Rider University - Shadow Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

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Students Seek Relevancy Of Religion On Campus by the Rev. Jeremiah J. Cullinane Religion on campus strives to come to grips with the student's growing confusion over what is truly ultimate in his experience and therefore worthy of his complete commitment. It tries to meet his desire for wholeness of thought and of action. It is sensitive to the unique cli- mate of college life, to the presence of doubt in the process of understanding, and to the particular period of independence through which its students are pas- sing. lt seeks to avoid religion's becoming a habit de- void of meaning through emphasizing the religious sig- nificane of sacrament, creed and practice. The Campus Ministry acknowledges that if God is of any importance He must be relevant to the whole of life. It rejects the dualism which often marks the modern world, of sacred and secular, of theoretical and prac- ticalg and instead affirms that they belong together working toward the perfection of the whole person. It recognizes that basic values have come to matter to man in a critical way and that it shares with the college the obligation of bridging the gap between the commu- nity of faith and the community of learning. The Campus Ministry, as the College itself, must be committed to its students and to their freedom to iearn. lt asserts that most of its students are religiously dedi- cated, or, to state it more concretely, they believe in God-whether they be Protestants, Catholics, Jews. Provisions must be made for them to explore the full in- tellectual dimensions of the religious faith to which they are committed. Neither the Campus Ministry or the col-

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aware of the links betweeen repression in the U.S. and Vietnam, or that they could ignore inhumanity in Amer- ica and protest inhumanity abroad. The veto was a gross insult to members of the ABC and its co-ordinator Rountree voiced a collective disillusionment with white liberal and radical students of Rider College. The Association of Black Collegians changed its or- ganizational structure in the spring semester of 1970. To insure greater participation in its organizational ac- tivities, to eliminate unilateral decision making and to work on a wider variety of activities, the membership of ABC adopted a UMAJA Board. It consisted of Kiamus qchairmenj in the areas of EOP, political activities, edu- cation, communications and finance, and there were also corresponding and recording secretaries, and a treasurer. Elected to these offices for 1970-1971 were respectively Eric Pierce, Henry Lee, Sharon Saunders, Larry Cain, Lorraine Voorhees, Loretta Randolph, Shiela Clark and Byron Hannon. ABC was formed to provide educational, cultural, and social functions for Black students in 1968 when there were 20 Black students enrolled. A fall semester 119701 enrollment of 100 Black students minimized the roll of ABC in performing the aforementioned functions, in that these functions were satisfied by sub-groupings within the ABC. 1970-1971 will see Black students meeting the challenge of setting new priorities. Old grievances re- main, the racist subtleties that make life uncomfortable must be tackled, development of a multi-interest organi- zation is a high priority and developing strong commu- nity relations is an absolute must. Recounting the events in the three year history of ABC and the people instrumental in making that history would be a chronicle that space limitations make most difficult. ABC in the past has been the collective voice of Black students at Rider, and graduating Black stu- dents have only pride to reflect upon when remember- ing the forming and operation of the Association of Black Collegians that will continue to fight racism, edu- cate a Black intelligentsia, and prepare young men and women with the means of making Black peoples lives in America both rewarding and fruitful. SQ 143

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lege can, as it were, flee from the reality of the reli- gious wars which lie beneath the surface of modern life andfor disregard them as irrelevant to their own search for truth. But the faith which the student professes must be em- bodied in significant human service, because love of God entails love of neighbor and vice versa. This love takes on a transcendent quality when united with the complete act of love-the love of God for man. Hence, the importance of liturgy. In liturgy alone is this Iife-giv- ing love celebrated adequately and completely, and only here is this love proclaimed totally as an existential reality of the here and now. Religious counseling too is vital to the educational process. It aims to bring together emotion and intellect, to deepen and enlarge the perspective from which problems are viewed. Hundreds of human problems arise which deal either directly with faith or which have as their underlying concern a conflict on basic issues. First, there is the conflict aroused with old forms of reli- gious faith by newly acquired knowledge. Second, the situation caused by negative influences: death in the family, the breaking off of an engagement, etc. Third, the problems of vocation, both in the economic sense and in the moral sense. Fourth, there are the many moral problems which plainly relate to religion. And fi- nally, there are the basic questions of meaning and of meaninglessness. Both the religious community and the college commu- nity must, it would appear, seek a union between the sacred and the secular. The result of segregation for the religous community is irrelevanceg for the college community, value-neutrality or some form of idolatrous faith.