The semester is in full swing and so are clubs and organizations. Though there is no college chaplain, the student organizations under the chaplaincy banner have begun to hold club meetings and events, welcoming new students through their doors. Ariel Jarman is the new, and only, full time member of the chaplaincy, working as an office assistant.
Jarman fills an organizational role for many chaplain organizations, including Hillel. Beckett Kravetz ‘27, one of the co-presidents of Hillel describes her as “incredibly helpful” adding that she “[corresponds] with Dean Card to make sure that [our Shabbat orders] are approved.”
Despite Jarman’s work, the absence of Jewish Chaplains still burdens Hillel students. This year, Kravetz is adding between 3.5-4 hours of extra time a week to his schedule that last year’s Hillel presidents didn’t This time includes more meetings with Dean Chris Card to organize Shabbat, as well as the setting up and taking down of Shabbat, which Jewish chaplains Jenn and Michael Ferman would have helped with last year.
Kravetz added that the weekly meetings with Card have been “great” and “successful,” however, “it's been a lot harder to reach [Card] outside of those meetings, because he just does so much on campus and like a small part of his role [is] chaplaincy” Kravetz said. “It would make everyone's lives easier here if we had someone who's a step lower to sort of deal with [the] little things.”
The Muslim Students Association (MSA) also lacks support, though their needs are of a more religious nature. Omar Barghout ‘25 said that MSA needs a “Muslim professional leader… because [that person could offer] us the support that we need [for] people who need spiritual guidance” he said. “I feel like [a professional leader] validates us as a club, because we [would] have this professional figure who comes to all our events and who is connected to our club, and I think we deserve that as an [organization] because other [organizations] have that too and we haven’t have that since Imam Tom left.”
Imam Tom Facchine left Hamilton in 2023 in protest of Jeff McArn being fired.
The MSA has become more independent from the chaplaincy since McArn was fired, though the club worked with Trevor Beauford last year. “He really helped us establish that sense of community in the spring semester” said Nawar ‘27, president of MSA.
Though there are no full time chaplains nor an Imam employed by Hamilton, the MSA does not feel deterred. “I feel like we're [in] a good place right now because there's new e-board members and we have the intention of being more active this semester,” Nawar said. “[There are freshmen] who were very proactive…and it just seems like they're willing to be more involved.”
Newman Council, the catholic student group on campus, however, finds itself with a small e-board and in need of more support. “It's hard sometimes to figure out who's going to do this, who's going to do that, who's going to pick up the purchase card, who's going to use the purchase card, who's going to return it,” said Madeleine Cerone ‘26, one of the co-presidents of Newman Council. “Because we have limited manpower [those tasks] can be challenging.”
Newman Council especially wants someone who is intimately familiar with the relationships that spiritual clubs have with one another. In speaking about Jarman, Cerone said that she “does have connection to the college and knowledge about college processes” but that Cerone “wouldn’t be able to go to [Jarman] and be like, ‘what do you think about this idea in this collaboration [or] this holiday coming up?’”
Cerone thinks that this is the role of a chaplain. She is concerned that no one is currently filling that role and addressing clubs spiritual needs, especially with each other.
Hamilton College Chapel | Anne Petrova '27
Newman Council is the only organization on campus that still has a chaplain, Father Peter (Boutros) El Hachem. However, he only works part time and has a parish in Utica, so he cannot offer full time support. so he is not an expert in Hamilton processes.
Cerone feels the need for someone who can understand the spiritual feelings of the Hamilton community. “Religious and spiritual mentorship is what I think a chaplain's main role would be,” said Cerone. “Knowing the different emotions and feelings that come with the different holidays and being able to reach out to the Hamilton community with, ‘here's how we're going to celebrate this at the chapel. Come, join us.’”
Hamilton Christian Fellowship (HCF) echoed this sentiment. “As student leaders supporting and leading a group such as HCF or other spiritual or religious groups, we need a point of contact to ask questions to,” said Meg Lambert, secretary of HCF. “Not just as student leaders but also as students with faith or identities on this campus.”
However, these chaplaincy resources have not been available this year to students. “We have not used the chaplaincy this year. It’s been unclear to us what resources there are, and we as students have been taking on more responsibilities to make up for the lack of support” said Sara Conti, the president of HCF. She added, “Right now, we are feeling a lack of support from adults on campus.”
Some spiritual organizations use college chaplains in smaller capacities, largely focused around approving budgets. “Although there are no current college chaplains, the former college chaplains helped the Chabad student group approve our fundings last year,” wrote Gabby Nakkab ‘25, a co-president of Chabad.
Nakkab added that they, “have had great help from student activities to organize our campus events but for mentorship, they “rely heavily on the help and guidance from Rabbi Didy and Devorah Waks,” not college chaplains.
Meditation club is also fairly independently run. When asked if they could use more support, Ashylia Sloan, vice president of meditation club said, “I don't see any need for [more] support, but I'm not saying that there will never be.”
However, some clubs are feeling the weight of not having a chaplain. All Beliefs Union (ABU) was never registered this semester because, “there was a misunderstanding of who was supposed to register the club,” according to Anna Totilca, the president of ABU and a chapel assistant. They expressed that they “assume given the lack of [chaplaincy] structure nobody registered [ABU].”
She added that she needs help managing her responsibilities to students at the chaplaincy, “I feel I require more guidance on facilitating interfaith dialogue, especially around sensitive topics or issues that require a solid base of religious knowledge that I may be lacking.”
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