Rev. Boden aims to unite spirit and mind

If someone had told the Rev. Alison Boden when she was an undergraduate at Vassar College that one day she would be the dean of religious life at Princeton University, she wouldn't have believed it. As a drama major, Boden was "happy and busy," spending her time acting in campus productions, engaging in her studies, singing and going out with her friends. Upon graduating in 1984, Boden moved to New York City to study at the acting conservatory Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. In short, Boden said, religion was not a part of her college life.

Perhaps it is surprising, then, that Boden is now responsible for overseeing and fostering the religious life of the Princeton community. Boden's college experience and her post-graduation spiritual journey, however, are exactly what make her so well suited to advising and supporting college students. Boden is only in the middle of her first year at Princeton, but she is no stranger to university life. In fact, since receiving her master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a Ph.D. in peace studies from the University of Bradford in England, Boden has devoted her life to working with college students. Before coming to Princeton, Boden spent 12 years working in a similar position at the University of Chicago. When asked what appeals to her about working on college campuses, Boden said she loves seeing "the life of the mind and the life of the spirit coming together."

In high school, Boden was actively involved with her family's Presbyterian church in northern New Jersey. During these years, her parents got divorced, and, faced with the pain of her unraveling family, Boden found comfort in her church and her friends there. Four years at Vassar, however, diverted her attention and energy toward other interests, and Boden recalls rarely going to church. When she moved to New York to pursue acting, Boden didn't realize how much the direction of her life was about to change. Knowing only three people in the entire city upon arrival, Boden reconnected with her close friends from church in high school and began attending the inter-denominational Riverside Church of New York. Through Riverside, Boden began volunteering at the pediatric AIDS ward of Harlem Hospital. Boden said that working as a caregiver there was spiritually transforming. She was surrounded by sick and dying children, often without any family. And yet, Boden remembers the ward as a place full of love and hope. For the first time in years, she felt God's presence.

A new interest in theology, sparked by her work at Harlem Hospital, convinced Boden to enroll in seminary in 1988. Largely due to the influence and friendship of her minister at Riverside, Boden realized that she enjoyed being around students and taking part in the life of academia, and she decided that pursuing religious work at schools would be an ideal career. From New York, she moved north to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., then south to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania before arriving at the University of Chicago in 1995.

Boden said she is thrilled to be now working at Princeton, which she calls "especially supportive of religious life" in comparison to many of its peer institutions. She defines her primary role on campus as "working for the welfare of students and faculty who are concerned religiously" in an attempt to create an atmosphere where people of all faiths can flourish.

Boden's daily schedule is divided between three general areas of work. The first is most directly rooted in religious activities. As a pastor in the United Church of Christ, Boden serves in the 11 a.m. Sunday service at the University Chapel and offers pastoral counseling to students, alumni, faculty and members of the local community. Her office sponsors Bible studies, speakers and other events connected with the University's Religious Life Council. The second part of Boden's job is largely administrative. She plans programs, speakers and trips abroad, including one to Tanzania this coming summer. Finally, Boden is also strongly connected to academic life on campus. She is currently reaching out to particular faculty members in hope of creating an undergraduate certificate in human rights, one of her major intellectual interest. Next year, Boden will alternate roles as dean and professor as she begins teaching in the religion department.

Working in a small community where virtually all the world's faiths are represented excites Boden, and she strives to assist members of the Princeton community in strengthening their personal faiths as well as facilitating dialogue among all religions on campus. Boden stresses the importance of this second aspect of her position. Basic religious literacy is becoming increasingly critical in our world, and Boden affirms that a fundamental part of this particular kind of education comes from experiences outside of the classroom. "It's one thing to learn about something in a course, and it's another thing to have a discussion with someone in the dining hall, long after it has closed, about their faith," Boden pointed out.

Though only in her first year, Boden is already making changes to the Office of Religious Life. Two new positions have been created: a coordinator for Muslim life and a coordinator for Hindu life. Boden noted the particular support these two communities call for on campus - a need that is not unique to Princeton. The Muslim coordinator will be permanent and full-time, extending the trial position that existed last year, while the Hindu coordinator will be a brand-new, half-time position. For some years now, religious leaders from Protestant, Catholic and Jewish traditions have gathered regularly to discuss campus issues, and now there will be a permanent place reserved for Muslim and Hindu voices.

Boden encourages students who haven't discovered a deep, resonant faith to feed their curiosity in religion in whatever way "has integrity for them." She loves the questions that concern young adults during their college years, but she also appreciates that faith is a difficult thing to find, especially during this stage of life.

Boden herself went through a trying time in her faith, and she attributes her current profession partially to the reaffirmation she found as she entered her adult life. Around the time she started going to Riverside Church, Boden began to feel that her faith was superficial, marked by a series of motions without real significance, and she decided to consciously "live without God." But she couldn't for long, leading her to where she is today.

As dean of religious life, Boden said she hopes that she can help students through the critical periods in the development of their own faith because she believes in the value of fostering a "spiritual personality." Boden said that for her, the concept of God "just makes sense" - and she hopes to help make sense of it for Princetonians as well.