AndoverMagSpring2015

“Coeducation waspart of the newvitality of Andover,of which thetripartite chaplaincywas a beneficiary.It was anextraordinary era.”| —The Reverend Philip ZaederPhillips Academy’s currenttripartite: the ReverendAnne Gardner, director ofspiritual and religious life(center), Rabbi MichaelSwarttz, and CatholicChaplain Mary KantorNeil Evans50 Andover | Spring 2015past—did not identify strongly withany religion and lacked a framework forexploring questions of spirituality. Chaseand Associate Head of School BeckySykes created a committee that spenta year in consultation, seeking a newdirection for addressing these concerns.The result was an approach that—likethe tripartite chaplaincy of 1976—wasuniquely consonant with the times.“My being here is actually a veryimportant and critical lens on howBarbara Chase and Becky Sykes feltabout the space and role of religion andbelief systems,” says the Reverend AnneGardner. Arriving in September 2008,Gardner was the first person to holdthe newly created position of directorof spiritual and religious life. (Shealso serves as the school’s Protestantchaplain.) “There was a feeling fromBecky and Barbara that this neededmore focus, more attention, moreresources—that the spiritual life of thisage group was important enough, andthat the world was changing enough,that there needed to be a new vision.”•2013On the eve of the Academy’s first copresidential elections, 12 seniors write toThe Phillipian endorsing the new copresident policy as a way to reverse the historicalgender imbalance in leadership positions. When the only two-male team wins, the NewYork Times reports on the heated campuswide debate on gender equality that ensues.Today, much of that vision involvesmeeting students where they are, spiritually,and tending to their needs bothinside and outside the structure of organizedreligion. “Kids who come hereand are brought up in a faith—those arethe easiest pegs to align,” says Gardner.“But more and more, I find fewerstudents who come from that structure.What do we do about the students whoare outside of that parameter?”Gardner answers her own question byproviding examples of spiritual supportand inquiry that take place far from theconfines of the chapel. Culture, Politics,and Religion (CPR) is a weekly dinnertimediscussion group that tacklesthorny questions like free speech, thedeath penalty, and abortion. Gardnerspearheaded an effort, tied to PA’sVeterans Day observance, to breakGuinness’s world record for push-ups.For the Hindu festival of Diwali, shestrung lights from the columns infront of Samuel Phillips Hall. And, shenotes, the school has held an IslamicAwareness Week for many years.Rabbi Michael Swarttz, PA’s currentJewish chaplain, has also taken a bigtentapproach. “To be Jewish is not justa religious phenomenon but an ethnicand cultural one,” he notes, and assuch, he and the Jewish student grouphave mounted a broad array of culturalprogramming, with speakers, films,and even the occasional comedian.Kantor, the Catholic chaplain, has—with the help of three Abbot AcademyAssociation grants—created a slate ofcampus events, bringing in internationalmusic groups, dancers, and artiststo celebrate and highlight the culturaldiversity of the Catholic Church.•2013| CAMD distributes a copy of Out of the Blue to every PA communitymember and makes it freely available online. The culmination of a twoyearstudent project, the 223-page book is a compilation of student andalumni experiences related to diversity and self-discovery.