Box 488, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York 12604-1122 | Email

Rev. Samuel Speers – Director
Rabbi Rena Blumenthal – Assistant Director and Rose and Irving Rachlin Advisor to Jewish Students
Dayle Rebelein – Administrative Assistant
Rebecca Weinberg '06 – RSL Fellow
Stephanie Almozara – Inter-Religious Fellow
Rev. Jennifer Barrows - Affiliate Advisor for the Episcopal Church at Vassar College
Linda Tuttle - Affiliate Advisor for the Vassar Catholic Community
Rosaura Andujar-McNeil - Affiliate Advisor for the Vassar Christian Fellowship

Overview | History | Mission | Program | Structure

Overview

Religious and Spiritual Life at Vassar College

The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (RSL) at Vassar College is difficult to pigeonhole. Yes, it has to do with religions - all of them. Yes, it has to do with spirituality, and the many ways people experience and express the wonder of everyday life. But it's more than that.

What makes it difficult, and at the same time wonderfully characteristic of Vassar, is the extraordinary range of practices and beliefs the office seeks to support and embrace - from mindfulness practitioners to Roman Catholics, from Reform Jews to evangelical Christians, from secularists to mainline Protestants, from Hindus to environmentalists, RSL is here to help you make what matters most to you part of your learning.

We call it "hope maintenance" or the art of discerning how your commitments (religious, spiritual, or otherwise) come together in concrete practices of discovery and transformation.

Under the leadership of a full-time director and assistant director, a staff of fellows and advisors representing a variety of traditions, RSL supports the ritual practices of this diverse community by offering opportunities for observance on campus and facilitating connections with synagogues, churches, temples, mosques, and monasteries in the surrounding community.

But RSL isn't just for believers. Anyone who is interested in community service, or issues of social justice, or art as a vehicle for social change, or holistic lifestyle choices will find a warm welcome at the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and a wealth of opportunities to get involved.

Believe it or not, and whether you believe or not, RSL is here to help you integrate what you care about most with your educational experience at Vassar.

History

Founded in 1861 as a residential liberal arts college independent of particular denominational ties, Vassar has long understood the importance of religious exploration and formation to education. Reflecting an era when faith and learning were popularly understood as educational partners, Vassar's first four presidents were Protestant clergy. Today, in a time when the relationship between commitments (religious and otherwise) and learning is itself a subject of lively debate, Vassar's religious landscape reflects a remarkable diversity of religious communities and practices. In a setting that is both more secular and more religiously diverse than the College's founders could have imagined, religious and spiritual inquiry remains a vital part of the learning experience at Vassar.

Mission

The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (RSL) helps students integrate lives of passionate commitment, embodied practice and intellectual critique at Vassar and beyond. Our programs articulate a lively public role for religious imagination and ensure that opportunities for spiritual and democratic formation are part of the demanding and creative education Vassar offers - for the religiously devoted, the spiritually curious and the radically questioning.

Programs

Religious Practices and the Liberal Arts

RSL supports a diversity of rituals, traditions and inter-religious dialogue.

Holy Days: Services and programs to celebrate the major holidays observed by members of the college community.
Inter-Religious Council: A student-led group that hosts campus discussions, an annual dinner, and weekly meetings to further understanding of the different religious communities on campus.
"God and..." Discussions: A luncheon series, initiated by the Inter-religious Council, to consider the intersections between religion, culture, and campus life. Past discussions have included: "God and Sexuality," "God and Science," "God and Spirituality," and "God and Purpose."

Secularity and the Liberal Arts

RSL supports campus wide initiatives to consider how secular campus life relates to students' "big questions" of meaning, purpose and identity.

A Teagle Foundation grant: RSL and Vassar are part of a multi-campus consortium of religious life professionals and faculty who were awarded a grant to study "Secularity and the Liberal Arts"
Grant initiatives include faculty conversations, qualitative research, campus programs, a white paper, and closing conference, November 13-14, 2008.
For "Secularity and the Liberal Arts" in the news, see:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/23/secular
http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-sp07/le_sp07_featuretwo.cfm
http://www.teaglefoundation.org/learning/report/20051128.aspx

Peace and Justice

RSL Sponsors events and brings speakers to campus to explore traditions of nonviolence and tools for peace-making in religious and political communities.

Tanenbaum Peace Fellows: Vassar students can apply for stipends for a summer abroad working for an organization that works for peace and justice in a part of the world where religion is part of conflict and/or conflict resolution.*
Thanksgiving HungerFAST: An annual event; communal fast and discussions intended to raise awareness about hunger in our own community and across the globe.
Major Speakers and Exhibits: recent speakers and programs have included Cornel West (Race Matters), Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) and "Eyes Wide Open", an exhibition to raise awareness of the death toll in Iraq.

* The Tanenbaum Peace Fellows Program is established in memory of Sidonie Bennett. The program has been made possible thanks to a gift to Vassar College from Sidonie Bennett's daughter, Dr. Georgette F. Bennett '67, President and Founder of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, via the Polonsky Foundation.

Spirituality and Service

RSL offers Vassar students opportunities (both paid and unpaid) to get involved in the local community.

Community Service Work-Study: Rather than take on a typical work-study job, students can opt for a community service work-study position at one of 16 local nonprofits. Limited to 40 students annually.
Good Neighbors Partnerships: A campus initiative, administered by RSL, to provide small grants to local organizations for projects in education, food security and community resource development.
Service and Study Trips: RSL supports a range of spring break experiences, including a study trip to the U.S.-Mexico Border with Borderlinks, service trips to Central America with American Jewish World Service, and a Rural and Migrant Ministry study trip on farmworker issues in New York State.
Campus-Community Partnerships: RSL facilitates connections between students and local synagogues, temples, mosques, churches and monasteries.

Arts and Celebration

RSL encourages students to develop skills for creating public art and also to take time for reflection.

BIG Art Workshops: An annual event; past artists-in-residence have created giant puppets, taught stilt-walking and street theater, and designed murals and mosaic sculptures.
Walking Meditation: A monthly event; silent walking meditation through a spiral of paper luminaria on the Chapel lawn.

Community Service Work Study Program

You're just a college student - what can you do about poverty, homelessness, hunger, inequality, violence, pollution and ignorance?

BELIEVE it or Not: You can make a difference.

Use your federal work-study allotment to work for a local nonprofit and earn $8 an hour doing something you believe in.

Here's How:

Administered by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Community Work-Study Program is a federally funded initiative providing 50 paid student employment positions to qualified students who wish to work off campus. Vassar has many community partners, including schools, community centers, and not-for-profit agencies. These positions include varied responsibilities depending on site placement, ranging from ESL (English as Second Language) tutoring to youth development through media, to coordinating activities for senior citizens. Students are invited to reflect on their experiences at related events each semester, as well as through a written evaluation at the end of the academic year.

How To Apply:

First, visit the Student Employment Office to verify that you are eligible. If so, make an appointment with the Religious and Spiritual Life Fellow (reweinberg@vassar.edu) who will work with you to find your preferred off-campus site and make the placement.

Hours:

Students are permitted to work 8-10 hours per week (depending on class year). Once placed with an organization, students are encouraged to continue working there each year they return to Vassar, as continuity fosters sustainable relationships.

Transportation:

A contract between the college and local taxi companies will provide transportation to site placements for CSWS students. Other possible modes of transportation include walking, biking, carpooling or taking the Poughkeepsie City bus.

Structure

The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life program staff includes a full-time Director, full-time Assistant Director who also serves as the Rose and Irving Rachlin Advisor for Jewish students, a full-time Community Fellow and a full-time Inter-Religious Fellow.

The Director reports to the Dean of the College, supervises the staff, oversees the work of the Affiliate Advisors who relate to the campus through the RSL Office, shapes the direction of the office's program initiatives, offers pastoral counsel to members of the campus community, and directs fund-raising efforts in collaboration with the Development Office.

The Assistant Director shares campus responsibilities with the Director for advising the office's working groups and student religious groups, offering spiritual counsel, and serving on College committees. As Advisor to Jewish students, she coordinates religious programming, advises Jewish student groups, counsels individual students on academic and personal aspects of Jewish identity, and serves as a voice of the Vassar Jewish community on campus and in the larger Poughkeepsie community.

The RSL Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, a 1-2 year position for recent graduates of the College, coordinates the Office's community programs, including the Community Service Work-Study. The RSL Fellow provides staff support for one or more of RSL's program areas, working with RSL's partners to develop community engagement as part of a liberal arts education.

The Tanenbaum Inter-Religious Fellow, a new position developed in partnership with Harvard Divinity School, brings a Harvard Divinity School student or recent graduate to Vassar for a yearlong position to support the office's expanding inter-religious programs.*

The Office also oversees the work of denominationally funded campus staff who serve as Affiliate Advisors for particular religious communities on campus. At present there are Affiliate Advisors for the Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Intervarsity Christian communities. The Office is working to expand this staffing in the coming years to provide advisement to a larger number of campus religious communities.

The RSL Advisory Committee, composed of faculty, administrator and RSL staff representatives, meets monthly to develop programs, listen and respond to community needs and concerns, and facilitate planning and evaluation. Committee members also help the Office liaison to the larger Vassar and Mid-Hudson communities.

*The Tanenbaum Inter-religious Fellow position is established in memory of Sidonie Bennett. The position has been made possible thanks to a gift to Vassar College from Sidonie Bennett's daughter, Dr. Georgette F. Bennett '67, President and Founder of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, via the Polonsky Foundation.

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