University to create council, advising program to enrich campus religious life

Princeton soon may add its name to a growing list of well-known universities that have created councils designed to address religious concerns faced by college students.

In a detailed proposal released earlier this fall, Associate Dean of Religious Life Sue Ann Steffey Morrow suggested two new initiatives — slated to be introduced sometime near the end of this semester — that she said could revolutionize the religious climate on campus.

Morrow's first recommendation is the creation of what she calls a "religious life council."

The council would be made up of one of the deans of religious life, one member of the Center for Jewish Life and other campus religious group leaders.

The council's primary objective would be to support and communicate with other departments within the University that demonstrate, according to the proposal, "a similar religious commitment."

The second component of the proposal would involve the creation of a religious life fellows program, Morrow said.

She has suggested choosing 12 students from varying spiritual and ethnic backgrounds to act as liaisons between the student body and the religious life council.

This fellowship program would differ substantially from the University's RA and MAA programs. Students serving as religious life fellows would not proactively work to spread religious beliefs, but rather would be available to provide counseling for students with questions pertaining to their faiths.

The student representatives — in addition to working directly with the council — would respond to the religious needs of the University by planning study breaks, cultural excursions and dinner discussions throughout the academic year.

Morrow's proposal will now go before Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson. If it is approved, it will be funded by an anonymous donor.

Rabbi David Leipziger, assistant director of the Center for Jewish Life and Morrow's partner in planning the project, said he is optimistic about what the proposed council could offer students.

"This will change the way religious groups communicate on campus," Leipziger said in an interview earlier this week.

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Though Morrow and Leipziger have spent nearly three years putting together the proposal, they said they regard it as little more than an outline designed to kick-start a more widespread creative process.

Morrow emphasized that the finer details of the project will depend largely, if not entirely, on student input.

"I am willing to provide the support, enthusiasm and structure behind this," Morrow said. "However, this is an entirely new initiative and we want students to create it, invent it and shape it themselves."

Student response, in turn, indicates a distinct interest in what could one day prove to be an influential program on campus, Morrow said.

Marlo McGriff '04, who was asked to discuss the proposal as part of a student panel, said he hopes the proposed council would act as a tool for educating those who have little or no knowledge of religious groups outside of their own.

"Until I arrived at Princeton, I never realized just how little I knew about other non-Judeo-Christian religious groups," McGriff said Tuesday.

He also said he hopes the council will provide a forum for an interdenominational exchange of ideas.

Jeff Wolf '02, head of the University's secular society CommonSense, said in an e-mail he would support the idea of Morrow's religious council.

He was quick to assert, however, that "if the University wants to strengthen and enrich religious life on campus [and] in a sense provide outlets for religious education, then . . . the [proposed council] must also have a 'secular' representative."

Morrow said she would support such a move. "Both David and I believe a voice from CommonSense would be a valuable voice on the council," she said.