The University recently rejected a request from Chabad at Princeton, a student religious group, to grant its rabbi a position as a chaplain with official recognition from the Office of Religious Life (ORL). The reasons that have been given for making this decision are inappropriate given the ORL's official policy regarding the recognition of campus chaplaincies.
In explaining the decision to deny a chaplaincy position to the Chabad rabbi, Interim Dean of Religious Life Rev. Frederick Borsch states that the action is "primarily an affirmation of Princeton's ongoing and strong commitment to the Center for Jewish Life" (CJL) as a center for all forms of Jewish spirituality. It is thought that having another Jewish chaplain in addition to the one affiliated with the CJL would serve to fragment the already small Jewish community.
Still, the ORL has established criteria for deciding when to grant chaplaincy, and the reasons given for denying the Chabad group's request do not seem to strictly follow these criteria. The policy requires that chaplains must, among other things, be able to contribute to the life of the University and be willing to engage in interfaith work and dialogue. Potential tension with existing chaplaincies is not among these criteria.
The current standards for granting official status to chaplains are adequate, and they are correct to refrain from including overlap with current ministries as a valid reason for denying chaplaincy. This is especially important in the case of the current decision because, while the ORL believes it is appropriate for the CJL's chaplain to serve as the sole official leader of Princeton's diverse Jewish community, some students in the Chabad group do not believe their needs are met by this chaplain, and, were their rabbi granted status as a chaplain, they would not believe his role to be overlapping with that of the CJL's.
Thus, the University's decision to refuse to granting this chaplaincy position is of concern for two reasons: First, we do not believe that a "commitment to the Center for Jewish Life" is a sufficient reason for refusing to confer the status of chaplain on a rabbi who represents an alternate Jewish community. Secondly, in stark contrast to the way it has acted in this case, the University should make decisions according to the guidelines it has established. If the University expressed, for example, concern that a prospective chaplain would not be "committed to ecumenical and interfaith cooperation" or that he would fail to comply with "the policies and procedures of the Office of Religious Life," criteria that are established in the ORL's official policy, it would then be appropriate to deny chaplaincy.
This, however, was not the case in the University's explanation of its decision. Making such decisions on any basis other than those explicit in the ORL's policy engenders a needless lack of transparency, and has worrying implications for religious pluralism on campus. For these reasons, the University should reconsider the Chabad group's request for its rabbi to be given status as chaplain.
Jonah Perlin '07, Jonathan Fluger '08 and Arthur Ewenczyk '09 recused themselves from participating in this vote.
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