Stanford University
Join us Tuesdays at 8 PM in Koret Pavilion (564 O'Connor Lane)
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Welcome to RUF Stanford! We are an on-campus ministry at Stanford comprised of a diverse group of students seeking to know, love, and serve Jesus together in community. Our ministry is not just for Christians, though, we are open to anyone looking to explore their faith. Alongside our student leaders, we have an ordained campus minister as well as a full-time campus staff worker who would love to connect with you and answer any questions about faith, life at Stanford, or any topic that interests YOU!
Join Us
RUF Weekly Meeting
Rides to Church - Grace Presbyterian Church
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Meet Our Team
David Birnie
David and his wife Krista are excited to return to Stanford to continue the work that God has been doing through RUF. They met through RUF at Stanford University when David was an RUF intern and Krista was in grad school. David is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell seminary as well as Wake Forest University, where he was first introduced to RUF. Born in California, David has lived all over the country, including Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington, and now back to California.
David loves being outside, particularly when he gets a chance to play golf, go hiking, or ride his bike. Friendly competition is always welcome, so challenge David to a little game of cornhole, spikeball, ping pong, or a new game, and he will almost certainly always take you up on it.
David and Krista got married in 2010. They have three kids: Annika (2014), Micah (2017), and Nate (2019). Each one is an absolute delight, and they are all excited about meeting more students at Stanford.
Kathleen Chitty
Kathleen was first involved with RUF as a student at the University of Florida. It was through RUF that she began to experience the transformative grace of the gospel in new ways--grace she loves getting to share with Stanford students. After graduating with her Bachelor's in English in 2014, Kathleen worked on staff with a church youth ministry for 5 years. In 2019, Kathleen made the cross-country move to Palo Alto to start as Campus Staff at Stanford.
Kathleen loves everything about warm weather and has loved living in the Bay Area. She loves good storytelling in books, movies, and podcasts. When Kathleen isn't on campus, you can find her walking her dog, Ruth, trying out a new recipe, or spending time with her nieces in San Jose.
Jiwon Kim
Jiwon grew up in Seoul, South Korea and came to the US for college to attend Yale University in 2012. It was during college that Jiwon felt called to follow Christ in her life and that completely changed her. After graduating Yale with a B.A. in Political Science, she came to Stanford for her Ph.D. in Political Science in 2016. There, she met her husband Sam, who is pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. at Stanford. They met at a Christian event on campus and got married in 2019. They welcomed their daughter Yireh in 2022. During her graduate studies, Jiwon continued to be drawn to campus ministries and met the RUF at Stanford team through her church, Grace Presbyterian Church. After completing her graduate studies in 2023, she joined as part time staff to serve Stanford students.
Jiwon loves going on walks with folks, grabbing boba and having good conversations, writing, and spending time with family and friends.
Caroline Newsom
Caroline grew up in Oxford, MS and graduated from Ole Miss (Hotty Toddy!) Having never moved out of Mississippi, Caroline is excited to be in Seattle and experience a new part of the country. She has a passion for videography and video editing as well as clothing and fashion. In her free time, you can probably find her playing video games, listening to music, or most often, hanging out with her friends. She hated coffee until she became a barista, now all that has changed and she is looking forward to finding her new favorite, cozy coffee shop in Seattle and taking all her students there! But most of all, she is looking forward to the ways she will grow in her relationship with the Lord and the students of UW!