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Religion and Spirituality in Student Life 1

Sherwood, Tom2012 “Religion and Spirituality in Student Life”

Chapter 3 (pages 69-86) in:Kerry, Trevor (ed.)2012 International Perspectives on Higher Education

Continuum, London.

CHAPTER 3 Religion and Spirituality in Student Life

“Any discussion about the place of religion in theAmerican university is fraught with much confusion”

(Stendahl, 1963: 521).

Part One – The SituationNearly 50 years later, Stendahl’s statement continues to be true in western institutions of higher education, not only in the United States, but in Europe and around the world.

To the surprise of some educators, religion and spirituality have not disappeared from university life in the 21st century. In fact, chaplains and campus ministries have become more important in this generation, especially since 9/11. Many universities have increased support for chaplaincy, appointed new chaplains from more religious traditions, and established multifaith centres to support and enrich the student experience. These moves are sometimes understood to be recruitment and retention strategies.

Recent research indicates that the change is more complex than twentieth-century theories of secularization anticipated. In global society, it is an era of both secularization and fundamentalism, of both decline in religious participation rates and an increase in spiritual searching and expression. It is a time to say, “All generalizations are wrong, including this one.”

What happened to secularization? For one thing, it has had too many definitions. The term is used to describe the decline of religious participation, the decline of religious influence in society, the separation of religion from public life, and the loss of a sense of the numinous. These are related phenomena, but distinct. Some theorists suggest that the observed trends do not constitute decline as much as a transformation in the expression of human spirituality. Peter L. Berger has even speculated that there is now a process of “de-secularization” (1999).

At the 2007 Conference of European University Chaplains, Erik Borgman of Tilburg University suggested “it is probably more adequate to say that modernity has both secularizing and religionizing tendencies.” And because universities deal with young, modern human


populations, they have to deal with that contradictory fact. Many educators and administrators appreciate the religious professionals – “chaplains” – who help them to do so.

There are very practical reasons for this. Recent research indicates that religion and spirituality are not only important to contemporary young adults, they may also be related to their well-being and success in higher education.

“Cultivating the Spirit” (Astin, Astin and Lindhom, 2011) is the report of a large scale longitudinal study of American college and university students (N=112,000 in 236 institutions in 2003; N=14,527 in a 2007 follow-up). The study found strong positive relationships between indicators of spiritual growth and several variables important to higher education: measures of academic performance, psychological well-being, leadership development, and satisfaction with the institution. They also found a significant gap in the world views of the teaching faculty and the student population seeking to learn from them: faculty scored higher in measures of religiosity, lower in measures of spirituality; student scores were the reverse.

The modern distinction between religion and spirituality began to develop about 50 years ago (Zinnbauer et al., 1997). Although spirituality had been an accepted part of each world religion historically, the “new spirituality” of the 20th century was a problem for religious authorities who sought to maintain control and orthodoxy in a rapidly changing world. As Sandra Schnieders observed in 1989:

The term ‘spirituality’ often carried pejorative connotations; it came to be associated with questionable enthusiasms or even heretical forms ofspiritual practice in contrast to ‘devotion,’ which places a proper emphasison sobriety and human effort (Schnieders, 1989: 681).

A 1997 study of people who described themselves as “SBNR” – “spiritual but not religious” – found that subjects associated “religious” with orthodox beliefs and high participation in institutional worship, and “spiritual” with experimentation, interest in mysticism and negative attitudes toward both clergy and religious organizations (Fuller, 2001: 6). Fuller’s major work was followed by many specific studies internationally, some quite well done (Rao et al., 2006; Saucier & Skrzypinska, 2006; Chandler, 2008); but the research efforts have not summed to a coherent whole, because there was no consistency in defining the terms.

The definitions are still not clear, but generally, spirituality is seen as more individual and subjective, religion more relational and institutional (Heelas, 2002). For example, Astin and his colleagues used Likert Scales of frequency and intensity with such operational definitions of “being religious” as the following:

I believe in God.I pray.


I attend religious services.I follow religious teachings in everyday life.

Some of the indicators of “being spiritual” were:I believe in the sacredness of life.I have discussions about the meaning of life with friends.I search for the meaning/purpose of life.

Relating the SBNR phenomenon to theories of secularization as either decline or transformation,David Tacey in Australia and Marler and Hadaway in the United States suggest spirituality may be what remains when institutional religion loses influence and experiences lower participation rates (Tacey, 2000 & 2002; Marler & Hadaway, 2002).

At the 2006 annual Conference of European University chaplains, the National Coordinator of University Chaplains in England and Wales, said:

Spirituality is an elusive term: it is at times vague and imprecise. There are almost as many definitions of it as there are people… The challenge for us as chaplains is to be respectful. We recognize that when it comes to spirituality there is no one size that fits all… If we are interested in the spiritual health or well-being of ourselves and others we have to take time to listen to the story that individuals useto make sense of where they are at any point of their lives (McCoy, 2006).

“Listening” is a verb common not only to counselling and chaplaincy, but also to the ethnographic research methods of cultural anthropology. “Listening to The Echo” is an ongoing national study of young adult spirituality in Canada, begun in 2009 (Sherwood, 2011).

The “Echo” referred to in this research is the cohort of young adults born after 1978, the children of the Baby Boomers who were born between 1945 and 1965 – the Echo from the Boom.

The culture of this age cohort is distinctly different in family life, school and the work place. Sociologists have needed to coin new terms to describe new social phenomena: the tethered generation, boomerang kids, helicopter parents. Different sociologists in different countries call them the Echo Generation, Emerging Adults, Adultolescents, the Millennial Generation, Generation Y, and the Net Generation. They are the first generation to use e-mail, instant messaging and cell phones since childhood and early adolescence. High school teachers have needed to develop new strategies in order to be effective. Universities are adjusting. Marketers are using new techniques to reach them. Employers are just beginning to experience their attitude toward work, and make adjustments. Political parties are wondering how to attract their support, and so are the traditional religious communities of their parents and grandparents. Mainline religious organizations might call them The Lost Generation, because they are not


visible in the community life of institutional religion in the ways of their parents and grandparents.

Smith and Snell (2009) developed a typology of “Emerging Adults” (aged 18 to 30) in the United States according to their relationship to “Religion” – defined as traditional, institutional expressions of spirituality. Their study was based on a large enough national random sample (N=3290) to estimate the proportion of the U.S. population that fits into each type, as displayed below with a representative quotation:

1. Committed (traditional) 15% “I am really committed.”2. Selective 30% “I do some of what I can.”3. Spiritually Open 15% “There’s probably something more out there.”4. Religiously Indifferent 25% “It just doesn’t matter much.”5. Religiously Disconnected 5% “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”6. Irreligious 10% “Religion just makes no sense.”

(Smith and Snell, 2009: 166-179).

This research is provocative as much for the questions it raises as for the ones it answers. Are these proportions shifting? If so, in what direction(s)? What would be analogous statistics for other countries?

The new Canadian research is coherent with recent findings in Western Europe, the United States and Australia, but has a particularly vivid flavor. It is derived from emails, text messages and GoogleTalk conversations, so the voice of the individual young adult can be heard. Even in the preliminary reports produced in 2011, a number of patterns emerge that are generally consistent with a postmodern worldview. What follows is a list of some of the stronger themes accompanied by quotations that illustrate the attitude or point of view. Each quotation is from a different undergraduate university student aged 18 to 24, collected between 2009 and 2011.

Individualism“I do believe in a higher power of some sort, but no one can say for sure what it is because for each person it is different. Attempting to label this higher power takes away from its uniqueness to each individual person.”

Independence“I’ve always respected my family’s devotion to religion and God, but have no interest in being personally involved.”

A sense of being empowered“I believe I am in control of my spirit and destiny.”

A democratic, participatory attitude


“The beauty of spirituality is that anybody can engage in it, and it can help everybody in their own unique ways.”

The Self as the starting point and focus“Ultimately, I believe that everybody needs something to believe in to live a happy life, even if it is a belief in one’s own self.”

A desire for control“Religion does not define you. You define it.”

Parents should not determine their children’s religious lives“Religion should not be forced on another person, or assumed by parents for their children. It should be entered into freely, based on personal beliefs.”

A negative view of institutional religion…“Religion is more harmful than helpful.”

…at both the macro level (society)“Although religion can bring people together, that does not outweigh all of the bad that has come from religion including wars, death, and justification of horrible things.”

… and the micro level (the individual)…“Religion takes away personal choice and the will of a person.”

Cynicism about institutional religion“Religion is a business. Parishioners have become commodities that each governing church body is vying for.”

And an association of religion with a pre-modern, pre-scientific worldview“I don’t blame ancient humans for believing in God.” (Sherwood, 2011).

Some of the young adults in the “Listening to The Echo” project are quite articulate in expressing their preference for being SBNR – “spiritual but not religious”. The following communication was from a young woman in her mid-20s, completing an undergraduate university program:

The idea of spirituality speaks more to me than organized religion does. The idea of believing in something personal, rather than having someone tell me what there is to believe in, makes me more inclined to being spiritual rather than religious.


I respect the fact that, for many people, religion is a method of lifting their spirit and bringing a sense of peace. I prefer to bring peace upon myself through personal reflection. Reflecting upon my mistakes and learning from them will make me a stronger, more intuitive person. Self- improvement through personal exploration is what I strive to achieve.

Being a spiritual person means that I am aware of my actions and their effect on myself and others. I take responsibility for my happiness; I do not feel the need to attend a church service to put my spirit in a good place.

(Sherwood, 2011).

In fact, most of the statements collected in the Canadian research are as positive about the individual’s spiritual journey as they are negative about institutional religion. They are full of energy and hope, and they speak for a generation – or at least for some members of the Echo generation – who are living spiritual lives, committed to ethical engagement in their society, hoping to make a positive difference in the world.

One dissenting theme has emerged from the research, however. Follow-up with university graduates has given voice to people in their late-20s who completely respect their own decision to opt out of traditional, institutional religious practices, but who now feel the lack of spiritual community:

My own personal experience of the divine leaves me in an awkward situation: believing in the existence of some kind of god but not having a group of other people to share that experience with or even discuss it.

(Sherwood, 2011).

Tacey’s research in Australia is more than ten years old now, but it is still contemporary. “Danny” was 18 in 2001, “Matthew” 22, and “Beth” 19. They are all quoted in Chapter 5 of The Spirituality Revolution.

“Danny” sounds like Dietrich Bonhoeffer addressing the age of Christopher Hitchens:

I aspire to be a religionless Christian. I want to get back to the essence of Christianity. For me ‘religion’ gets in the way of Christianity. I want us to

return to the simple message of the Gospel.Traditional churches are now in a state very similar to the state of religion when Jesus was alive: elitist, devoid of the Holy Spirit, hierarchical.


“Matthew” sounds a little like Jesus in conflict with the scribes and Pharisees, but even more like a contemporary version of the 16th-century Protestant Reformers:

In this age of ‘new spirituality’ we cast religion aside on the scrap heap as an out-of-date, paternalistic and corrupt system controlled by out-of-touch narrow-minded men. Thank God!Throughout this time of transition, I do not think that many of us have lost our faith in the idea of some kind of God. Rather, I think it is probably more that we have wanted to redefine what God is, and what it means to us as individuals. The task of the new spirituality is to fashion this new image of God.

“Beth” addresses the question of God’s identity and how God has been represented by the monotheisms of the 20th century:

God is certainly not dead; people are simply experiencing God in new ways and seeing God differently. Perhaps religion has to be broken apart before spirituality can be born. Perhaps the demise of religion is necessary before we see a new development of spiritual awareness.

(Tacey, 2003: 75-91).

When older audiences hear these statements, some are reminded of the American comic, Lenny Bruce who would get a laugh in the early 1960s when he said, “Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.”

University chaplains are experienced in listening to young adults, and chaplains know that when students say that they don’t believe in God, this can lead to a rich conversation, learning about the God they don’t believe in. Very often the chaplain does not believe in that God either.

In summary then, the spiritual and religious landscape in higher education is a diverse mix of traditional religious beliefs and practices, new religious expression, and eclectic personal spirituality. Much is not known, in part because the change taking place is so dynamic and diverse, in part because new phenomena call for new theoretical thinking and research methods.

One thing is known to anyone with frontline experience in student advisory services: students do not leave their spirituality behind when they come to university or college. They do not hang it on a hook at the edge of campus, to be picked up again after class. If they are religious or spiritual people, they seek to express that dimension of their identity on campus. It may not be obvious in the classroom, but it is certainly part of their life in terms of relationships, emotions, hopes, values and personal decisions. They may not be religious in the ways that their parents and grandparents were. They may say quite clearly that they are not religious; but it is equally clear that they wrestle with the timeless existential questions, and they seek help as they do.


In this generation, the help they seek is often located in a chaplaincy or multifaith centre. It is often called “The Chaplain.”

Part Two – The ResponseHowever, if the spiritual landscape on campus has been changing, so have religious and spiritual advisory services for students.

University chaplaincy, as we see it in contemporary developed societies around the world, can trace its history back to the religious origins of western universities. Before the differentiation of academic disciplines and professional functions into the modern forms we see today, religious activity and spiritual care were integral to life in the academy. The first universities were religious institutions themselves. Until perhaps 500 years ago in western Europe, “the door to the church (was) the door to professional life” (Rashdale, 1895: II, 696). It may be said that “the clergy profession is the oldest profession” (Sherwood, 1994). “Lawyers, physicians and civil servants were members of the ecclesiastical order who had assumed special functions” (Carr-Saunders and Wilson, 1933: 290). Religious ritual and chaplains were part of university life in the West as the first universities were established and developed.

The word “chaplain” itself comes from the concept of Christian clergy functioning in a special institutional setting, serving a community of people not defined by the local parish or neighbourhood church. The usual etymological explanation refers to St. Martin of Tours who offered his cape (“capella”) to a poorly clothed beggar. According to tradition, a piece of the cape became a relic which travelled around Europe in a tent. That tent became the first “chapel,” and the custodians of the relic it contained were called “chaplains.”

By the 15th century in Europe, a chapel was a private sanctuary in an institutional setting or the residence of an elite family. The clergy who served in such places were chaplains. And also by the 15th century, the university was one of those places. Who was the first university chaplain, and where? There could be many claims, depending on one’s definition of university; but clearly Cambridge University is one possibility. In 1256, a bequest to the university was given to provide “two chaplains for ever...” (Stokes, 1906)

A lot of cultural baggage comes with this history, such that there are two political concerns in modern life related to the term “chaplain,” whether it is used in educational institutions or other settings such as hospitals and the military.

Firstly, it is a Christian term, associated with the traditions of the European church when it had power and monopoly. That is problematic for Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Aboriginal and other spiritual counsellors who work with students. On the other hand, many universities have had Jewish “chaplains” for many years. The same is true for Muslim student advisors and


members of other faith groups. Different individuals and different universities make various decisions about this.

Yale University, for example, avoids the word chaplain, but uses another historically Christian term:

Yale Religious Ministries is dedicated to the spiritual, ethical, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of students, faculty, and staff. It is committed to strengthening the University in its task of educating students and expanding the boundaries of human knowledge. It is committed to fostering respect and mutual understanding among people of different faiths and cultures as well as actively promoting dialogue within the University towards that end.

http://chaplain.yale.edu/yrm

The connotations of “Ministries” are gentler, but no less Christian. Nevertheless, the university website identifies 31 religious traditions covered by this reference.

Since the late 1980s, the University of Victoria in British Columbia Canada has advertised that the campus community is served by a Multifaith Chaplaincy. The university explains its use of the term with an inclusive definition:

All faith groups with the Multifaith Chaplaincy are represented by a Chaplain. A Chaplain is a religious person officially attached to a public institution.

And the website usually lists about a dozen “faith groups” including Baha’i, Buddhist, Jewish and Muslim.

Harvard University is also typical of this increasingly common approach, as explained on its website:

Harvard Chaplains is the umbrella organization of over 35 chaplains representing 25 of the world's traditions, united in their commitment to supporting Harvard students, faculty, and staff.

In 2008, when national associations of religious professionals in higher education from more than 20 countries on three continents established a global multifaith association, they chose to use the word “chaplain.” The International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education (IACHE) was established at a meeting in Tampere Finland that year. In January 2011, Oxford University officially appointed its first Hindu Chaplain. In June 2011, one of the authorized Muslim organizations broadcast that there were then more than 30 “Muslim chaplains” on U.S. university and college campuses:

http://muslimvoices.org/muslim-chaplains-growing-college-campuses.

http://muslimvoices.org/muslim-chaplains-growing-college-campuses

http://chaplain.yale.edu/yrm

Religion and Spirituality in Student Life10

There are now Wiccan, Humanist and Aboriginal chaplains on various campuses around the world. The word seems to be gaining tenure again, but with a new, multifaith meaning.

The second problem with the word “chaplain” is that it is associated with established religion seeking to maintain the status quo through pastoral care that helps people cope. More than 100 years ago, Max Weber distinguished between Priestly and Prophetic religion, religion that might be “chaplain to the status quo” and religion that might be an “agent of change.” Some religious leaders scorn the Priestly expression of religion as a corrupted collaborator in maintaining privilege, poverty and injustice. They see that expression of religion as Marx’s “opium of the people.” These religious professionals seek to emphasize the ethical themes of their traditions, advocating on behalf of justice and social change. They are more likely to be in tension with established institutions than working for them.

For example, two of the largest professional associations of campus chaplains in the world are in the United States. The one for professionals who are employed by the colleges and universities they serve uses the term “chaplain” – the National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC). The one whose members are not employed by the institution in which they work, but rather by an off-campus faith-based group, is the National Campus Ministry Association (NCMA), and its members avoid the word “chaplain.”

Similarly, the United Methodist Church, one of the Christian denominations most engaged in campus life in the United States, distinguishes between chaplains and campus ministers on its website:

Chaplains generally serve at United Methodist-related educational institutions and receive their pay from the institution. In contrast, campus ministers usually serve schools that are not related to the church..

But the lines are often blurred. In Canada, the network of people who are almost universally referred to as “the Catholic chaplain” in universities across the country, identifies itself as “Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry” on a website (http://www.cccm.ca). It is the sort of tension that occurs when a received model adapts to changing circumstances.

By the mid-20th century, when participation in higher education increased dramatically, the models of chaplaincy were well established: they were specific to a religion or even a specific denomination of a religion, and they were mostly Christian. Two major changes would be needed and introduced in the latter part of the 20th century: professional standards and multifaith dynamics.

http://www.cccm.ca/


Professional standards were developed by the front-line practitioners themselves as they formed professional associations for mutual support, continuing education and the establishment of ethical codes.

Issues of professionalism may be difficult for clergy. They tend to have lower scores of autonomy and they may have lower income than other professional groups with comparable education. In the mid-twentieth century, aware of the ascendancy of other professional occupations and the decline of their own, some clergy groups began to reprofessionalize by specializing, establishing ethical codes, adding interdisciplinary knowledge to their expertise and forming new associations (Sherwood, 1994).

Today there are a number of ecumenical and interfaith professional associations. Larger countries have national associations, some regions have international meetings, and a global interfaith association was established in 2008.

The National Association of College and University Chaplains may be the oldest. It was founded in the United States in 1948, about 20 years before the National Campus Ministry Association. According to its constitution, the Purpose of NACUC includes a long list of activities, beginning with:

(A) To further the spirit of ecumenicity and understanding among all religious groups as they relate to the university environment;(B) To educate the broader communities of higher education and national religious organizations about the role of religion and spirituality in higher education.

NACUC has given leadership to other national associations and the global association as they have emerged. It was a sponsoring association for the first multifaith global conference in Vancouver, Canada in 2000; and at the second global conference in Brisbane, Australia in 2004, several NACUC members spoke in favour of a possible international, interfaith association. NACUC promoted the third global conference in Tampere, Finland in 2008 as a good opportunity to develop relationships between chaplains internationally and to learn more about chaplaincy practices in other countries. At NACUC’s 60th anniversary conference in 2008, members voted to endorse the constitution of the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education (IACHE).

The Australian story is typical of more recent professional efforts. The idea for a national association of religious professionals engaged in student support services in higher education was presented at a national conference held in Hobart in 1986. Up to this time some chaplains had been meeting for annual conferences, but there was no structure for communication between conferences. Initially such meetings were comprised of Catholic chaplains who were priests. In


the 1970s, chaplains from other major Christian denominations were included. (Participation did not become multifaith until 1997.) At the 1986 conference Sr. Robyn Johnson proposed that an ecumenical association be established in Australia, and at the 1987 conference in Brisbane the Tertiary Campus Ministry Association was formally constituted. The term “Tertiary” distinguished campus ministry from that in high schools; “Campus Ministry” was preferred to chaplaincy as a more inclusive term. Erich von Dietze, University Chaplain at Curtin University in Perth, served as TCMA president from 1997 to 2006, giving leadership to the development of the global, multifaith association that would be established in 2008.

The Canadian story is not as positive, but probably more representative of university chaplaincy networks in smaller populations or less developed societies. The Canadian Association of Campus Chaplains developed informally in the 1980s, published a Code of Ethics in 1992 and established a Constitution in 1998. It met formally in Edmonton in 1998, at Phoenix Rising in Vancouver in 2000, and at the University of Western Ontario in 2002. It no longer exists, except as an informal network. And yet it continues to be a reference point. For example, the Code of Ethics can be found on the University of Victoria website. And when the Canadians were left out of the formal ceremony to establish IACHE in Tampere in 2008, some returned home determined to develop an effective support network. One of the results was the Canadian Campus Chaplaincy Centre (www.campuschaplaincy.ca) which has served as a base for research and resources.

Perhaps the story of the international conference and global association symbolizes the unfolding story of religion and spirituality in student life today. In 1996, representatives from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand attended an international conference of Christian chaplains in Durham England, where the idea of a multifaith global conference was developed. With energy from a multifaith group of Canadian chaplains willing to host the event, Vancouver 2000 was organized. The CEUC seconded Johan Kijne, their Executive Secretary to the planning committee. The theme was “Phoenix Rising” – a cross-cultural and multifaith symbol of resurrection, reincarnation, new life and new vitality. It was attended by more than 400 religious professionals from six continents and eight world religions.

Those participants realized that they were better prepared to respond to 9/11 the next year and to the new realities of religion in public life because of their experience in Vancouver and the availability of a global network. Most of them were already members of national professional associations, and they saw the value of an international multifaith organization to help them be more effective in stressful and rapidly changing conditions. When they met again in Brisbane in 2004, they began to develop the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education. In 2008, a constitution and organization were established at the third global conference in Tampere; and the fourth global conference was set for June 2012 at Yale University on an appropriate

http://www.campuschaplaincy.ca/


theme to resource the front-line professionals: “Mosaics in Motion: Spiritual Leadership in a Multi-Faith World.”

The increasingly international and multifaith make-up of student populations has put pressure on all student services. International students may be more aggressive in asking for opportunity to practise their religion on campus. Jews, Muslims, Baha’is, Buddhists, Aboriginals and others may feel they need certain accommodations that the university founders did not anticipate. Increasingly, university administrators, thinking in terms of fiscal concerns, recruitment and retention, realize that an effective multifaith chaplaincy serves the university’s mission statement.

Some universities have gone so far as to establish a Multifaith Centre, either in an existent student services building or as a free-standing building.

In Canada, the University of Victoria Interfaith Chapel is a free-standing building, opened in 1986. In Brisbane Australia, Griffith University opened its Multi-Faith Centre in 2002. In the past decade, dozens of American, British and European universities have adapted space or created new space for religious and spiritual groups and activities.

Whether or not the space is available, multifaith programming takes place. Sometimes it is desirable that an event include the participation of several faith groups; sometimes it is essential. Multifaith panels are a common approach, addressing such issues as racism, gender roles, ethical issues, and public policy issues. These events enrich the intellectual and spiritual life of the campus community.

Multifaith ritual is more difficult, but it can be done; and it may be even more important. For example, after 9/11, many campus communities were able to convene pastoral care services and prayer events on a multifaith basis. The same needs arose after the tsunamis of December 2004, and local events of violence or tragedy.

Multifaith ritual may need to be invented. When students at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada wanted to commemorate the victims of 9/11 on the first anniversary, they asked their chaplain to develop an appropriate and inclusive memorial service. Secular student leaders and nine world religions were represented in the planning and the service, which took place in a lounge at the top of the only high-rise building on campus. The religious groups were allotted about five minutes each to read scripture or recite from sacred tradition, and pray. If the language was Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit or Cree, the speaker would translate or explain. Students said afterward that they had expected to feel like spectators during most of the ceremony, but many were surprised to realize how affected they were and how much their own spirituality was


expressed during the leadership by various religious groups. Some of the students most touched by the ritual and most appreciative identified themselves as “not religious.”

After the speakers had taken their turns, the crowd of students joined in a circle, holding hands to symbolize hope for the oneness of humanity and to remember that people holding hands cannot point fingers or throw things at each other. Then, silently they walked down 44 flights of stairs, remembering the victims of the two New York towers, remembering too that some of the victims had been rescue workers on their way up.

University students feel fragile under the stress of economic, academic and time pressure. They feel especially vulnerable at the beginning of a new year and during exams. The fact that 9/11 occurred during the first week of classes increased the trauma for students. Some were just learning their new roommate’s name, just meeting their professors and classmates for the first time. They had left a familiar support system, and not yet established the new one. Ritual can help a human group deal with crisis. But in the modern student population, the ritual needs to be inclusive of diverse spirituality... and possibly invented.

ConclusionThe first few years after secondary school are a critical period of risk and decision-making for young adults in modern society. They choose their careers, their lifestyles, their life partners perhaps, and their styles of citizenship in society. It is a time of vocational discernment in the broadest sense, not only in terms of jobs and careers. It is a time of identity discernment.

On many campuses, students use the chaplaincy as a safe place to do that discernment in conversation with others as they reflect on the curriculum, get to know themselves better, develop their own ethical identities and discuss public issues. They may become educators, civil servants, scientists, entrepreneurs, doctors, social workers, politicians, managers, architects, engineers or anything. But for the large population of students who participate in chaplaincy programs, hang out in a multifaith centre or engage religious and spiritual advisors in conversation, their vocational decisions are based in part on religious values or a spiritual identity.

For most of its centuries-old history, the university has been a place of community, spirituality and values. Contemporary conditions can make this difficult if not impossible. There isn’t enough space at most universities and colleges for adequate common rooms; the students commute to class and rush away to their part-time jobs; traditional religious institutions struggle in post-modern culture; materialism, pragmatism and harsh economic realities erode ethical thinking. But on many campuses, chaplaincies and multifaith centres function to support the humanity of the campus population, to build community, nurture and express spirituality, and


articulate ethical values. Wherever a university or college has such a resource, it is better able to maintain its own best tradition and integrity.

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