Chapel celebrates 100th birthday

Janine Parziale and John Palmer Features Editors

As the Chapel turned one hundred, members of the College community congregated to reflect on the history and purpose of this spiritual space. Throughout the afternoon of Nov. 4, a number of different activities helped illuminate the role of the Chapel and visions for the future.

Events started around 4 p.m., with the Barefoot Monkeys leading a “Chapel Head” procession from Sunset Lake. The cold weather and spattering rain did not keep this parade from its jovial mission, as people stormed around the campus shouting “5 p.m. in the Chapel!” Drummers and stilt-walkers added to the spectacle. Inside the Chapel, shielded from the chilly air, members of The RedHawk Dance Troupe, a group of Native American performing artists based in NYC, added energy and culture to the space. Through a number of dances and stories, such as the Iroquois Smoke Dance and the Hoop Dance, the brightly garbed troupe started the festivities of the Chapel’s centennial, showing the remarkable adaptability of the Chapel space, and beginning the conversation of the Chapel’s spiritual role in a secular campus.

The Hoop Dance tells the story of the circle of life described as the ancient Native American belief where ‘what you do returns to you.’ Everything comes full circle. The result was a combination of singing and drumming as a member of the troupe danced, darting and threading his legs and body in and out of large hoops; at times, weaving and linking multiple hoops or looking utterly entangled yet in control as he created fantastic shapes reminiscent of animals. The audience watched as things that bite, stamp, and chomp were created and morphed to the driving beat of the shakers and the drum.

Shortly following this, the “Sacred Stampede” in the form of a giant puppet drama traced the history of the Chapel at Vassar, and examined its changing role, from a strict spiritual space to a more auditorium-like venue. The theme of change pervaded the presentation, as definitions of the space became more and more inclusive, echoing Vassar’s growing diversity and evolving nature. According to the presentation, students defined how to best use the Chapel’s space and pushed to make a more and more inclusive spiritual building. Aptly, the show ended with the impressive image of a boat and the sound of the song: “We are the ocean, we are the boat, (somos el mar, somos el barco), see we are sailing on, I sail you, you sail me.”

President of the College Fran Fergusson followed with a brief welcome speech, celebrating the Chapel as a means to respect “the multiple and changing forms of spirituality,” acknowledging its evolving role in the past century.

“We gather here today to reaffirm [the Chapel’s role to] bring peace and comfort, and for creating hope,” she said. Fergusson also stated the need for “respecting freedom from and for religion” as the College looks to its next one hundred years. She ended with a call “to wonder, to believe, to imagine boldly” the future.

This was followed by Mozart’s Requiem as the Chapel reverberated with music performed by the Vassar Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Eduardo Navega. Next, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Sam Speers spoke about a ‘conversation’ that the Chapel was about to begin. Speers asked the audience to feel “present in this space and think about all the associations with it.” This conversation would mark the beginning of a greater ongoing dialogue addressing the entire college community: What is your relation to this space? What could it be? What does it mean to experience a place as sacred?

“Let us know your ideas in this conversation,” encouraged Speers.