Matthew Resenhoeft

More than 200 students gathered in Burger King Thursday to listen to a speaker known only to most of campus as “Jonathan.”

Whether they were just in the middle of lunch or drawn to the event by the ambiguous neon green signs and T-shirts around campus asking “Do you agree with Jonathan?”, the noisy crowd became surprisingly quiet once the event begin.

“Jonathan” revealed himself after someone got the crowd’s attention by shouting out “Who is Jonathan?” A student then calmly walked to the front of the room and shed his T-shirt to show one that said “I am Jonathan.”

Junior Jonathan Stone spoke to the crowd as part of a statewide campaign started by campus Christian groups, such as Student Impact and the Navigators. Student Impact heard of a campaign like this on other campuses and nominated Stone to lead the one at UW-Eau Claire.

Stone started his speech by telling everyone that he had news to tell that people may or may not agree with.

What he had to say wasn’t about a T-shirt or an ad, Stone told the group.

There’s nothing he can do himself to get to God, he said, adding that one thing he can do is accept God.

Stone made the analogy that being separated from God is like drowning and God is the only one that can save you, he said.

Acknowledging the fact that some people may say his head is in the clouds or call him insane, Stone said, “What some call craziness is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

People that disagree with him are something that he wants to see, Stone said, telling the crowd about a Web site where questions can be asked and comments can be made about his speech or beliefs

That was the whole point of the campaign, said sophomore Jenny Anderson, who is involved in the Navigators.

“We want people to approach us with questions or comments,” she said. “This way, we aren’t forcing anything on them.”

Stone, an elementary education major from Golden Valley, Minn., said the ordeal has involved a lot of prayer.

“We (Student Impact) prayed as a group about this everyday,” said Stone, who admitted he was a little nervous before he was supposed to speak.

Many people who knew Stone asked him if he was the “Jonathan” mentioned on the neon signs and T-shirts and he said he admitted he was.

Responses from students, positive or negative, were the main thing Stone said he wanted to get out of the campaign.

Seniors Nate Reise and John Zydowsky were eating lunch in the Burger King area when they heard Stone’s speech.

“We don’t really know what to think,” Reise said. “But we’re happy for him.”

“Anybody that happy and confident to say what they believe is admirable,” Zydowsky.said.

Another point of the campaign was to spark debate between groups of friends, Stone said.

“I hope people will consider the things I talked about,” he said. “Whether they agree or disagree.”