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The Fourth Wall
page 7
Bobby Casiano
Religious diversity has
spread throughout Penn State.
During this past year, the 45
religious and spiritual faith
groups reported that 73,123
students worshipped together;
6,655 shared group meals and
fellowshipped; 8,065 attended
prayer together; and 3,367 were
involved in service projects
together. According to the
Center for Ethics and Religious
Affairs (CERA) at University
Park, these numbers were
“especially impressive
considering that only 20 of the
45 groups submitted year-end
summaries.”
CERA is a diversity-focused
group for religious activities
and programming at Penn
State. Their goal is “not to
convert, but to educate, expose,
and assist students with their
comfort level in interacting
with others who have different
beliefs, traditions, holidays, and
languages.” From January
through May of 2003, CERA
sponsored a series of
discussions on Inter-faith
relationships and the exterior
issues that they bring up. Penn
State has been influenced by a
wave of religious diversity
among its Commonwealth
Campuses.
A 2004 University Park
survey shows that over 61% of
the student population strongly
believes that the University is
supportive of religious and
spiritual groups. Furthermore,
over 42% responded that the
students’ climate is supportive
of religious and spiritual
groups. The Penn State Pulse
also stated that over 88% of
their students in 2004 were
significantly more likely to
respond that their
matriculation was influenced
by the presence of their religious
group.
The Commonwealth
Campuses have also been
influenced by this wave. There
8
POSSIBLE!
was a recent message in the
Mont Alto listserve that the
local chapter of Gideon's
International was providing
free pocket-size copies of the
New Testament for all the
students interested in health
care majors. Does this mean
that anyone can give out any
religious material? If a person
of Jewish descent wanted to
pass out a Torah, or a Muslim
wants to pass out a copy of the
Qumran, would that be
possible? Yes, was the answer
from our student affairs
coordinator, Andrea
Christopher.
A straight-forward
Christopher says, “the student’s
spiritual development is
important.” She confirms that
the school does not stop
anyone from speaking or
passing out literature of any
kind as permitted by the AD51
policy, which consists of
expressive activities, freedom of
speech, and public speaking in
the outdoors of the University.
This is with the condition that
one would not disturb the
peace or academic setting of the
campus. The campus
administration usually
coordinates a proper location
so that there would not be any
controversial tensions.
However, is every
denomination and religion
being offered services?
According to Christopher
they have finally “found
someone to keep the balance”
at Mont Alto. She has mainly
been relying on “cues of the
students” on how to develop
different denominational
ministries on campus. She also
relied on “outside groups” such
as the Daises of Harrisburg and
certified Chaplains around the
area. However, after such a
struggle they have been able to
hire our current campus
minister, Angela Pontorero.
Pontorero took the job
because she “loves college
students.” She is willing to
“serve and help anyone out.”
An enthusiastic and motivated
Pontorero reflected on the
perspective of having an
“unbiased ministry.” This
statement is true according to
Mont Alto Muslim student
Dakkar Abdyl-Hadi. She found
a “reasonable amount of
support compared to the small
Muslim population on this
campus.” It is clear that the flow
of representation and religious
diversity on campus has
become strong on ‘its
Commonwealth Campuses.
When ‘asked what he
thought of the religious
diversity on campus, Dr. Peter
Dendle had the following to
say: “While most Mont Alto
students are generally open-
minded toward others and very
generous of spirit, we still have
a long way to go in terms of
genuine toleration and mutual
support. Students feel most
comfortable with dialogue
among the three major
monotheisms, but usually have
had little exposure to historical
polytheisms or to alternate
forms of spirituality. A student
living in the dorms a few years
ago was continually harassed
for exploring neo-paganism, for
example. She was taunted and
called a “witch,” while her
door (which exhibited
expressions of her spiritual
beliefs) was continually
vandalized. To my mind, this
reflects a medieval mindset and
perhaps raises questions about
Penn" State’s commitment to
equal protection for religious
expression among all students.
Had it been a Star of David that
the students were vandalizing,
I suspect we would have heard
a lot more about it. Also, many
students from traditional
religious backgrounds—as,
indeed, many Americans—feel
threatened by secular