Williams College Policy on Observance of Religious Holidays

Because no Williams student should ever have to choose between important religious observances and academic or athletic commitments, college policy provides for students who wish to participate in religious observances that conflict with other obligations to make arrangements with their instructors and coaches to do so.

The policy, approved in 1984 by the faculty and trustees in compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, states that “Any student who is unable, because of his or her religious beliefs, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on a particular day shall be excused from any such requirement, and shall be provided an opportunity to make up such requirement which s/he may have missed because of such absence now – provided, however, that such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon the College. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student” who makes use of this provision of college policy.

Faculty (including coaches) receive annual reminders of this policy, and are encouraged to work carefully with students in anticipating and resolving conflicts to their mutual satisfaction.

The list that follows is not exhaustive; it includes major festivals and holy days for many, though by no means all, religious traditions represented in the Williams community. (If it does not include an important date in the religious calendar of your particular tradition, please let us know.) Every effort has been made to insure that this information is accurate. Note that some holidays in some traditions are tied to the lunar calendar or to particular cultural patterns that vary by region or by sect which make their location in the calendar somewhat more fluid. Dates marked with a double asterisk (**) denote occasions on which the precept of a particular tradition, and the practice of nearly all its adherents, includes significant restrictions on academic activity.

For holidays associated with Christianity, the following notations are used to denote observance by particular strands of the Christian tradition:        RC-Roman Catholic     P-Protestant     O-Orthodox

Where will you be celebrating Passover this year?  At no other Holiday is there such a profound sense of being in the Right Place.  Being enslaved in Egypt is all about being in the wrong place.  The Promised Land is the epitome of the Right Place.  Some families gather at the grandparents’ home, or sometimes everyone comes to you.  Who at your seder decides what you include and what you skip?  What brings laughter?  What brings real tears?

The Haggadah helps us tell the story of the Exodus, but the real story is in our hearts.  For those of us celebrating Friday night at the Faculty House, and Saturday Night at the JRC, the Seder will combine our local customs and your family memories.  We retell the story of the Exodus is not so much about ancient people fleeing Egyptian oppression but more about our individual hearts remembering the meaning of our personal freedom this year.  No matter what oppressions we may feel—from school projects to illness, or how much we might be missing family members this week—we are a people who, in the presence of God, re-enact the drama of freeing our souls from slavery.  Importantly, the Jewish People understand that we are free ONLY if we are committed to spreading freedom around the world, from Sudan to Myanmar, from poverty and the ongoing struggle for voting rights in America to far away countries where freedom is slow to emerge.

May the sweetness of Charoset overwhelm the bitterness of Maror, in our lives as well as at our tables.  May the sweetness of your many Seder memories bring you closer to your family, even if they are far away.  And may the joy of Passover fill our hearts with renewal and hope, and gratitude for the blessings which fill our lives at this season.

Further Passover Thoughts:

1)       Selling Hametz:  Traditionally, a Jew cannot possess (own) any chametz during
Pesach.  Hametz is cookies, crackers, not-for-Passover candy, beer, wine, etc.  If you can’t possess it, what should you do with it.  If you wish, I can sell if for you.  You should put it in a trash bog or box and move it out of your room.  Then, send me an email, rscherr@williams.edu, instructing me to sell your hametz.  On your behalf, I will sell your hametz to a non-Jewish person on Friday morning, April 6, and buy it back for you as of 9:15 on Saturday night, April 14.

2)      Please feel welcome to join us at the JRC for meals throughout Passover.
Everyone is welcome to do your own cooking.  When you have leftovers, please invite your friends to share.  Remember that you’re not only cooking for yourself, but cleaning up, as well!

Wishing you a holiday of joy and deep meaning—Moadim L’simcha!

Cantor Robert Scherr, Jewish Chaplain

Meet artist Elaine Denny ’04 at a special Easter Second Hour Sunday, April 8, 11:30 – Noon in Fellowship Hall

Faces of Witness is a portrait series that amplifies the voices of extraordinary “ordinary” people from El Salvador – each created using 5000+ hand-drawn words
from the person’s own testimony, drawing viewers into conversations on rights, solidarity, and visions for a better world.

Elaine Denny, Williams ’04, first recognized the power of narrative to shed light on policy dilemmas ten years ago in Nicaragua – while falling in love with Latin America.  Since then, she has used this interview-based approach, sometimes combined with
photojournalism, to investigate issues ranging from globalization’s impact on
Wisconsin dairy farmers to water scarcity in Jordan to sustainable development
in rural India, Mexico, and Argentina.

After a year of travel on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Elaine helped facilitate
interdisciplinary learning for other North Americans as a leader of solidarity
delegations in El Salvador – where she not only met her heroes but also
witnessed first-hand the power of “ordinary” people’s voices to move others to
act against inequality and injustice. She has worked at Amnesty International,
has a Master’s in Public Policy, and is currently pursuing a joint Ph.D.
focused on human rights.

Here are today’s events:

12:00PM     Passion of the Christ, Newman Room
-Join us in watching Mel Gibson’s film about the Passion.

3:00PM       Good Friday Service, at St. Patrick’s

5:00PM       Soup, Newman Room
-Join us in eating a light meal, prepared by Father Caster.

8:00PM       Tenebrae Service, St. Patricks’s
And, a reminder about the next couple of days:

-Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil Mass (St. Pat’s) at 8PM.

-Easter: Mass in Thompson Chapel at 11AM, followed by brunch catered by dining
services in the Newman Room, and an Easter egg hunt!

(ALL are welcome).

How to walk the Labyrinth

Introducing the Labyrinth

The labyrinth is an ancient device for walking meditation. Though one of its most familiar manifestations is engraved in the stone floor of the 13 th century nave of Chartres cathedral, it has pre-Christian roots in many cultures, and people have been walking the convoluted path to the center and back again for countless centuries. Its current popularity as an instrument for centering, prayer and reflection may stem from its apparent omni-sectarian appeal, and from the richness of the metaphor of pilgrimage and the sacred journey in the spirituality and practice of people from a very wide spectrum of religious traditions and habits of the heart. The labyrinth looks like a maze – but you can’t get lost! The beautifully complex path always leads faithfully to the center, and then always back out again to the waiting world.

During January of 2005, about two dozen members of the Williams community helped to create a 36-foot portable canvas labyrinth. There aren’t many spaces on campus that can cope with that expanse! – but it does fit in the Currier Ballroom, in the Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church, on the outdoor plaza in front of Stetson Hall, and perhaps in a few other places we haven’t discovered yet. Several times each semester, for several days at a time, the labyrinth will be spread out and available for many kinds of meditative use; hours and other information will be posted on this web page and in other campus communications.

Walking the Labyrinth is a spiritual practice that predates and transcends most sectarian ties. It can be helpful and exhilarating to anyone for whom some aspect of life or some current question or struggle seems like a sacred journey – within the context of a particular religious perspective, or entirely apart from any such tradition. Most people need about 20 or 30 minutes for a gentle, reflective walk to the center and then back out again – though it’s possible to stretch the journey longer, or to linger in the center. Instructions for walking will be always be available (it couldn’t be simpler!), as well as resources to help you make use of the walk in the context of your own spirituality, prayer life or reflection on what’s going on in your life.

We ask only that you remove your shoes – partly as a gesture of acknowledgement that a sacred journey is in progress, and partly so as to protect and preserve the clean canvas – and that you respect the journeys of others whose walks may already be in progress when you arrive, or who may still be walking when you leave – and that you enter the walk with the wholehearted intention of listening, discovering, being surprised, being nourished, being renewed.

What is a Labyrinth?

The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint found in religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking the labyrinth, we are discovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition. The mysterious winding path that takes us to the center becomes a metaphor for our own spiritual journey. Going in, we release the cares and concerns, which distract us from our Source. The center is a place of prayer and meditation where we receive clarity about our lives. As we walk back on the same path that brought us in, we are granted the power to act. The walk is a shared journey, an activity which communities can do together to coalesce and unify vision. The labyrinth is a mandala that meets our longing for a change of heart; for a change of ways in how we live together on this fragile island home; and for the energy, vision, and the courage to become agents of transformation in an age when no less will suffice to meet the challenges of survival.

“We are not human beings on a spiritual path, but spiritual beings on a human path.”

“In the labyrinth, the set path takes you to the center; that you know you will get to the center helps focus and quiet the mind.”

“The labyrinth, is a place where you can pour your heart out, express your anger, experience joy, express gratitude, and perhaps above all, ask for what you need.”

“We shall not cease from exploration
And at the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time”
- T.S. Eliot

How to walk the Labyrinth…

There is no right way … no necessary skill or preferred method. Any preparation, any kind of mindfulness that’s helpful to your and nourishing to your inner life, is appropriate and welcome.

We ask that you first remove your shoes – to protect the canvas, and to acknowledge the way in which the time you will walk is time set apart – consecrated time.

Many people find it helpful…

…to get ready for your walk by sitting or standing quietly for a few moments -

• let go of some of the cares of the day
• breathe deeply – notice it, enjoy it, and consider the simple miracle of breath
• allow yourself to receive the gift of this small island of time in the midst of your day

…to keep a reflective silence in the walking area for the sake of the journeys of others

…to use some particular way of thinking about your walk, if it’s helpful; for instance -

• As you embark, carry something with you in your mind that you’d like to let go of. When you reach the center, take time to leave it there – and then savor your return walk in the freedom from that burden.

…or…

• Think about something you’re looking for, hoping to find, longing for – and when you arrive at the center, see what insight may be waiting to greet you there.

…or…

• Enjoy the sensation of traveling without any particular sense of destination; for once, let yourself be a “holy wanderer,” enjoy the meandering path and let yourself feel aimless.

…or…

• Use any other way that’s helpful to you!

Feel free to linger in the center for as long as you like.

As you walk, you will meet others walking in the opposite direction. Feel free to simply step around the meeting point so that you can both pass with comfort.

When you finish your walk…

Take a few moments to get yourself ready to return to the rest of your day. Don’t rush the transition! Savor whatever quiet, calm, insight or feeling may have come to you. Think about how you’d like to have it accompany you as you leave.

Write a few words about your experience in the Labyrinth guest book, if you like.

And plan to return – knowing that, for most people, no two walks are exactly alike!

]]> http://chaplain.williams.edu/articles/1041/feed/ 0 http://chaplain.williams.edu/articles/background-regarding-campus-religious-groups-and-issues-of-sexuality-march-2011-3/ http://chaplain.williams.edu/articles/background-regarding-campus-religious-groups-and-issues-of-sexuality-march-2011-3/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:20:24 +0000 Nancy Luczynski http://chaplain.williams.edu/?p=1025 more » ]]> Background Regarding Campus Religious Groups and Issues of Sexuality
March 2011

In Spring of 2010, student groups with differing viewpoints on issues of religion and sexuality built, with the support of staff, faculty, and leaders of College Council, a shared understanding of how religious groups at Williams can both honor their beliefs and avoid discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation when choosing leaders. As part of that process, the Williams Christian Fellowship (WCF) developed a constitution that incorporated the College’s non-discrimination statement, as was reported in an e-mail to the campus from then Interim President Bill Wagner, which is attached.

Student leaders have continued to face these challenging issues in conversations throughout the current academic year. Seeing the value of trying to work these matters out themselves, they’ve asked College administrators to support them in those interactions but not to force on student groups a particular outcome. Members of the Dean of the College’s Office, Chaplain’s Office, Multicultural Center, and other College entities have remained in dialogue with these students, both to help them think through the issues and to ensure that no students are being discriminated against on the basis of an immutable part of their identity.

If the current understanding among these student groups were to unravel or if circumstances suggested that the actions of any student group fell out of compliance with the Williams nondiscrimination statement, the College would certainly intervene.

The College’s nondiscrimination statement reads as follows: “Williams College is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community in which members of all backgrounds can live, learn, and thrive. In compliance with state and federal law, Williams does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, or military service.”

Should a concern be raised that a student group is in violation of any aspect of this statement, the Dean’s Office would meet immediately with both the concerned members of the community and the officers of the group. If the group were determined to have acted in a manner that discriminated against a member of the Williams community, the Dean’s Office would both apply appropriate sanctions and work with the group to ensure that the discriminatory behavior ceased immediately. If it continued, the group would lose access to College funds and to all other rights and privileges accorded to College groups. As expressed on the Chaplain’s Office website, student religious organizations are subject to these rules in the same manner as any campus group: http://bit.ly/gGeLdO .

WCF is associated with the national InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, with which we’ve begun a dialogue. We’ve also been consulting with some of the many similar colleges and universities that have an InterVarsity-related group on their campuses.

We and others at the College have also been in conversation with Bert Leatherman ’00, a valued alumnus and former student leader, who disagrees with the College’s handling of this matter to date. At the same time, we have been in conversation with a number of alumni, including the BiGLATA Executive Committee, which has offered the following observations.

“We had a lengthy dialogue with members of the administration on issues of non-discrimination, sexuality, chastity, and LGBTQ concerns currently being discussed on campus. After becoming more aware of the situation, including the ongoing discussions among interested students, faculty, staff, and administrators, we believe the student College Council’s co-presidents and the administration are taking the appropriate steps to see that the issue of WCF’s constitution is resolved in a manner that is sensitive to the needs and beliefs of all Williams students.”

Regarding WCF’s association with InterVarsity, it’s the case that many Williams student groups have relationships with off-campus organizations. Our approach to determining whether discrimination has occurred is vigilance regarding the actions of the student groups themselves.

Among those who’ve been working on these issues are the College Council Co-President for 201-211, Ifiok Inyang ‘11 and Emanuel Yekutiel ‘11, who have asked us to share this summary of their thoughts:

“Following the conversations we were having with members of the administration about this issue, we thought it would make sense to meet with the leadership of WCF. We came into the conversation with the desire to listen to the group and hear what their thoughts were on whether they were creating a space that was unsafe for the queer population on campus. Our rule was that if we felt convinced that WCF was committed towards being inclusive of all members of the community, fully and truly, then they deserve to, and in fact should, remain fully involved on campus. That is exactly how we felt after our conversation with WCF. Not only do they expect College Council to hold them to the non-discrimination clause, because we will, but they also expect us to help them break the negative stereotypes that make them feel isolated from portions of the community. Our job is to make sure that groups can learn from each other and, by having groups like WCF and the QSU on campus, we ensure that this can, indeed, happen.”

We’re proud of our students’ engaged, thoughtful, and respectful discussions of these issues, which also challenge society at large. We will continue to support those students in any way that we can through this important, ongoing effort, while remaining alert to any violations of the College’s nondiscrimination statement.

Sarah Bolton                               Rick Spalding                          John Malcolm
Dean of the College                   Chaplain to the College          Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development

For further information:
John Malcolm ‘86, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development
john.m.malcolm@williams.edu     (413) 597-4217

or

Jim Kolesar ’72, Assistant to the President for Public Affairs
jkolesar@williams.edu   (413) 597-4233

_______________________________________________________________
March 18, 2010

To the Williams Community,

I am writing to update you on recent discussions regarding religious groups and the role that sexual orientation plays in their selection of leaders.

These conversations, sparked by a controversy involving a group affiliated with the Williams Christian Fellowship, have been aided by several College administrators, including Chaplain Rick Spalding, who generously interrupted his leave of absence to help advance them.

In consequence of these conversations, to clarify its policy and practice going forward WCF has adopted a constitution, which is attached. It affirms, among other things, that in determining membership and leadership WCF will abide by the College’s non-discrimination statement, including as it applies to sexual orientation.

Subsequently, WCF leaders have affirmed that the group will consider all candidates for leadership equally, regardless of sexual orientation; that leaders will ensure each year that the policy and practice for selecting leaders is broadly understood by group members; and that they will make sure that the criteria used to asses potential leaders is discussed with all candidates.

I have been encouraged by the degree of thoughtfulness that has marked the many deliberations that have taken place in recent weeks and by a grassroots effort among students, facilitated in part by College Council leaders, to increase dialogue on issues of sexuality and religion.

While recent discussions have focused mostly on the practices of a single campus organization, it is clear that conflicts between the convictions of individual groups and core principles affirmed by the College as a whole are more widely possible on a campus of increasing diversity.

As a result, the College will be considering ways to ensure that the policies and practices of student groups, especially regarding membership and leadership, are articulated clearly and reflect the College’s non-discrimination commitments. As part of that effort, Campus Life staff will work with College Council to provide guidelines for student groups.

Continued thoughtful and respectful discussion on matters as important as these can only strengthen us as a community.

With regards,
Bill Wagner
Interim President

Coffin Speaking Prize 2012 Announcement

Coffin Prize Cover Page Submission Instructions 2012

 Meditation for Christmas Lessons and Carols
Thompson Memorial Chapel – Williams College

December 3-4, 2011

            In the beginning: word.

             So says the poet, anyway: the author of the Fourth Gospel – “John,” we’ll call him, though he never identifies himself in the pages he left behind.  A sage, perhaps – an intimate of Jesus, probably – something of a mystic, certainly.  But a poet, too, surely – and for that perhaps we can allow him the bias of the poet in conceiving of God as word.  Of all the gifts this writer could have offered back to the Divine, the holiest one this “John” could find to give was words – and he paid what must have seemed to him the highest possible compliment by envisioning the Eternal Mystery as Word:

 In the beginning was the Word –
            and the word was with God,
and the word was God. 

Word was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through the Word,
and without Word not one thing came into being.

What has come into being in the Word was life,
and the life was the light of all people.

             Actually, the story we’ve been telling about the beginning of everything, going back far beyond the New Testament and into the mists of time, begins with God uttering the universe into being.  From Word one, the words “Let there be” are as much magic as is needed to create.  And when, in the Genesis story, God lays the words “it was good” on each of the emerging pieces of creation, they stick – not just on the page, but on our retinas, in the living tissue of our hearts, even on the craggy and complicated Velcro of our intellect.

 So we look at the woods, the fields, the sky, the cows, the Chesapeake Bay retrievers, the painting and sculpture, even the technology (most of it) and the pages and pages of prose and poetry, and before almost anything else – before critique, before analysis, before comparison – we can read the word “good” hovering there.  Making things is good.  And in the words we wield as we navigate through this creation – the words we speak, the words we think, the words we sing, the words we pray, the words into which we whisper what we hope – in those words, we discover that we share some small part of the Divine power to bring things into being.  We see the world as we are, each of us: as poets, perhaps; as sages – rarely; as intellectuals, God help us – or not; as struggling humans, always.  We see the world as the characters we each are in the story – and we speak back our gifts of gratitude in the likeness of what we have been given: the poet, words; the student, time; the intellectual, thoughts; the human, love.

 ~

            There are, of course, other ways of using words.  Augustus Caesar used his decree that all the world should be logged into the empire’s ledgers to try to recreate the world in his own image.  And when King Herod took that chummy tone with his three royal visitors, the “word” that he asked them to bring back to him about the whereabouts of the messianic birth was one he planned to sharpen for infanticide.  If we’ve learned anything about words, it’s that they have edges that cut both ways: if they can create, bless, hallow, recognize, they can also distort, dismember, destroy.  The words that come out of our mouths and minds – like the actions that issue from our limbs – have the real power to ruin us, if they are not the words of justice and compassion.  Even the silences that come out of us, that sometimes speak louder, have the real power to distort us beyond recognition, when they are silences rooted in our failures of courage for the telling of hard and costly truths.  To read the writing on the wall is to be sobered about the power of speech.[1]  It matters what we say.  Words are the medium of blessing and curse – the grammar of life and death.

             Part of what people came to revere about the person that the Christmas baby grew up to be was the power to create in the words he spoke to people.  “You are forgiven.”  “Come unto me.”  “Peace I leave with you.”  “Your own faith has made you well.”  “Blessed are you poor.”  “Rise and walk!”  The words he spoke may not have set planets spinning or caused the seas to swell with creatures, but they brought worlds into being nonetheless.  Jesus – the mot juste of God, the right word in the ripe moment.  He spoke blessing, and it stuck.  He forgave, and life began again.  He named the forgotten back into being, and his cries for justice and compassion echo down the corridor of centuries.

             Word became flesh (says the anonymous writer, the gospel poet) and dwelt among us.  So it goes with creation-by-word: we enflesh the truest things we know, the truest things we are.  We enact them; we speak our best selves into being over and over again – and, God help us, we dwell together among the truths we speak with as much grace as we can.

             So tonight, Word is born again – and lands, enfleshed, among us.  In word is life (says the Poet) – and the life is the light of us all.  The power of Word to create travels like light, and tonight we travel again in a moment the light-years between God’s “let there be” to Mary’s “let it be” to our own “let us be.”  Tonight, again, is the feast of embodied word.  As we warm all our words at the glow of its sounds, its colors, its light, comes another opportunity for the hallowing of speech.   Word one, all over again: a new creation.

 So let there be words among us – let them be true, let them be graceful.  Let our words be for creating life – not ever for distorting it, or for the dismembering of the body that we are, together.   Let us seek for the words to change the shape of the world – because words can do that.  We know that now.  Let the words we speak be for new creation: words like “I promise…” or “I will be there” or  “Don’t be afraid…” or “I forgive you…” or “I wonder…”   And let our words tell the hardest truths we ever have to tell when they need to – words like: “This must change” or “I am responsible” or “This is unjust” or “I was mistaken” or “Something is wrong here…”

            For tonight, again, the writing is on the wall for all to read.  Word one.  It says, indelibly, you are a beloved child of God.  It speaks tenderly; it says, Comfort, comfort, O my people.  Staring down the empires of this world, calmly meeting the gaze of Herod, standing up to every power to distort or maim or humiliate, it speaks again.  It says, Love is stronger than death.  It says, the arc of history is bending toward justice.  It says, Let us be the people we need. 

 It says, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

 It says, The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.

             Alleluia!  Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Richard E. Spalding
Chaplain,Williams College
Williamstown, Massachusetts

Christmas Lessons and Carols
Thompson Memorial Chapel – Williams College

December 3-4, 2011

GREETING

Fear not!  Behold, tidings of great joy which shall be to all people!

Those are the words of angels – now dissolved in the crisp air, now breathing in the songs we sing, now already at work among us as we keep watch over this flock, this community, abiding in our fields.

Arise!  Shine!  For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together –

            For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

And tonight, if we seek words of our own – words to steer us to the holy place and words to utter there, in gratitude or in wonderment or in perplexity –

Then in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the smallest silences between all the words, God will speak again, and bring worlds into being, and make of us a new creation.

So let us draw near – to listen to the words of the story and to the Word speaking, singing, sighing from deep within the story –

And let us begin by speaking prayerfully together, with one voice –

BENEDICTION

So does the Word become flesh and dwell among us, even still.
So does the Word go before us.
So does the Word move among us.

 Let us follow in its light,
and let us live its grace,
and let us embody its truth.

 Let every heart prepare a place,
And may the word of God dwell there,
Abundantly, continually –

 Until that day comes at last
When no one need fear,
When all power to distort or destroy is laid aside,
When peace and good are earth’s common language,

 When the din of war and the cries of injustice cease
And the voice of the world and the voice of angels are as one.