“Generally, CRCS is good; it has kept its excellence, and its shines. If there are negative or positive criticisms from others, just make them as inputs or suggestions.”This is what Ismail Yahya opined, a CRCS alumni (2001), when asked what he thinks of CRCS. Yahya, who is the chairman of the Syariah Department at State Islamic College Surakarta, shared that his experiences studying at CRCS help him manage his work.

Aside from being one of leaders at State Islamic College Surakarta, Yahya is also the chairman of the Indonesian Society for Religion & Civilization (ISRAC), member of the board of Majelis Ulama Islam (MUI) Solo, of the Commission of Law & Economic of Syariah, and of the Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah Surakarta (MESS). He also does researches.

“I became more pious after visiting Temple!, those were the words of Akhmad Shiddiq, a CRCS alumnus (2006), in describing his experience doing exchange study program at Temple University, USA. After passing a series of test for the program which was undertaken by CRCS, he attended Temple University during the 2009 Spring Semester. He left Indonesia for the United States early January of this year and came back last month.

When asked about his aims on attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Shiddiq asserted that for quite a long time it had been his immense desire to see the way Americans live in their multi-ethnic condition so that he could compare it with the multi-ethnic and cultural society in Indonesia.

“CRCS is a gate which has opened my new world. CRCS has opened my mind, not only how to be a good follower of Buddhism, but also how to criticize that religion,” this was expressed by Wawancara Wilis Rengganiasih Endah Ekowati, a CRCS alumna (2004), when asked about CRCS contributions to her success. One proof of her success is being granted a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue PhD program at the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies of the University of California, Berkeley.

“For me, CRCS really helps me in shaping paradigms and preparing me to learn,” Marthen Tahun, a CRCS alumnus, said when he was interviewed by a member of the CRCS website team by phone, on Wednesday, 29 April. For him, a man born in East-Soe in 1972, his current job in American Friends Service Center (AFSC) is a continuing lesson, and CRCS has prepared him for such further study.

During the interview Marthen was in West Timor. He works with four institutions which are partners of AFSC in West Timor to support their programs. The institutions have different concerns, but principally their programs involve services to better society. For example, a commission of the synod of Gereja Masehi Injili Timor (GMIT), one of AFSC’s partners, has been a program to prepare and improve the capability of religious leaders in West Timor in facing social issues.

“AIDS dalam Islam” is a book written by Syamsu Madyan. He was a student at CRCS, batch 2004. In this book he acknowledges that AIDS is seen as a dreadful disease. It remains appalling until these days not only because a cure has not been found yet but also because it grows and spreads massively and uncontrollably. It victimizes not only the so-called sexual perverts but every element in our society: the young and the old, both the rich and the poor, male and female, and even innocent children.