It’s a mid-November night at the Ronj, the student-run cafe in Ross House on Frye Street, and in one part of the homey space, students are draped across couches and splayed out in chairs, sipping tea, munching on snacks, while they study, relax, and just hang out.

In another part of the house, in a performance space known as the Thunderdome, the furniture has been shoved to the perimeter, creating an open area for an evening of visual art.

At the ready are watercolor paint kits, cups of water, and lots of paint brushes, and the students, around 20 of them, quickly get going. Over here, a student paints a tree in late autumn. Over there, another creates a fantasy garden, and another makes a rainbow, all conjured from the mind’s eye or pulled from a smartphone. 

There’s no instruction and no still-life subject to sketch, just one goal: Create a piece of art for someone you care about. The students are making watercolor postcards, which, when finished, will be mailed to a loved one along with hand-written words of gratitude from the sender.

The idea for the event came from Phoebe Stern ’24, a religious studies major from Nashville, Tenn. As the student arts and spirituality coordinator for the Multifaith Chaplaincy, she wanted to create a time and a space before Thanksgiving for students to “take a deep breath and ask, ‘Who are the people in my life who have really impacted me? And who made a change? How can I give back to them?’�

In this case, giving back means giving a bit of one’s self, “something tangible,â€� Stern says, “whatever art you’re feeling, and that can be just drawing a very abstract piece or like drawing some trees or mountains, but whatever you want.â€�

First-year students Audrey Esteves ’26 of Cranford, N.J., and Riley Baker ’26 of Northfield, Ill., are creating postcards to send to friends from high school as a little “helloâ€� before they reunite during the holiday break. Before long, the two will head across the street to WRBC, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student radio studio, where Baker co-hosts a music-and-chat show, Gin and Toxic.

Maddy Ewell ’24, a neuroscience major from Ridgewood, N.J., is using the time to stretch one creative muscle and give another a break. For her English class, “Early Modern Sex and Sexuality,â€� taught by Assistant Professor of English Katie Adkison, she’s composing a musical score as her final paper. 

The class has read Shakespeares’s As You Like It, whose opening scene, in the forest of Arden, presents a “mystical land of make believe, a fantastical environment.â€� For the final assignment, Ewell challenged herself to express the scene through classical music — a genre she hasn’t composed for before, though she loves composing and playing jazz. 

And she has the chops for it. An accomplished violinist, Ewell is the founder and president of the . Creating the score has been “difficult but fun,â€� she says. “I’m exploring what I can do with music.â€� (Last spring, she and fellow club member Riley Gramley ’25 performed classical music for the canine residents of the local animal shelter.)

For Stern, the event organizer, experiencing the Ronj for the first time fit perfectly with the vibe she hoped to create, a getaway from “the stresses of the rest of campus, like we’re just coming together and making some art, eating some cookies, drinking some chai and talking and laughing.

“That’s what the space is.�

Students milled around the tables, ink-stained hands searching for the perfect print block. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, they took turns using the ink rollers and waited patiently for a space to lay their tote bag, T-shirt, or mask.

The atmosphere outside the Benjamin E. Mays Center was happy and friendly, as students traded compliments and encouragement back and forth. Peppy pop music poured from the speakers, and despite the strong breeze threatening to blow paper and shirts everywhere, the event was a huge success.

This is the third year the “Stringfellowsâ€� — students working with Multifaith Chaplaincy in the spirit of William Stringfellow ’49 — have coordinated their Free Press social justice printmaking event, and each time, more students participate. According to Brittany Longsdorf, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ multifaith chaplain, around 150 people came to the event to make prints this year.

“It’s just gotten bigger and bigger over the years,� Longsdorf says. “I’m just sort of the memory keeper of how it runs, and then [the Stringfellows] choose whether or not they want to run it, and how they want to run it.�

Stringfellows help organize opportunities for activists to connect with each other on campus, and reflect on their work. The events are all about “helping them find practices and spaces to root and remind themselves why they do this important work that can transform the world,� Longsdorf says.

Dianna Georges ’22 of Clifton, N.J., is a Stringfellow, and was helping sign students in to the event. Georges has been attending the event since her first year. “I feel like this is one of the first places that I started meeting different organizers on campus,� Georges said. “I think it’s really cool because the sophomores and the first-years, they haven’t had the chance to do something in-person.�

“I think that symbols are important,� Georges said. “And I think this is an opportunity for people to put the symbols of what they believe up. It’s kind of the same thing as hanging a flag; it shows what you believe in, so I hope people just make a bunch of shit and hang it everywhere, and it just becomes a part of the ethos of campus.�

The print blocks are handmade by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students and given to the event. The general theme of “social justiceâ€� allows for artistic license, and means different things to different students. From images of trees evoking eco-justice, to phrases of self-empowerment and statements challenging social structures — “F— White Supremacyâ€� — students shared their messages with each other and the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community.

Stella Santucci ‘22, a psychology major from Falmouth, Maine, has participated in the event every year. “This is my favorite event on campus,� Santucci said. “It’s super fun, and it’s artistic freedom. The topic is ‘social justice’ but it’s up to you to kind of build an idea and execute it. I think it’s a place for students to connect and help each other, and be activists together.�

The Multifaith Chaplaincy provides the rubber blocks and tools to students, who then come up with a design to carve, and give the finished block back to the organizers for students to use.

Santucci makes a block for the event every year, and then always attends. “The fact that I get to just choose what I do and then come here and see everyone else’s, I think is really amazing,â€� Santucci said. “[It’s] what ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is really all about.â€�

In one-on-one conversations, Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf has helped many ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students, as well as faculty and staff, navigate complicated emotions during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“It feels hard to speak to your own personal woe amidst such collective distress,â€� Longsdorf says. “Right after ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ made the call to send students home, there were so many students who were really sad to miss those last few months together, to not feel like they had the time to say goodbye — but they felt really guilty voicing those things amidst universal sickness and death.”

For other students, it’s also hard to speak to their own happiness, says Longsdorf, whether it stems from being home with family or continued, purposeful engagement with their coursework.

“That’s a new complexity of my work, affirming that, yes, there is immense universal anxiety, and we should all care and be concerned about that. But we’re allowed to have our own personal difficulties and to process those — and also have joy.� 

Brittany Longsdorf, second from right, sits with students during a 2017 spring-break gathering. Though students are no longer able to gather as closely as they’re doing here, Longsdorf and the rest of the Multifaith Chaplaincy are committed to maintaining a close, connected community. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ was one of the first among its peers to adopt the multifaith model for its chaplaincy, and today’s Multifaith Chaplaincy supports all religious practices and individual spiritual journeys.

Among its central goals is giving the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community space to feel, reflect, and connect with each other. As the pandemic has forced most students to go home, employees to work remotely, and religious services to move online, that mission hasn’t changed. 

“I describe my chaplaincy as one of warmth and hospitality, creating inviting spaces and then being a companion for whatever journey the person I’m sharing with is on,� says Longsdorf, an ordained Community of Christ minister who holds a doctorate of ministry. “I don’t think those elements have changed too much.� 

In the past few weeks, some of the chaplaincy’s regular programs have gone online and even expanded. Hearth, a regular guided conversation previously for students only, has moved from Longsdorf’s house to Zoom and is now open to faculty and staff. A Wednesday-evening fixture, the art-based secular service called {Pause}, is also online. 

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“We want to provide something familiar wherever people are,� says Associate Multifaith Chaplain Raymond Clothier, also an ordained minister, in the United Church of Christ. 

Supported in their work by faith-based spiritual advisers, the chaplaincy staff, as well as ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students, have created opportunities to pray, reflect, and connect from afar. The chaplaincy has gathered resources for virtual religious services, particularly as major holidays and observances approach — Passover began on Wednesday, Easter is on Sunday, and Ramadan begins April 23.  

Student religious groups are still active, emailing quotes and videos to each other, as well as questions for reflection. Longsdorf and Clothier say ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community members have not come to them with pandemic-related theological questions, but they’ve been encouraged by the way many faiths have embraced virtual worship. 

One Sunday, Clothier attended four different Christian services, each led by one of his former students. “The ones that are working the best are using Zoom webinars, a mix between pre-recorded elements and live. The pastor is sitting at a desk, not standing behind a pulpit in an empty church.� 

Associate Multifaith Chaplain Raymond Clothier lights candles during a 2015 Veterans’ Day remembrance in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Virtual worship, Clothier says, could join much older means of connecting with the divine as “a new way of mediating the tradition.� 

For instance, more than 70 people have joined a virtual retreat this month and are completing daily writings, art, and spiritual practices based on the Celtic myth of the Buried Moon. 

“The places you miss, miss you too.�

“We’re in this time and place where everything feels very restrictive, and there’s not a lot we can access in the outside world,� Longsdorf says. “But there are these complex and beautiful worlds within us that we can dive very deeply into during this time, and find sources of wonder and exploration within ourselves.� 

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Through old and new experiences, and through Longsdorf and Clothier’s continued availability for one-on-one conversations, the chaplaincy hopes to “continue a spirit of connection at this time when everything feels so isolated,� Longsdorf says. 

It’s helped her to think of lines from “The Moon� by poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “And the astonished places you inhabited and left / Ache more clearly for you.� 

“The places you miss, miss you too,â€� Longsdorf says. “It’s not just that you might miss ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but these places feel your absence.

“We want to remind ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people that they’re still a part of this place.â€�

Each year, the graduating class at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ elects a member of the faculty or staff to speak at Baccalaureate, held the day before graduation.

This year’s speaker was Francisco “Franky” Urueta, a member of the college’s Facility Services staff.

Well-known at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, Urueta is a custodian who works the late-evening shift in one of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ busiest academic buildings, Pettengill Hall, where he always makes time to greet students with a kind word and his signature fist bumps.

Video by Theophil Syslo

As Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf said in her introduction at Baccalaureate, Urueta is “living proof that the smallest kind gesture can transform someone’s day, someone’s entire college experience, and someone’s life.”

An Apache Native American, Urueta used his address to talk about his path from California to Maine, and he urged the seniors “to give positive energy to people” so that “they give you positive energy back.”

Baccalaureate Address by Franky Urueta on May 25, 2019

The students who gathered at Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf’s home on Sept. 12 found commonality in different experiences: Whether they had studied abroad or somewhere else, worked or interned for a semester, or taken leaves of absences, they had all returned to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ after time away.

To address that often-challenging transition, the Chaplaincy and Multifaith Fellows Keenan Shields ’18 and Haley Crim ’19 organized “Feeling Weird Back at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,â€� an event held each semester to help students reflect on returning and to express feelings and experiences that they feel others might not understand.

“I see it as really giving a space for students to not only say the things that they’re not able to say, but also to be around other people who are feeling weird coming back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,â€� Shields said.

As the event — which is part of programming ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ offers for returning students — began, the students formed a circle in Longsdorf’s backyard.

Shields asked them to introduce themselves and make a “meter� by putting one arm on top of the other. In this way they checked in. A right angle — arm pointed upward — meant they felt good. Arms kept close together meant not-so good. Most were somewhere in the middle.

One word in particular seemed to reverberate: “Alone.�

Shields and Crim then brought out a ball of yarn and asked the returnees to think of a word to describe their feelings of being back. If another person felt the same way, they’d pass the ball while holding onto the end of the yarn, creating a link from student to student.

As the words tumbled out — “uncomfortable,� “grateful,� “awkward� — the yarn went around and across the circle. One word in particular seemed to reverberate: “Alone.�

“Students do feel alone and do feel lonely,â€� said Raymond Clothier, associate multifaith chaplain. “That’s partly because they develop new selves or new parts of themselves and aren’t sure where those connect when they come back.”

“I hope that’s one thing that they are able to do — to connect with other students and feel like there are other people who can understand or share similar experiences.�

Multifaith Fellow Keenan Shields ’18 co-organized “Feeling Weird Back at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½” to help fellow students re-join ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ after spending time away. He’s shown working with schoolchildren in the college’s Wood Street Garden in July, under a program of St. Mary’s Nutrition Center funded by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

At the end of the exercise, the yarn became a web of common emotions. The students were then invited to further reflect in small-group discussions.

“Maybe we just need to take those fleeting moments and take the risk and open up.�

Themes emerged: Many are now seniors, about to start their theses. Some were processing loss, having left behind friends or host families in other countries, or feared losing what they had learned through immersion in another culture. Others felt a sense of shock coming back to a residential campus after working or living on their own.

In addition to organizing the event, Shields was a participant. An anthropology major from Pittsford, N.Y., he had spent part of the spring semester doing research in Puerto Rico. He said while his experience was valuable, he came back feeling unsettled and sometimes unable to talk about his time away.

Shields said he found others who felt similarly.

“I think that what we arrived at in our group was, maybe we just need to take those fleeting moments and take the risk and open up in those spaces,� he said.

By providing a space where they could talk to others who felt the same way, Longsdorf’s home was a place of reassurance, direction to other resources, or simply understanding.

“It’s a gift the students give to one another to open this kind of space, to be honest with each other and be vulnerable,� Clothier said. “I always feel a sense of gratitude that they’re able to be there in the room with each other.�

At Convocation, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community looks forward to the new academic year, surrounded by the college’s beech, ash, and pine trees, some of them more than a century old.

Following this year’s ceremony, a service held near the Class of 1929 Gate honored 17 faculty and staff who had died in the past year, in whose memory a young red oak was planted.

A memorial service as part of Convocation — to acknowledge grief and loss while welcoming new people — has been a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ tradition for 20 years.

During the service, Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf invited faculty, staff, students, friends, and family to come forward to a bowl filled from Lake Andrews. Those who did collected and poured water cupful by cupful onto the soil around the tree, to keep it healthy and strong.

Members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community participate in a memorial service near the Class of 1929 Gate immediately following the Convocation on Tuesday. A red oak was planted in memory of those in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community who died during the past year.

“The community that’s gone and the community that’s just arriving — it’s actually a beautiful gesture to say, dead or alive, you’re still a part of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community,â€� Longsdorf says.

The trees surrounding the memorial red oak sapling are — like the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community — young and old, short and tall, of many different kinds. Many are themselves memorial trees.

The tradition was started in 1997 by College Chaplain Kerry Maloney, who is now Harvard Divinity School’s chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life.

“I wanted to tie so many holy endings to the great holy beginning of each new academic year,�  Maloney says.

“We embrace this complexity, this sacred tension between grateful remembrance and grief.�

Landscape architect Bill Bergevin, who selected and planted the red oak about three weeks ago, will continue to water the sapling until it’s ready to thrive on its own. In the next 60 years or more, it will grow tall like the older trees surrounding it. Friends and family of those departed can return to it. Students will pass it daily; they might lean against it to read books, or escape underneath it for shade.

During that time, the tree will become part of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community, while it stands as a sign of the pain of loss and of the joy of remembrance, says Longsdorf.

“We embrace this complexity, this sacred tension between grateful remembrance and grief,� she said during the ceremony. “Thus we water new life in the form of a small tree, embracing that complexity and embracing the hope that we continue to honor our colleagues’ memory and presence that lingers still.�

The faculty and staff whose lives are commemorated by the red oak are: Robert P. Bowen Sr., John W. Creasy, Roger C. Dutil, Kenneth Fitzherbert, James G. Hepburn, Yvette A. LaChapelle, Marcia A. Makris, Bernice I. Michel, Kenneth Moore, Germaine J. Morin, Margaret T. Nichols, Marcy Plavin, Judy Rosen, Paul M. Szott, Kate L. Vale, and Beatrice C. Verville.

Held on Sunday of Reunion, the annual Alumni Memorial Service celebrates, remembers, and gives thanks for the completed lives of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people who have died during the year. The 2017 service was on June 11.

This year’s program is below, and it includes the names of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people who have died during 2016-17, through May 1, or whose passing became known to the college during that time.

The Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, the college’s multifaith chaplain, offered words of welcome and the homily.

Alumni and student participants were Stephanie Young Abbott ’67, Gina Ciobanu ’17, Roland Davis ’92, Richard Kilbourne ’67, Susan Daillaire Lagueux ’67, Wyland Leadbetter ’67, Karen Finocchio Lubeck ’92, Don Miller ’67, Rachel Minkovitz ’19, Pam Johnson Reynolds ’67, the Rev. Leslie Stewart Simonson ’67.

The service included a Procession of Flowers, in which participants bring forward a single flower and place it on a memorial wall. The benediction was offered by the Rev. Raymond Clothier, associate multifaith chaplain.

All you need is love, said the Beatles. But, as the Bee Gees noted, no one gets too much love anymore. Which brings us to the college’s annual Baccalaureate service, held the day before Commencement, this year on May 27.

Both a service of gratitude — for relationships, for learning, and for transformation — and a service of reflection, Baccalaureate is, at its heart, also an expression of love and community among students and families.

Here are 13 quotes about love and community, explicit and implicit, from the service.

1. ‘That we may carry with us forevermore’

“We collectively ask that these brilliant students, deeply rooted in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ mission and experiences, be blessed with irrational joy, lasting friendships, purposeful work, and continual curiosity as they blossom and flourish in the years to come. May we all find in this celebration of art and word and reflection a moment of transcendent connection that we may carry with us forevermore. Shalom. Salaam. Amen. May it Be So.” — The Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, Multifaith Chaplain, Invocation

Seniors cheer at Baccalaureate on May 27. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

2. ‘Enduring truths we must keep close’

“As ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students, we need not look any further than our college’s mission statement for those enduring truths we must keep close. We can be, and indeed must be, transformed by our differences, civically engaged, lifelong learners, and stewards of the wider world away from this place, not just while we are here.” — Jamo Karsten ’17, Affirmation of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Values

3. ‘My love for the sofas at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’

“It’s not surprising that when I mention my love for the sofas at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ that I get the weirdest looks. I mean, it’s a weird thing to talk about. No one ever says, ‘Gosh! College was the best four years of my life. The sofas were the hallmark.’

“On the surface, these simple pieces of furniture seem to be commonplace, but to me they represent the wonderful memories that I have come to hold so dear to my heart. They represent the insanely supportive and loving community that I have worked to build for myself. Knowing that it won’t be as readily available as sitting down and waiting for people to join me on a sofa makes it hard to say goodbye.” — Brennen Malone ’17, Moments from Our Years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

4. ‘Taking a minute to move polepole’

“Ten minutes after I arrived in the Kilimanjaro airport, I learned my first Kiswahili phrase: polepole, meaning ‘slowly, slowly.’…There is a picnic table at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ I sit on sometimes, watching classmates and friends rushing to their next class, hurrying to finish their last paper or beginning their second workout of the day. Much of the time, I have been doing these things as well; however, I have been thankful when I get a chance to sit on the picnic table, connecting with old friends and taking a minute to move polepole.” — Amy Katz ’17, Moments from Our Years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

The seniors process and recess through an arch adorned with prayers, poems, and blessings offered by family members. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

5. ‘It’s gametime’

8 p.m., Garcelon Field, opening day for the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ men’s soccer team.
The first day of classes is tomorrow.
Yet, none of this is distracting my team and me with the task at hand.
I can feel the butterflies kicking in.
The excitement is almost uncontainable.
The ref blows the whistle, the first ball is kicked.
Finally the time has come.
It’s gametime.

— Luke McNabb ’17, Moments from Our Years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

6. ‘Friends who are eager to cheer you on’

“I can’t think of many other communities where I could approach people I barely know, ask them to run a lot while not sleeping, and get, not hasty rejections, but genuine and enthusiastic yeses….

“It’s now 2 a.m., we’re 19 hours and 140 miles into the relay, and we’re dancing in the middle of a highway in New Hampshire. Nate Dana is running his longest stretch of the race, and we’re waiting for him to run past us so we can cheer him on. It’s a clear night and the stars are shining. Nate’s headlamp can just be seen down the road. To me, this has been my ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience: meeting and making new friends who are eager and ready to cheer you on.” — Celine Pichette ’17, Moments from Our Years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, describing organizing a team to run a 24-hour Ragnar Relay from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach, N.H.

7. ‘Have loved and held each one of us’

“For years, [our parents and guardians] have loved and held each one of us. They have aided us in our journey of finding our sense of person and in navigating the world in all its complexity and contradiction. When we leave the shelter of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, the presences of all who have loved and taught us will prevail to guide us.” — Denali Nalamalapu ’17, Introduction to Parent and Guardian Reflection

8. ‘Inspired for a lifetime’

“Most importantly, I could sense that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ had further imprinted on them the skills to learn, love, and be inspired for a lifetime. The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ narrative is inextricably part of their narratives.  The skills cultivated here are the skills for a lifetime.” — Deborah Weatherbee ’76, P’17, Parent and Guardian Reflection, on behalf of fellow parents and guardians

9. ‘Growth, change, and movement’

“The breadth of human experience, the freedom to learn, and the depth of discourse available at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ have helped my daughter to mature as a quiet scholar.” — Usha Reddi P’17, Parent and Guardian Reflection

Seniors reach out to one another during Baccalaureate on May 27. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

10. ‘We love you always!’

“I look at you and your fellow graduates with hope for our future. Hope that you will go forth and effect change. Hope that you do good and leave this world better than the world you inherit. Hope that you lead by examples of kindness and empathy, courage and conviction. Support each other. Make your marks. Be strong. Be committed. We love you always!”  — Adrienne Reedy P’17, Parent and Guardian Reflection, on behalf of fellow parents and guardians

11. ‘We must be genuine’

“To summon further understanding, we must be genuine and hope that others know we are — and hope that they are, too. And abide by what we all have come to know in life: You can’t judge a book by its cover, or a student by where they are from, or a person by their appearance. We know this, especially at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.” — James Reese, Associate Dean for International Student Programs  Baccalaureate Address

12. ‘Let us teach by being ourselves teachable’

“Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. Seek to live in affection as true Friends in your communities, in your families, in all your dealings with others, and in your relationship with outward society. The power of God is not used to compel us to Truth; therefore, let us renounce for ourselves the power of any person over any other and, compelling no one, seek to lead others to Truth through love. Let us teach by being ourselves teachable.” — Alex Ulin ’17, Interfaith Blessing (Quaker), joined by Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and in tribute to Buddhism

13. ‘As fast as I can’

My love is alive
Way down in my heart
Although we are miles apart
If you ever need a helping hand,
I’ll be there on the double
As fast as I can.

— The Senior Band, performing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,â€� by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson

Jackson Whitehouse '17 of Cleveland, Ohio, plays the guitar during Pause on Nov. 30.

Multifaith fellow Denali Nalamalapu '17 of Falmouth, Maine, reads the Jorge Luis Borges poem "Boast of Quietness."

Students gather by candlelight in the Gomes Chapel on Nov. 30 2016 for Pause.

Even as the academic intensity increases heading into the end of the semester, students can rely on one constant. Every Wednesday evening in the Gomes Chapel throughout the semester, students gather by candlelight for {Pause}, a secular service of music, poetry, silence, dance, and art.

The service runs about half an hour, beginning and ending with the playing of a crystal singing bowl, a traditional Eastern meditation aid whose sound reverberates throughout the chapel. In between, students offer readings, songs, or dance. “You get to sit back in the middle of the week in a candlelit chapel and just be,� said Denali Nalamalapu ’17 of Falmouth, Maine.

Nalamalapu first attended {Pause} as a sophomore, and now, as a Multifaith Fellow, produces the programming every week. During the Nov. 30 gathering, she read the Jorge Luis Borges poem “Boast of Quietness,” which opens the novel Inheritance of Loss that she is studying for literature thesis.

“It’s nice to be able to literally just take a pause and be in silence.”

“There are so many demands on ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students and schedules are usually full to the brim,â€� said Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf. “We hope {Pause} can create a moment of quiet respite in the week.”

Jackson Whitehouse ’17 of Cleveland, Ohio, played several acoustic guitar pieces on Wednesday, yet he was quick to highlight the restorative absence of sound during {Pause}.

“Silence is a very important thing,� he said, noting the 30 pages of writing soon due for class. “It’s nice to be able to literally just take a pause and be in silence with a bunch of other people who are just decompressing.�