From January 22 to January 29, various religious and spiritual activities and opportunities were extended to everyone on campus, marking this year’s Spiritual Life Open House.
Reverend Ally Brundige, Director of Spiritual Life, explained, “Our spiritual life team of chaplains, advisers and student leaders designed our “Open House for All Peoples Week” in order to take a week to celebrate one another’s traditions and provide the opportunity to share in hope, peace, justice, and joy.”
The week’s offerings included a Cook ’n Chat on community building, a discussion on Christianity and protest, Walking Meditation, a film screening and related discussion on moral witness, an Open Mic on justice, and Challah bread making, plus the chance all week to make peace cranes and write letters to local government in the dining hall – all of which students and faculty alike attended.
Rev. Brundige said, “Buddhist Meditation, Christian Fellowship, Catholic students, Hillel, the Muslim Students Association, and our Spiritual Life students, chaplains, and advisers hosted a fun array of events and discussions. We hope all who took part had the chance to reflect a little bit deeply about their own spiritual tradition or the perspective of another.”
Roshni Surpur ’20 commented, “I’ve liked this week in general because there was such a large variety of things that were available, and it was great getting a lot of different opinions from different people. I went to the Walking Meditation on Wednesday with Mr. Davidson and the Cook ’n Chat with Ms. Kornegay on Sunday. In the Cook ’n Chat we talked about community and what it means to us. Only four people went, so it was a really good group because there was a lot of flow of communication – we got to hear everyone’s perspective.”
Daniel Ward ’18 said, “I was only a part of the Christian Fellowship meetings, but we had a few extra members this week just coming to check it out, which was really cool.”
The opportunity in the dining throughout the week to fold paper peace cranes was particularly popular due to its convenience and accessibility. “Our Peace Crane initiative in the dining hall was especially fun and meaningful as many students, faculty, and staff stopped by to make one – or dozens! – of cranes to celebrate the peace tradition started in Japan by Sadako Sasaki,” Rev. Brundige said. She added, “These cranes will hang in the dining hall and the Seymour St. John Chapel and will be taken by our student and faculty representatives to Japan as part of our continued work with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Students, staff, and faculty also wrote letters to their congressional representatives about issues that they cared about.”
Mpilo Norris ’18 commented, “I’m really glad that the Spiritual Life Team is opening its doors not just to religious folk, but pretty much anyone who wants the time to decompress, find answers, or find a way to cope with something that may be challenging for them. That’s why I’m really appreciative of the peace crane folding activity we’ve been having and the letters to senators and government leaders that they had in the dining hall.”
Other students, however, considered certain parts of the Spiritual Life Week less successful. Katie Lee ’18 explained, “I went to the Christian Fellowship Open House, but we didn’t really get any new people to come. I’m not going to say that I was surprised, but I’m still a little disappointed.”
The Spiritual Life Open House Week came to a close with a combined interfaith celebration. Rev. Brundige said, “The Open House for All Peoples Interfaith New Year’s Celebration drew upon many traditions, music, poetry, and music to honor the Lunar New Year.” She further explained, “This gathering, which hoped to provide opportunity to reflect, celebrate and set intentions to continue to share and spread joy, hope, peace, and justice, followed a moving vigil hosted by on the Chapel steps. About 50 Administrators, faculty, their families, and students gathered outside in candlelight in order to stand together against discrimination of all forms and those among us and those in the world experiencing fear, hate or displacement – especially Muslims, immigrants and refugees.” Lee commented, “I thought it was really nice that each different spiritual group was doing something and also having a mix of different groups of people coming together as a good end to the week.”
Norris said, “I feel that it’s very important that Choate has a Spiritual Life Team on campus because for those who consider themselves religious, religion is actually a very huge part of one’s personal identity. The Spiritual Life Team is integral in providing that support network that may now be absent for many students since they’re so far away from home. I think it’s really cool that the School can provide opportunities for students to have that spiritual fulfillment even amidst the complicatedness of Choate; the School does a great job of allowing students to not only sustain that part of their identities but also allow it to grow.”
Mr. Jim Davidson, Adviser to Buddhist Students, said, “This week has been a chance to reacquaint students with what the Spiritual Life offerings are so that they have a chance to explore a different aspect of their lives.” Rev. Brundige concluded, “We hope that our theme, ‘An Open House for All Peoples,’ continues to inspire us individually and as a community at large to seek justice and peace, love kindness, do justice, and come together in hope and joy.”
