CHAPEL AND EDI
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practice , it was easy to introduce these and other new prayers . Next , given that most of our students didn ’ t participate in a particular religious tradition , we explicitly reminded ourselves publicly that we were of diverse faith and philosophical backgrounds . Eventually , the deity-directed prayer format was gently set aside , making room for “ Words of Wisdom ” ( WoW ) that reflect the moral underpinnings of religious and philosophical systems through the thoughts of spiritual , political , and literary figures . In this way , the words we share together don ’ t assume adherence to any particular system of thought or personal identity , other than our common values .
The emergence of Words of Wisdom within the Chapel program also created a visual representation of diversity . Because the projected words often include a picture or portrayal of the author , passing weeks offer the faces of Dorothy Day , Frederick Douglass , Chief Dan George , Kahlil Gibran , Susan B . Anthony , Edward Hale , T ’ áncháy Redvers , Maya Angelou , and Viktor Frankl among others . When names aren ’ t offered , students see references to Sanskrit and
“ We first set aside hymns that made exclusionary claims about Christianity and eventually introduced pieces that reflected our values without using a faith lens .”
Proverbs . Importantly , Redvers ’ words aren ’ t restricted to moments when Chapel ’ s theme touches on Indigenous or LGBTQ2 + themes ; their words appear whenever they ’ re relevant .
Group Songs
Equally important to what we say together , what we sing together has moved through its own process . Again , the Chapel Team was at the center of the shift . We first set aside hymns that made exclusionary claims about Christianity and eventually introduced pieces that reflected our values without using a faith lens .
Finding such pieces proved harder than we anticipated . Most music is not composed with a few hundred voices in mind . Much of it isn ’ t written with values or worldviews as a key message . A desire for “ contemporary ” music was soon replaced by a recognition that the pieces often lacked the gravitas that older works offered . We began to value pieces like Oscar Peterson ’ s “ Hymn to Freedom ”, Johnny Nash ’ s “ I Can See Clearly ,” and a song made famous by Louis Armstrong , “ What a Wonderful World .” Notably , this also saw us expand past European composers . Today , almost all the pieces we sing are value-laden and non-religious .
An Elevator Pitch on Chapel and EDI
When it comes to institutional inertia , Chapel is a behemoth . The rest of the school can pivot to become more student-centered , personalized , project-based , experiential , and traumainformed , while Chapel often remains siloed ,
Page 16 Summer 2022 CSEE Connections