It is with great joy that we are welcoming this semester a group of new Religious Life Advisers to our team. This group includes Sunita Viswanath, who was nominated by the Hindu Student Organization (HSO) to serve for this academic year.
Religious Life Advisers (RLA’s) are local faith leaders who partner with our office to ensure that students are supported in their diverse traditions and practices. Perhaps you have seen them helping with memorial services on campus after a loss, or offering extended counseling hours following tragedies. While not employees of the university, our advisers nonetheless play a deeply meaningful role within our community.
The challenges of this most remarkable semester offer us regular reminders of the essential human need to receive guidance and counsel from people we trust. Our individual needs for counseling are personal and depend on many factors; this can be especially true when it comes to matters of faith. When I consider these needs, in this moment, my thoughts turn to gratitude for our RLA’s and the richness they bring to us all from their various traditions.
The University has received this week a petition demanding that we cease our newly-formed affiliation with Sunita. Doing so would undermine the same essential support of our students that the RLA roles are designed to provide. The Office of Religious Life exists to support the diverse religious and spiritual needs of our students. In precisely that spirit, we support HSO as they welcome their new adviser and we welcome Sunita to our broader community.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Ian Rottenberg
Dean of Religious Life
