As the grand edifice of the new Sykes Chapel nears completion, University of Tampa students have grown increasingly curious as to the role the Center for Faith and Values will play in the campus community.
The intriguing prospect of a religiously unaffiliated place of worship in a diverse academic environment of Christian, Muslim, Jewish and secular students begs some complicated questions.
What manner of services or events will be held in the chapel? What faiths will be represented and how will issues of space and scheduling be managed to ensure fairness among different religions?
“I’m just curious how they’re going to work a chapel with so many religions on campus,” said freshman Michael Pare. “It sounds complicated.”
For answers to some of the questions raised by inquiring students, The Minaret turned to the Associate Dean of Students, Stephanie Russel Holz.
Holz expressed her firm belief in the value of the new chapel to the UT community and the enhanced understanding and tolerance it will bring to the student body.
“The Chapel/Center for Faith and Values is intended to help students understand diversity, world religions and cultures, develop a sense of purpose and self awareness through reflection and learn to make decisions based on principles, beliefs and values,” she explained.
The diverse religions of the university and all the non-denominational organizations concerned with values and morality will be accommodated by the chapel.
It will be a venue not only for worship but for various seminars, open dialogues, book discussions and informational lectures throughout the semester.
Musical performances will also be held from time to time in the new building. These events will be planned and sponsored in a large part by the Resource Team of Faith, Values and Spirituality.
They will be aimed not at any one faith, but in unifying and strengthening the UT religious community as a whole.
Even before the official opening of the chapel, events have already been booked for next semester.
“On March 15 at 7 p.m., the Resource Team will host Dr. Eboo Patel, Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core,” said Holz. Student religious organizations will be encouraged to book dates for worship and events at the chapel ahead of time.
The UT Community Partnership, a coalition of various belief representatives, will prove instrumental in supplying the appropriate religious leaders for ceremonies.
Music will also play a major role within the context of the new center for faith. Not only will the chapel host regular concerts by the UT music department and visiting performers, but it boasts an impressive sound system.
Any students who have peered into the open glass front of the chapel have noticed the massive set of pipes composing the center’s organ.
Resident musicians Haig Mardirosian, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, and David Clark Isele, UT composer, will be called on to play the grand instrument, as well as visiting organists of great renown from all over the world.
Contrary to the widespread rumor that offices will be included in the Center for Faith and Values, no administrative functions will take place in the chapel. It will remain first and foremost a center for the contemplation, worship and enlightenment of UT’s diverse religious community.
“In our fast-paced, turbulent and information-saturated world, providing students a peaceful, yet awe-inspiring space where they can reflect, learn and engage one another is critical to students’ personal self-development and preparation for the future,” said Holtz.
The Sykes Chapel’s official dedication will be held on Dec. 10.
Jeffery Palmer can be reached at jeffery.palmer@spartans.ut.edu.
What church is UT affiliated with? It’s not. UT does not endorse any religion over another (though I would argue that the Chapel tries to endorse Christianity in a dishonest manner).
So, UT is a secular campus regardless of the faith of a given group of students. Don’t go around stating that it is not secular just because YOU have faith.
Excuse me, this is not a secular campus. Don’t go around stating that just because you have no faith. State the facts
Chapel? The word only applies to Christianity. Muslims = mosque, Jews = synagogue or Temple. If there is no agenda, then why not leave it as just the “Center for Faith and Values”.
The chapel is a waste. It promotes religion at a secular campus. UT couldn’t have built another dorm, eating facility, or garage? Disgraceful.