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espouse any religious preference, McGinn explained.
T This change marked the end of religious leadership in
administrative and academic positions, and as the University
grew, certain religious practices were forgotten. Chapel ser-
vices became optional and were eventually phased out once
the student body exceeded University Hall chapel's 500-per-
son capacity. Tappan's policies followed the changing con-
temporary attitudes in higher education around the country.
"I would say the University was right in line with the social
norms of its day about the role of religion," McGinn said. "As
these norms shifted over time, so did the University's prac-
tice."
Even as theology was on its way out from the curriculum,
Tappan and his successors still wanted theology schools to
be established in and around Ann Arbor for students to keep
up with religious studies outside of the University. Once the
faculty had expanded to 31 members and the student body to
652 students by 1863, religion and theology were combined
with other areas of study - notably philosophy - and theol-
ogy was no longer taught on its own.
Fast-forward to 2011. The study of religion still resembles
Tappan's model of the 1860s. Students wishing to study reli-
gion can do so in departments such as psychology or English.
Over the years, religious studies underwent many different
incarnations, one of which resulted in a Program on Studies
in Religion. However, the planned restructuring of the pro-
gram was suspended in 1999.
An academic perspective
Scholars from different departments came together to
head a Program on Studies in Religion, making the study
of religion a concentration readily available to students.
According to Ralph Williams, a former program director and
English professor, the void left by the program's discontinu-
ation now makes the field of religious studies a lonelier one
to embark upon. Without a set path for students to take, the
standard give-and-take among peers is lost.
"It's enormously useful to have others who are following
something of the same curriculum in classes with you, so you
can discuss areas of interest, be in seminars together and do
courses in methodology together," Williams said. "Students
can do Independent Concentration Projects, but indepen-
dence is often accompanied by isolation and it takes very
great effort on the part of the student and faculty adviser for
the ICP to overcome that isolation."
The program was halted because faculty members could
not afford to split time between the program and their home
departments. As Williams said, it takes tremendous support
on the part of LSA to continue such a program. Similarly,
once suspension is enacted, it's equally as difficult to reacti-
vate a program.
While the program's suspension may have been the right
decision for the University, it is still lamented by Williams
and former program scholars.
"I regret (the suspension) deeply," he said. "I was not
myself of the view that it should be suspended. Though given
the unwillingness of key faculty to devote their time and the
lack of appointments in key areas, the decision was not irra-
tional."
Over the years the University has struggled to find a bal-
ance between a commitment to religion and the study of
societythrough a religious lens, the latter of which, Williams
says, is essential for the well-being of any university.
On the other end of the spectrum, external parties have
raised questions about the liberal approach in classroom ped-
agogy. Relying heavily on students' freedom and understand-
ing, the approach can be construed as hostile by committed
religious people and groups outside the University.
"We're studying religion outside the question of asking for
or deriving from commitment," he said. "We do not attempt
to promote or condescend to religion, but simply to under-
stand it. That, for many, could be read as antagonism to it
because they are so deeply committed themselves, and they
want everyone to believe it too."
Williams said he believes any difficulties the University
encounters when talking about delicate matters like religion
correlate to nationally inherent problems. Americans have
yet to learn how to share the wisdom and strength of their
various traditions in order to live together in harmony, he
explained.
"It's precisely in the context of studies in religion that the
modes of our mutual living together can be so deeply impor-
tant," he said. "It's something that we can offer to the society
at large."
According to Williams, one should be wary when using
the term secular to describe the University's stance on the
study of religion because this could be interpreted to mean
"programmatically atheist." Such a position could poten-
tially alienate students of differing beliefs who wish to study
religion. He emphasized that the opportunity for students
to form their own beliefs is crucial, and should not be influ-
enced by the academic curriculum.
"We should be open to positions of Atheism and non-the-
ism, but we shouldn't adopt a position of already set against
one of the two," he said. "It's about learning to see things
through other eyes besides one's own and developing a form
of understanding and sympathy that may not have been there
before."
How externalparties view the study of religion
. -..-
Currently, it's unclear whether a religious studies program
will resurface any time soon, though courses such as Sociology
375: Intergroup Conflict and Coexistence: Religion, Ethnicity
and Culture, Islamic Studies 201: Introduction to World Reli-
gions, Arabic, Armenian and Turkish remain popular among
students.
Outside of academics, students and professionals work to
create a safe and hospitable environment for religion to be
practiced and investigated by all students. Many student reli-
gious groups are affiliated with, but are not directly tied to the
University.
"I think (the University) is a very hospitable place to reli-
gion," said Brendan Dailey, an Engineering senior and presi-
dent of the Catholic Students' Association. "I think it's really
easy to live your faith on campus, and it's remarkable to see
the great diversity of faiths here and how open everyone is to
everything."
While the lack of a formal religion department does not
directly affect campus organizations, classes do not have a
spiritual focus, which potentially limits students who wish to
study of theology after graduation. At other schools, namely
private institutions or those receiving religious funding, class-
es maybe offered with a more spiritual or theological perspec-
tive. On the other hand, the need to craft a personal major to
pursue these interests could lead to increased creativity with-
in the field, Dailey explained.
Students who undertake ICPs with a religious focus have
the chance to craft a tailor-made concentration. One is Reli-
gion and Sexuality, which ranges from sociology to women's
studies courses.
LSA's course offerings stay rooted in the socio-historical
perspective. But according to Gaia Stenson, a deaconess, at
New Life Church Ann Arbor, students who do their research
understand and accept thatthey can have a religious education
at the University. It just won't happen in the classroom.
"Because it is a secular University, we don't expect people to
teach things from a religious point of view," Stenson said. "By
the nature of religious studies courses here they have to take
the supernatural and the miracles out of the equation. And I
think students understand that."
Stenson also expressed a desire to see the University's reli-
gion courses collected in a single academic unit, due to the
difficulty of understanding a religion without the benefit of '
context. Similar to reading the Bible as literature to provide
an English major necessary context for further studies, a reli-
gious studies program could provide the tools to understand
religion on a macroscopic level.
A religious education outside of the classroom
Today, there are 84 different religious groups on campus,
offering everything from community outreach to guidance
and support. And for many students, the leadership and edu-
cational opportunities available through independent orga-
nizations serve as a balance to the more critical approach to
religious studies taught in University courses.
See RELIGION, Page 8B
By Jacob AxeIra dCOURTESY OF BENTLEY HISTORICAL LBRARY
C ast a gaze from State Street to the grand entrance A historical perspective services were at 6 a.m. in the now nonexistent University
of Angell Hall. Just above the Doric columns, the *** Hall and the services were overseen by the President of the
words inscribed in stone read, "Religion, morality The University currently boasts a strong curriculum in University.
and knowledge, being necessary to good government and religious studies, with renowned scholars in fields such as "In those days, non-sectarian was the progressive notion,"
the happiness of mankind, schools and he means of educa- Judaic Studies, Islamic Studies and courses in the New Tes- Sociology of Religion Prof. Terence McGinn said. "Private
tion shall forever be encouraged." Studnts likely walk past tament. Yet there is no formal department of religion, and the colleges might have been specifically Baptist or specifically
the words that originate from the Northwest Ordinance Program on Studies in Religion, which was founded in 1966 Methodist, so the public universities were distinguishing
of 1787 without noticing the inscription or thinking twice by Biblical Studies Prof. David Noel Freedman, has been in themselves from those sectarian colleges by saying they
about the underlying meaning. suspension since 1999. didn't support a specific denomination. But of course, they
Today, the University has no religious affiliation. During This minimalist approach to religious study contrasts with still believed in the importance of religion."
its early years, the University dropped its ties to Christian- the past when students attended compulsory chapel services, Tappan took office in 1852 as the first president who did
ity and emerged as a fledgling research university - striv- and the highest members of the administration were also not rise from the University's clergy and is widely regarded as
ing to establish a reputation. Religious dogma was removed members of the clergy, the University's first "official" president, though he himself
from the school's curriculum, and since the late 19th cen- Henry Tappan, the University's first president,lends his was an ordained Presbyterian minister, according to a study
tury, the University's religious con ons haye changed name to Tappan ,all ch houses the University's History of the University's first 50 years carried out by McGinn. Part
drastically in name and recognition. of Art Depart ment eas also a key figure in the gradual of Tappan's mission as president was to expand the Univer-
Despite a lack ofconcrete1affilia s, in practice and move towards e r n. sity's goals and prestige at home and abroad, and in doing so
thought religionpstillp Yitan imp nt role on campus, The Unive definition ofa the Universitybegan to move away from the Christian model.
whetheiu'thselgasro aia agoge mosque or church, and state on t only that the H began to establish the University as an institution
the fr ndrg te (ary rfectionart nation of Chris deted mre toward research and teaching than it was to
iv- ire school was nrisan rom spibng the individual. He abolished the University's non-
preachers loudly voice their beliefs. to 1852. The all-male student body woke at 5:30 a.m. Chapel sectarian stance on the basis that the University should not
Religious items adorn the altar at Canterbury House.