Quick History
A quick history of activism at Grinnell leading up to this demand.
Grinnell’s Commitments
As stated in the student handbook, “Grinnell acknowledges and supports/embraces the religious diversity among its students.” Central to the institutional fulfillment of this commitment are the staff, funding and programming available through the Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice, which “is committed to fostering dialogue and supporting multi-religious life on the Grinnell College campus.”
Where do we stand?
Generally, students on campus who identify with or are from non-Judeo/Christian faith traditions are underserved. The college only has a Chaplain and a Rabbi, but does bring in other spiritual leaders on a limited basis.
Critically though, issues of religious and spiritual diversity are frequently left out of discussions of social justice on campus. This limits from the beginning our ability to support, much less embrace, religious and spiritual diversity among the student body by ignoring how students experience oppression as a result of their religious or spiritual identity.
This is especially problematic in light of student campaigns like that led by the Religious Life Council this year to implement a policy that would excuse students from classes and guarantee them the opportunity to make up work missed due to religious observance. Although the group has been in extensive contact with administrators and faculty groups (their original letter is here, and they passed this student initiative in Fall 2008), this important measure has yet to be implemented.
Finally, anti-semitic hate crimes occurred on campus in 2005, and although these led to the initiation of the Hate Free Grinnell Campaign, the results with respect to hate crime prevention and response have been limited. For more information, see the Hate Crimes page.
Urgent Issue – Lilly Religious Life Intern
A fundamental component of Grinnell’s commitment to religious and spiritual diversity has been its partnership with the Lilly Endowment. Grinnell’s Lilly Program on the Liberal Arts and Vocation is a $1,425,486 five- year program to “foster dialogue on campus about religion and ethical values and to promote greater conversation on the ways our pluralistic community of students can be supported in reflecting on vocation within the context of their liberal arts education, their beliefs, social commitments, and religious practices.”
For over 4 years, this program has funded a full-time Religious Life Internship for recent graduates of professional programs in religious leadership. Religious Life Interns bring critical programming, counseling, and service opportunities to campus in addition to the role they serve in creating spaces for worship.
However, the administration has quietly reduced the scope of this position for the 2009-2010 school year. The newly posted job description is 70% Religious Life Intern and 30% Residence Life Coordinator. While the drastic difference between the qualifications for and duties of those two positions alone should render questionable any effort to combine them, this change unacceptably alters a commitment our institution has already made to religion and spirituality.
Consequently, we demand that the job description of the Lilly Religious Life Intern remain separate from any other responsibilities, and that a new job description be posted for the 2009-2010 position by April 6th, 2009.
