PRESS CONTACT
Terri Conyers
Program Director, Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation
919/833-6896, Terri@SelfKnowledge.org
www.selfknowledge.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August Turak, founder of SKS, Published by UCLA Higher Education Research Institute

RALEIGH, NC (May 27, 2004)—August Turak, retired software CEO, former MTV executive, and founder of Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation, will be published in the upcoming June 2004 UCLA Spirituality in Higher Education Newsletter. Mr. Turak's essay entitled I Do and I Understand shares the stories and philosophies that have made the Self Knowledge Symposium (SKS) so successful in transforming the lives of thousands of college students on the campuses of Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for 15 years.

The newsletter is part of a larger project funded by The John Templeton Foundation entitled Spirituality in Higher Education: A National Study of College Students' Search for Meaning and Purpose. The study is designed to provide a framework for colleges seeking to expand opportunities for students to explore spirituality, bring to light the beliefs, behaviors and attitudes of American college students, and stimulate discussion of curricular and other transformations in higher education.

"We're thrilled to have Augie Turak's article for this issue of the journal," comments Jennifer Lindholm, Associate Director of UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. "Spirituality among college students has become a huge area of interest in the past five years, and the Self Knowledge Symposium is one of the best examples out there of how students can be encouraged to develop their spiritual lives while in school."

Says Turak, "I decided when I was a college student that I would spend my life trying to meet remarkable spiritual teachers, and that life wouldn't be worthwhile unless I was able to answer the spiritual questions that always plagued me." Mr. Turak has not only dedicated his life to the search, he has worked with thousands of college students over the past 15 years, supporting them in their own search for a meaningful and authentic life.

In addition to publishing the Spirituality in Higher Education journal, the UCLA Higher Education Research Initiative (HERI) will also continue to survey thousands of college students around the country on their religious and spiritual values and beliefs. Says Ed Cheely, a Duke SKS Alumnus and the Development Director for the SKS Foundation, "The Spirituality in Higher Education Project is an extremely worthwhile venture at a time when there is a shortage of authentic programs that meet student's needs. We're honored to be included in this issue of the journal."

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For more information on HERI, see www.Spirituality.UCLA.edu

For more information on John Templeton Foundation, see www.Templeton.org

The Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (www.selfknowledge.org) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization that encourages people to consciously develop their own personal, moral and spiritual values and to live according to them. The SKSF creates experiential learning programs and social contexts within which people can explore the deeper questions in life, developing intellectual understanding and personal character in a quest for the life worth living.