I first heard of Drew Hansen when I was a sophomore in high school. I was a mere novice debater in the podunk town of Puyallup, Wash., but Drew was a big-city whiz tearing up the local championship debate circuit from up north. Everyone knew who Drew was -- the fastest mouth in the Northwest.

Celebrity followed Hansen to Harvard. Here everyone knows him, but for different reasons.

Some know him for his leadership in First-year Urban Program (FUP), where he participated and spent three years as a leader.

Many know him as a bass in the Harvard Glee Club, in which he earned a coveted spot as a first-year.

Some know him form various public service activities, Most recently, he has been an organizer of Partners for Empowering Neighborhoods (PEN), an area literacy program.

Still, others met him through Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Impact, where he took part in Bible studies and was part of the group's leadership team. Just last month, Hansen represented the group in an Emerson Hall debate, defending the proposition that God does, in fact, exist.

Also through HRCI, Hansen Coordinated Faith And Service together (FAST), the group's arm for social justice.

While Hansen's public service in various forms may be why so many people know him, they don't always realize the motivation for his service. Like Phillips Brooks, the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Boston a Century ago, Hansen's commitment to social justice grows from deeply held convictions about the nature of love for one's fellow human beings.

Faith and Service Together

Hansen is at first reluctant to talk about his faith on the record. He has done it before--for the Seattle newspapers after he was named a Rhodes Scholar, for example--and thinks he came off sounding trite and simplistic.

But when the thoughtful senior does speak of his faith, sharing his compassion for those in need and offering a guarded critique of elements whose commitment to service is weaker, he is anything but shallow.

"The faith is the only thing that matters," Hansen says. "There have been plenty of moments in the past four years when Christianity has looked extraordinarily improbable. But I can't honestly look at myself and say it's not true."

Hansen switches briefly to debater mode, citing historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ, defending the integrity of New Testament manuscripts, and quoting C.S. Lewis, one of his favorite authors. But then he slows down and turns to discussing God as a balance between "authority and friend."

"I know from personal experience that God is much more like a person than like a law or a set of rules," he says.

While some have tried to separate their faith from their activities, Hansen says he has tried to do just the opposite.