guy.” He said he was hesitant to the point of almost backing out of going until the night before another person convinced him that it would be a good thing. His decision to go to the conference turned out to be “life changing,” and he plans to attend every year he can.

Maelyn Sanders is a senior at Minot State University who has been attending Cru since she was a sophomore. She said the group is “like a youth group, but for college kids.” According to her, the group is a community of college kids to get together to learn more about Christianity, share meals, play games and be in a fun community.

Sanders said this year’s Winter Conference will be her first, but she has been to other conferences in other areas. She said these conferences “made a really big impact on my life, seeing how God has worked through them, and seeing how other people get to experience God, friends and strangers.” She said she enjoys seeing people moved as she was, and finds inspiration from seeing the impact of the church on others.

According to Sanders, the local mentors, Jason Skjervem and Kassidy Skjervem, have been excellent resources for the group’s members. She said the local Cru is a very welcoming community, and invites anyone with an interest to show up and be welcome. Typically each week during the school year, the group can expect to see three-five new members. That number fluctuates, and can fall to one-two new faces, but newcomers transferring in from other schools often join, Sanders said.

To those considering attending a Cru event, Sanders said, “Just do it, you have nothing to lose. If you don’t like it, nothing bad is going to happen, but you might meet new friends.”

Sanders looked back on when she was first considering joining the group and is glad that she did. “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like Cru. Even if they don’t necessarily have faith, Cru is welcoming to all those people,” she said, adding, “It’s always good as a college kid to get a free meal.”