April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
INTERFAITH CENTER
UAlbany's Chapel House changes its name
For decades, the building serving faith-seeking UAlbany students was informally called Chapel House - a name that reportedly made some non-Christian students uncomfortable. When the University at Albany began using "the Interfaith Center" on signs and materials this summer, that reaction changed.
"All of a sudden, people were visiting," said Donna Crisafulli, executive director of the center. "They are saying, 'Oh, my gosh! This is an interfaith center?'"
Founded in 1986 by the Albany Diocese, the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and the ecumenical Capital Area Council of Churches, the "Albany Collegiate Interfaith Center" - as it's officially called - was always meant to be a diverse venture. It houses weekly Catholic, interdenominational Christian and Jewish services.
But although it was "very interfaith," Ms. Crisafulli said, "not much had changed" since the center's creation - and today's UAlbany serves more than 1,200 international students with an array of religious needs.
Visible changes
"Those students were probably always here, but the numbers weren't as large and they weren't always visible," Ms. Crisafulli said.
The same could be said of the center, which now has an interfaith meditation and prayer room, a meditation garden and an interfaith lending library.
The room, used nearly every day, features prayer cushions, altars, sacred texts, candles and more. There's a drawer full of sacred objects for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims. A Jainist student has found a meditative home there, too.
The interfaith center's new popularity has helped it partner with community organizations and academic departments and revive a campus interfaith student group, which now has about 58 members. On the agenda for the year are service opportunities and field trips to the Islamic Center of the Capital District and the Hindu Temple Society of Capital District, as well as a program on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"It's very exciting," Ms. Crisafulli said. "I'm caught up in the wave of it. The numbers aren't huge, but these are people we never saw before."
Catholic presence
The name change is boosting traffic for Catholic campus ministry, too.
"I think it probably attracts a slightly different sort of Catholic," noted Catherine Reid, the campus minister. The old name, she believes, fed the misconception that a Catholic student group would be conservative and strict.
"There's definitely a perception among people in general that you don't necessarily want to hang out with Christian people because they're [close-minded]," Ms. Reid said. "I think people are scared of coming into a place where [they think] everybody else knows what they're supposed to be doing."
The college's Newman Association is now called the "Newman Catholic Association." Ms. Reid inserted the word "Catholic" to combat ignorance about the group's namesake. Members describe themselves as "spiritual" or "searching;" at least five students joined the Catholic group after coming to the Interfaith Center to use the prayer room.
When Ms. Reid came to UAlbany in the spring of 2011, the average number of students at Sunday afternoon Mass on campus was 30 or fewer. This year's number is already about 60.
New efforts
Thursday night dinners with prayer, Mass or the Rosary attract a steady 15 to 20 students. There's usually a social outing or service event every weekend, and a "Catholic happy hour" on Friday afternoons draws a small group for Bible study and faith sharing.
Ms. Reid recently launched "coffee shop theology" - an alcohol-free alternative to the popular young adult Theology on Tap sessions sponsored by the Diocese.
Many of the Catholic students Ms. Reid encounters are planning to join the interfaith group on campus. She hopes it "makes them more curious about their own faith.
"Sometimes you don't even realize some of the things you don't know until people are asking you," she said. "People don't often have to consider why they believe what they do."[[In-content Ad]]
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