The Envoy

An abridged version of this article was posted on CUNYVerse.

As college juniors and leaders of their colleges’ InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapters, triplets Elijah, Enoch and Emmanuel Jacquet get the unique opportunity of uniting their campuses by hosting collaborative events open to CUNY students of all faiths.

However, they weren’t always avid followers of Christianity. Despite the road to their faith not being a smooth one, the triplets embarked on distinctive journeys to develop their personal religious beliefs and connect those with their evolving identities as individuals.

Coming into faith

Born to Haitian parents, the Jacquets see their birth in itself as a testament of their faith.

While pregnant with them, their mother almost died from complications. Before their birth, they say that doctors recommended that one of the embryos be removed (through a procedure known as selective reduction)  so she could have a safe delivery.

Their parents declined. Instead, their father prayed for their safe arrival, and at seven months, all three were born premature with no health complications or medical issues.

“Aside from [all of us] being allergic to peanuts,” Elijah said.

Growing up, the Jacquets grew up going to a Creole-speaking church, where they were introduced to the Bible by their parents and the children’s group they attended.

As kids, the triplets, now 20, recount often being compared to each other, which would stir up insecurities as they didn’t get to see the beauty of their individuality.

Even though they were all brought up as Christians, truly solidifying their faith was a journey that starkly differed between the three of them. However, they agree that having separate paths was needed for their personal growth. 

”Sometimes being a triplet, it’s hard to realize your own self and person,” Elijah said. “But I think through Christianity, one of the things that we learned is that he [Jesus] loves us individually and knows us as different people.”

For Emmanuel, the oldest of the three, he was open-minded to Christianity, but didn’t want to follow it because his parents did. He questioned himself and his beliefs, but decided to use the COVID-19 lockdown as an opportunity to read daily scripture, learn about different religions and communicate with his brothers until he comfortably made the decision to establish himself as a believer. 

Enoch’s journey shortly followed after Emmanuel, when the sermons and scripture he would engage with started to make him question his life decisions, and invoked an epiphany that he wanted to live life more righteously.

“The scriptures say, I have to help people out,” Enoch said. “Was I helping people? I wasn’t.”

Elijah came to faith around Easter of 2021, saying he grew up not fully understanding his parents when they would talk about Jesus’ sacrifices, and wanted to learn “who this Jesus guy was” and why his sacrifices were significant.

From there, he discovered what he calls a “true love.”

“If this Jesus wants to love me this much, I said let me give him a try,” Elijah said.

A CUNY for each brother

When it came time to attend college, the Jacquets decided to remain close to home and commute to CUNY.

“Our parents have separation anxiety,” Enoch joked.

Besides its New York City location, the brothers were drawn to CUNY’s academic programs, easy application process and affordability.

Emmanuel initially dreamed of going to the west coast to attend business school – a dream he’d had since eighth grade. Instead, he opted to attend Baruch College – where his sister was a student – originally planning to pursue music business, but ultimately settling on becoming a finance major. 

Elijah, a math major with a concentration in quantitative biology, chose Hunter for its rigorous mathematics program and the opportunity to create his own major.

And City College, home to one of the city’s only engineering schools, was a clear choice for Enoch, as he is also a math major and planning to “weigh out the options the degree offers,” such as computer science, for example.

One club, three chapters

In his freshman year, Elijah paved the way for his brothers when he first discovered the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Club, a religious organization for universities that have chapters across the nation, at Hunter. The organization aims to provide a space for students to practice Christian worship on college campuses and share that love to their respective communities, regardless of religious affiliation.

One day, an acquaintance invited him to one of the Hunter chapter InterVarsity club meetings. Elijah, who was looking for opportunities to make friends on campus, realized that this club was what he needed to become part of a community.

Since then, the now-junior Elijah has been actively involved in contributing to the club mission by spreading the joy he receives from religion to Hunter’s student body. For the club, Elijah is a worship coordinator, which entails practicing and singing worship songs for events and conducting outreach to encourage people to to interact with the InterVarsity community through the variety of events that they host. 

“Not to convert, but get to know people and let them know they are welcome to get involved in the club,” said Elijah, adding that talking to people from different faiths and getting to know his fellow students are some of his favorite things about the club. 

As an executive board member, he also gets the opportunity to create events based on what he thinks students would enjoy. Previous events included game nights, holiday parties, spoken word performances, multicultural potlucks and paint nights. 

After hearing Elijah talk about the events and other experiences he had at the club, Enoch decided to show up to one of the meetings at Hunter (“Unlike Emmanuel,” Enoch said, to which he was called a “brother-shamer” by both of them). After being well-received at the Hunter events, he was inspired to join the CCNY chapter. 

Due to registration conflicts, the chapter at CCNY isn’t officially chartered this year. But as its current leader, Enoch maintains a welcoming community as he works to reinstate the club.

“Although we are a very small group at City College, the people there were very welcoming,” Enoch said. “I was the new kid and they invited me with open arms. Just like Emmanuel, I had a voice. We were able to share our ideas about the scripture that we were studying. And they’re just amazing people in general.”

Emmanuel wasn’t open to joining any clubs in his freshman year, opting to play basketball instead during Baruch’s club hours. But like Enoch, when Elijah would come home and share fun stories of the “wonderful meetings and events” he had at Hunter, Emmanuel was inspired to join Baruch’s InterVarsity chapter during his sophomore year and was overjoyed by the love and support he received on his campus too.

“Of course, you can find community at church, but when you find students who are the same age as you, holding you accountable and mentoring you, it’s an amazing sight,” Emmanuel said. “And so it teaches us to love. The love you find there is not fake, it’s very genuine.”

As co-worship coordinator, Emmanuel also leads worship on campus and “nervously, but courageously” goes on campus to pray, talk casually with others and, as he says, “love all of Baruch’s 16,000 students.”

All CUNY students, regardless of religious affiliation, are welcome to join their school’s InterVarsity chapters. Fatiha Battle, a Muslim student at Hunter, says she is an active participant in the club because she enjoys receiving insight about Christianity through different perspectives and learning about a “monotheistic” religion other than Islam.

“The first event I attended was a spoken word,” Battle said. “I was drawn in by my love for poetry, but upon attending, my heart was moved by the stories of many and their melodious words. Although our differences were quite prevalent I was met with a plethora of similarities.”

In the previous academic year, the triplets suggested to the other members of their respective chapters that they coordinate collaborative events between the three campuses as well as other CUNY schools.  

The club chapters came together last year at Mineral Springs for tug-of-war, three-legged races, worship and other activities. (Photos courtesy of the Hunter and Baruch InterVarsity clubs)

One of these events was an end-of-the-year “field day” last spring, where members from the Baruch, CCNY and Hunter chapters gathered in Central Park on May 6 to celebrate their faith through music and games. 

Another collaborative event on InterVarsity’s agenda was their very own prom that took place on May 9 at Hunter College, which was open to both CUNY and non-CUNY students.

Attendees showed up in formal attire as they danced the night away, and even got to vote for prom king and queen. The crowns ultimately went to Enoch and Hunter chapter member Katherine Sipan. 

The InterVarsity prom, where students danced, enjoyed Chinese food and watched a short film made about the club. (Photos courtesy of the Hunter InterVarsity club)

The annual InterVarsity Field Day, co-hosted by Hunter, Baruch and CCNY, also made a return to Central Park on May 11 as a fitting year-end celebration. 

For the Jacquets, spending time together doing InterVarsity activities, but also having separate lives on their own campuses, has given them the chance to strengthen their relationships with one another. 

“I got a chance to grow in love for my brothers because we’ve been able to hop around different campuses and meet our own friends,” Enoch said.

“I’ve been able to see them grow in their leadership skills. And it’s been teaching me as well.”