Jen Schaaf, a Dominican Sister and assistant chaplain at St. Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale University, said that for many students, war is anything but abstract. “As with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, some students have relatives in Israel and Palestine. They are concerned about people they know,” she wrote in an email.
“We are grateful that our students are engaged in the fields of religion and politics,” she added. “We’re also thankful that they’re safe.”
Overall, the pastors RNS spoke to seemed united in praising their students’ ability to form their own opinions, make moral judgments, and come to terms with these turbulent times.
In fact, Jewish students welcome the opportunity to connect protests with Jewish values, spirituality, and customs, says Reconstructionist Rabbi Jason Klein, Cooper Nelson’s colleague at Brown University. But he said he doesn’t want outsiders telling him what to believe on the issue. at the center of the protests.
Cooper Nelson believes that the role of a chaplain is not so much to teach as to facilitate student learning. “It’s not my job to tell them what to do. My job is to listen carefully and weigh and measure what ideas they are putting out into the world as the ones that seem most important to them. I think we are acting as friends and non-judgmental advisors.”
The Rev. Roger Landry, pastor of the Thomas Merton Institute for Catholic Life in Columbia, said he tries to keep students focused on helping each other. “It’s easy to wonder if the demonstrations on New York’s campuses will have a major impact on the seemingly intractable conflict in the Middle East, which has been going on for 76 years. , have encouraged us to be more practical by turning to prayer and self-care,” he wrote in an email, which included “reaching out to our Jewish and Palestinian friends to ask them how they can help. This includes asking if they can help.” they. “
The majority of Catholics at Columbia University are hard-working students who prioritize sanctifying their studies, and despite having many concerns about what happened in the Middle East around October 7th, We are not satisfied that the toxins are becoming more serious. It was brought to their campus,” he added.
Even small educational institutions were severely affected by the war, and the role of the chaplain was sometimes more personal than in larger urban schools. At Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, students and faculty held a teach-in and vigil last fall calling for a ceasefire, prompted by students who visited Israel and the West Bank over the summer. After more student-led actions this spring, university officials joined students in urging the U.S. government to work toward a ceasefire.
