In 2018 Wesleyan University hosted an event sponsored by the Veritas Forum entitled “The Trouble with Freedom: A Dialogue on Freedom in 21st Century America from a Religious and Secular Perspective.” The event attracted a large audience of faculty and students, and generated a discussion that touched on controversial topics pertaining to religious liberty in political, educational and cultural contexts. Among other things, the event made it evident that Wesleyan students who are active in religious traditions and want to “bring their whole selves to class” sometimes find themselves marginalized. As a result, Michael Roth, Wesleyan’s president set out to create conditions on campus where student religious identity was better understood, appreciated and welcomed.
Since that time, Wesleyan has expanded the activities of its Office of Religious Life, and has hired three chaplains, one Christian, one Jewish, and one Muslim. Together, this cohort of chaplains is carrying out a multi-lateral, campus-wide project that will engage students, faculty and administrators.
The $313,000 project, funded by AVDF and the Templeton Religion Trust, has six main components.
The first involves creating new programming for student orientation. In addition to their current practice of introducing the topic of religious and spiritual life during the plenary orientation program, Wesleyan will offer a new module that introduces, models and invites the sharing of personal narrative in the form of a Spirituality Walking Tour. During the tour, chaplains and student leaders representing different spiritual and religious traditions will introduce students to places on campus that have spiritual significance.
Second, the project will support an annual cohort of five Interfaith Fellows who will be chosen on a competitive basis and provided with a modest annual stipend. The fellows at Wesleyan will design and execute two campus-wide activities each year that are concordant with their own interests and the perceived needs of the campus. Fellows will also organize two dialogues with faculty and staff. Finally, the fellows will act as liaisons between the Chaplains’ Office and the extant campus religious groups, as well as between interns from the offices of Residential Life, Student Life, International Students Affairs and Admissions.
Third, the project will support the creation of an Interfaith Leadership Council, comprising of leaders from various campus student religious groups and the Interfaith Fellows. During regular meetings throughout the year the council will spend time sharing personal religious narratives and working to create opportunities for members of their respective groups. The goal being for members to engage with each other to promote greater understanding and collaboration.
Fourth, the fellows and council will organize two campus events each year entitled “What Matters to Me and Why.” These events, modeled on a successful analogue at Stanford University, will allow faculty and/or administrators to describe and discuss the spiritual or religious practices that give their lives meaning and purpose.
Fifth, the project will support the development and teaching of a course on spiritual autobiography that will showcase the use of narrative to practice and normalize civil discourse, increase interfaith literacy, and help students hone their sense of purpose through reflection and action. The host department for this course will be the Center for the Study of Public Life, and the course will count toward the Civic Engagement Minor requirement. It will be open to students of any class year, with enrollment capped at 20. The course will invite students to learn about the art of spiritual autobiography by reading and discussing work by eminent authors in this genre, like Augustine, Maya Angelou and Muhammed Ali. In addition, students will develop, reflect on, and share their own personal spiritual autobiographies, practicing the art of civil discourse and meaningful engagement.
Finally, the grant will support a capstone community engagement trip for each cohort of fellows. This element, modeled on recent and successful weekend and spring break interfaith service trips, will require students to engage with a local religious community facing an important need or opportunity with which students can assist. The participants will be incentivized to share their experiences with the campus community and with university faith and community partners, both in-person and virtually. Possible sites for this trip could include the US/Mexico border, a Native Nation or Indigenous community, a community needing affordable housing, or a location affected by natural disaster.
“Higher education institutions are increasingly interested in seeking ways to take a more welcoming posture towards students of faith,” reports AVDF President, Michael Murray. Murray continued, “With tools like [the AVDF-funded] Inspires Index, institutions can assess their measure of welcomeness towards students from each faith tradition, and develop programs and offerings that honor their students religious identities. Wesleyan has proven to be a leader in this regard among elite liberal arts colleges. We are proud to support these ambitious efforts.”
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