By April 7, 2004
Anabel Taylor Hall, built in 1894, still bears its founder, Myron C. Taylor’s, statement of purpose on its stone walls: “Religion is the greatest force in the world today. Anabel Taylor Hall, as an interfaith center, is built on the simple conception that we are all believers in God and human liberty, and that people of all faiths must stand together for good and against evil.” Today, the building is the home of Cornell United Religious Work, which encompasses 25 faith communities. These religious groups, ranging from the United Pagan Ministries to Southern Baptist, provide students with opportunities for worship, guidance and interfaith dialogue. Judging from surveys that incoming freshman fill out each year, Cornell has a high amount of diversity in religious observance. Almost 70 percent of students identified themselves as associating with some religious tradition. Catholic was the most common religious preference, with 21.1 percent, and Jewish fell in second with 15.6 percent. These were followed by a number of Protestant denominations, and then Hindu and Buddhist. Cornell has always attempted to serve students of all faiths, from its beginnings as a school not associated with a particular denomination through the current day. “We want to be able to support spiritual growth,” said Kent Hubbell ’67, dean of students. “We try to create a climate in which there is mutual respect for the great variety of religious perspectives.” When CURW was established in 1929, it included mainline Protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups. In the 1930s, Unitarian and Quaker groups joined CURW. Even when there are only a small number of students involved in a particular religion, CURW does its best to accommodate their religious needs. “We’re able to institutionally support groups that are close to the hearts of students, even if they are small,” said Rev. Janet Shortall, associate director. “All groups have an equal footing. Our non-sectarian history allows us to do it with a deep sense of integrity.” Director Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke said he sees this religious diversity as imperative to CURW’s mission. “CURW is important because it supports and provides a model for interfaith community and supports the importance of religious pluralism. Religious pluralism ultimately leads us to step into the spaces of people in communities of diverse faiths while remaining in one’s own faith tradition,” he said. The chaplains meet on a regular basis to discuss their different beliefs and perspectives. This dialogue allows for intellectual inquiry on faith between students, staff and faculty. “Our communities create an environment where critical questions can be raised in an intellectual and scholarly community where there’s also access to a wide range of disciplines that can inform and enlighten one’s faith,” Clarke said. To provide support for students’ diverse religious backgrounds, CURW offers a number of worship services. The first voluntary university chapel in the country, Sage Chapel now hosts weekly Sunday morning services. Speakers at these services have included Janet Reno ’60, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, who is the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people, and political commentator Arianna Huffington. Preachers from many different faiths have addressed the Sage Chapel congregation and the services do not cater to any particular religious tradition. Many of the specific worship services are held in Anabel Taylor Hall, although some are off-campus in local places of worship. Ranging from Eastern Orthodox services to Muslim prayers, practicing religion comes in many forms through CURW. The 49 chaplains on staff support students in their spiritual walks. When hired, they sign a covenant in which they promise to provide leadership, council and encouragement to people in the Cornell community. They also pledge to foster interfaith respect and actively respond to ethical issues in the community. Shortall and others see the chaplains’ purpose as providing a witness to people’s spiritual journeys without proselytizing. “Being a witness to all of these stories is a privilege,” said Rev. Robert Smith, a Catholic chaplain. Chaplains engage students as both guides and peers in the faith. “The most effective chaplaincies … are dispelling the notion that there are religious experts,” Shortall said. “But instead, [there] are people asking thoughtful questions who are willing to stay in the discussion as those questions are engaged.” Although all of the chaplains are available for counseling, their other duties often depend on their religious affiliation. Venerable Tenzin Gephel, the Tibetan Buddhist chaplain, teaches students, staff and faculty how to meditate and leads a group in the practice. He said such services generally attract up to 13 people, some who are active Buddhists and others that are just interested in the religion. “It gives people the opportunity to … make active the teachings of Buddha,” Gephel said. “It helps us to overcome what makes not peace, what destroys our peace.” Smith also helps students come to a better understanding of their faith, but in a very different context. In serving the Cornell Catholic Community, with a membership of 2,700 students, Smith celebrates mass, administers sacraments, preaches, leads discussion groups and develops outreach events. Even if all of the students are not consistently active, he estimates that about 1,000 students attend one of the mass services over a period of two to three weeks. He said that the CCC caters to Roman Catholic students but also hopes to contribute to the “great conversations” within the larger Cornell community. “It’s one of the most ancient Christian traditions,” he said. “[It has] an enormously rich intellectual and cultural tradition.” The Protestant Cooperative Ministry is another major Christian group within CURW. It is a multi-denominational group, with the United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodist Church and American Baptist Church all supporting it. Rev. Taryn Mattice said the purpose of PCM is to help “people to grow in their faith and reach out to others and reach out to the world.” In addition to weekly formal worship services and large group meetings, PCM has historically been known for its concern for social justice issues, according to Mattice. The group runs a volunteer work-trip every year during spring break and sometimes another one during senior week. PCM also runs Wesley House on North Campus, an “intentional, residential Christian community.” Corinne Michels ’05, vice president of the student-run part of PCM, said that she lives in the house because of the sense of community it fosters. “It kind of feels like a home in my heart, so it should be physically my home too,” she said. Mattice is not the only chaplain who doubly serves as a club advisor. Rabbi Ed Rosenthal is both the director of Hillel and a Jewish chaplain through CURW. As a rabbi, he serves the approximately 3,500 Jewish students on campus. “I wanted the opportunity to work with future leaders, not just of the Jewish community, but of the country,” he said, describing his reason for choosing to become a University chaplain. Rosenthal’s favorite part of being a chaplain is “interacting with the students in every way, shape and form.” He sees religion as serving as a source of strength for many students, allowing them to make good decisions and resist peer pressure. “What religion provides is a constructive format and environment to say no, or yes, as the case may be,” he said. Although they do not serve as large a group of students in comparison to the Jewish and Protestant groups, the Ithaca Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends holds its own place on campus. Better known as the Quakers, the group has no permanent leaders, and the official chaplains for Cornell serve more as contact people than pastors. “The Quakers believe there is a light of God in every person and we’re joined in a corporate spiritual search,” sa
By April 7, 2004
Following an early spring filled with demanding games versus non-league opponents, the eight baseball squads of the Ivy League finally set their sights on each other last weekend as the first round of league games took place. Knowing now that each and every game can bring a team one step closer or farther away from the Ivy title, the members of the Ancient Eight delivered a roller-coaster opening weekend characterized by lopsided victories, close calls, and some standout performances. Columbia 4, Brown 1 Game one of the doubleheader in New York City was a pitcher’s duel from start to finish, as Lions’ senior pitcher Brian Doveala turned in a three-hit, one run performance to lead Columbia to a 4-1 victory. Brown starter James Camphin had retired eight consecutive batters — including four straight strikeouts — going into the fourth inning when Columbia outfielder Fernando Perez scored the game’s opening run on an error. The Bears were held scoreless by Doveala until the seventh inning when Brown sophomore Paul Christian hit into a fielder’s choice that scored teammate Robert Deeb. Doveala struck out five and allowed only one extra-base hit in the victory. Brown 23, Columbia 8 The evening rematch between the Bears and Lions turned out to be just the opposite of game one: a fireworks display that saw the Bears tally 20 hits as nine different players scored and drove in at least one run. Brown junior Jeff Nichols began the batting practice in the first inning with a three-run shot to give the Bears an early 3-0 lead, knocking out Lions’ starter Brendan Quinn. Quinn was replaced by sophomore Timothy Hearin in the third, yet the right-hander fared no better as he was rocked for nine hits and nine earned runs in 2.1 innings of work. The game was highlighted by a grand slam from Christian, who knocked in four of the Bears’ nine runs in an explosive sixth inning. Brown outfielder Danny Hughes has driven in a team-high 21 runs thus far in the season. Princeton 10, Dartmouth 2 The Tigers jumped ahead in the win column in their first game of the Ivy season with a convincing 10-2 win at Clarke Field in Princeton, N.J. over the weekend. Princeton took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run homer from sophomore Andrew Salini, who blasted the first pitch he saw over the right field wall. A couple of errors by the Green in the second inning led to two more runs and a 5-0 lead for the Tigers. Princeton starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf (4-1) made the lead stand as the junior allowed only two runs on seven hits and struck out eight in seven innings on the mound. It was Ohlendorf’s second consecutive complete game of the season. Tigers’ junior B.J. Szymanski had four RBI in the game. Dartmouth 5, Princeton 2 The Tigers’ bid for a perfect Ivy League record ended in the second game of the doubleheader as Dartmouth junior Jeff Speights led the Green to a 5-2 win with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Sophomore starter Joshua Faiola pitched eight strong innings for the Green, giving up just two runs on six hits. Faiola clamped down on the Tigers at the end of the game, retiring the last nine batters he faced to quench any ideas of a Princeton comeback. Junior Nick Peay registered his fourth save of the season when he struck out Aaron Prince for the final out. Sophomore Bryan Jonas continued to be a potent force at the plate in the win. Penn 1, Yale 0 The Quakers outlasted the Bulldogs in the teams’ first league game of the season last Saturday, scoring the game’s only run in the bottom of the sixth inning off an RBI single from junior Matt Horn. Yet, the real spotlight in the game belonged to Penn ace Josh Appell, who pitched a two-hit, complete game shutout to notch his first league win of the season. Yale starter Josh Sowers was also solid, striking out six batters and allowing seven runs over six innings. Appell leads the Quakers with a 3.51 ERA and has struck out 22 batters on the season. Yale 12, Penn 3 The Bulldogs’ bats woke up in game two of the doubleheader as rookie Jake Doyle went 4-5 with five RBI and Yale tallied 20 hits in the rematch. Sophomore John Hollis (2-2) gave up only one run in seven innings for the Bulldogs who saw every starter in the batting order notch at least one hit. Sophomore Matt Stone was 2-5 with three RBI and freshman Justin Ankney blasted a 1-2 pitch over the fence for a solo home run in the fourth. Penn starter Bill Kirk (1-3) was chased for seven runs off 11 hits in the first five innings, managing to strike out only one Yale batter. Bulldog Marc Sawyer leads the squad with a .365 batting average.Archived article by Kyle SheahenSun Assistant Sports Editor