College brings challenges, opportunities for spirituality

Mike Malloy Guest Writer

Does God have a place at Vassar? Ranked 10th in the Princeton Review’s category for students who “ignore God on a regular basis,” many students’ initial response might be a strong “no.” Yet despite the stereotype of Vassar students as firmly secular, sprituality exists in many forms on campus, whether through active student groups, involvement in the community or private reflection.

“A lot of the conceptions are that religious and spiritual life isn’t that active,” said Katherine Merriman ’08, President of Buddhist Sangha. But there are currently at least eight active religious and religiously-affiliated groups on campus.

While religious services are readily available on campus, students acknowledge that being spiritual at school can be difficult. “The Vassar lifestyle causes people to stray away from spirituality,” said Ali Jamil ’10, the president of the Vassar Islamic Society, “or at least that’s what it did for me.”

Part of the “Vassar lifestyle” is what religious students identify as a general tendency to see spirituality as less valid than more secular subjects.

“I kind of feel [Vassar students] have put God aside,” said Gabriela Bustamante ’09, President of the Vassar Catholic Community. “I feel there’s a break from belief. People are very thoughtful here. They praise intellectual discussions more than faith and unseen things.”

The association between intelligence and secularity seems to assume a conflict between academic progress and belief in a higher power.

“There are a lot of places in American culture that thought religion would go away as we became more enlightened,” said Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Sam Speers. But religion clearly has not gone away, Speers said.

“Vassar...has more religious students than we realize,” said Speers. In his nine years as director he has seen an increased interest in moral issues such as social justice and community service among Vassar students. Speers pointed to the silent dinners offered by Wholistic, a student group that promotes balanced and healthy living. While the events are not overtly religious, they have a spiritual undertone.

Merriman also saw Vassar’s culture of activism and “compassionate work” as a manifestation of spirituality.

“We think of [Vassar] as very secular,” said Merriman. “But students are always interested in the most important elements or values in someone's life.”

Instead of hampering religious activity, certain elements in Vassar’s secularity may allow students to express themselves spiritually in new ways.

“In a secular community you’re no longer forced to do anything,” said Marc Kutscher ’09, a member of the Pagan Circle. “Because it is a secular community, it’s almost a stronger commitment to faith.”

For some, the absence of social pressure to be religious has made their beliefs more personal and genuine.

“I’ve always been pretty religious, but it had always been through my parents,” said Bustamante. But at Vassar “I made it mine. Not my parents, not my country’s, mine.”

President of the Pagan Circle Chanelle Aryasingha ’08 said that while living in Sri Lanka she was required to go to church with her mother and to a Buddhist temple with her father. “I just wanted to find my own way,” she said of her religious activities at Vassar.

Students also said that while religion may not always be first priority at Vassar, spiritual groups and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life offer students opportunities to communicate about spirituality and exercise their beliefs. “If you want to get into religion I feel there’s good support,” said Bustamante.

This year RSL has taken several steps to engage and support religious diversity on campus. There is a new Contemplative Practices room in the basement of the Chapel, where students can meditate or pray.

RSL has also just hired Stephanie Almozara from the Harvard Divinity School to be the Inter-religious fellow. Almozara will head the Inter-faith council, an RSL group that includes representatives from each campus religious group and plans public events to address the issues of faith and spirituality on campus.

Spiritual groups on campus are engaged in a wide variety of activities. Members of Buddhist Sangha said that before they joined the group they had only been able to practice by themselves in their rooms. Now they attend Dharma lectures and visit monasteries, such as the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, N.Y. At the monastery they learn how to perform rituals, use traditional instruments and make torma, ornamental offerings made with butter and sugary dough which are then painted.

Hindu Heritage, a group started in 2005, coordinates monthly trips to the Hindu Samaj temple in Fishkill. It welcomes all students who are interested in learning about Hindu practices and beliefs.

For Jewish students, the Vassar Jewish Union offers Friday night Shabbat services and home-cooked food prepared by student volunteers in a kosher kitchen at the Bayit. If they’re feeling musical they can join Yafefiyah, a Jewish a cappella group.

Vassar’s Christian Fellowship and Catholic Community offer organized prayer and spiritual camaraderie to Christians on campus. Alive! sings a cappella with a Christian message.

Muslim students on campus once again have an organization serving them, as the once-defunct Vassar Islamic Society has re-formed. The group dissolved after many active students graduated in 2003. Jamil, the new president, said he intends the group “to just have more Islam represented on campus, to have everyone come in, see how we pray, and have discussions.” Students of all beliefs are welcome.

Far from ignoring God, Vassar students from vastly different religious backgrounds are finding new ways and new reasons to practice their spirituality.