Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Campus News

When University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson learned that this year's Brown-Harvard football game - the first night game in Harvard Stadium's history - was scheduled to take place on the first night of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, she was disappointed. The "rude" scheduling, she said, sent a bad message to both Jewish students and the larger campus community about the importance of religion in university life.

Ten years ago, she said, it's unlikely that anything would have changed. But last fall, after Jewish alums and fans raised concerns about the scheduling, coaches from both schools agreed to move the game to the next day.

"Now, people say, 'That's right, let's fix that,' - even people who aren't religious," Cooper Nelson said. "In 1990, what I'm saying might have prompted more argument."

It is this spirit of heightened awareness and dialogue that defines the campus religious environment today.

"On some college campuses there is a lot of stigma involved in discussions about religion," said Noor Najeeb '09, president of the Muslim Students' Association. "But we are on a different level here."

Though Brown has always been religiously tolerant since she arrived here 18 years ago, Cooper Nelson said she has seen an increase in religious knowledge, understanding and interfaith dialogue among students - a trend she said is "very uneven" on college campuses across the nation. Brown's interfaith community even drew a Public Broadcasting Service camera crew to campus several weeks ago to film a segment for the show "Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly."

"Compared to when I got here, it's easier for students to identify religiously and know that, across the spectrum, you'll understand," Cooper Nelson said. "People are beginning to be more aware that there are a variety of traditions within traditions."

Continued...

Page 1 of 4 next >

Article Tools