To the Editor,
I applaud the Student Assembly's decision to uncover the stained glass windows in Rollins Chapel.
As a campus minister who has been at Dartmouth for 14 years, I have always thought it odd that the windows were panelled over during a 1980's face lift. Although the windows were covered for practical purposes so as to not predominate non-Christian worship services, the idea that they were hidden permanently seemed to many to be an architectural, artistic and historical mistake. Abraham and Moses were not covered, so why was Jesus?
Dartmouth is a secular institution and will remain such for generations to come. The plurality of religious voices adds to its beauty and strength. But to deny its historically Christian roots is an affront to those who have embraced Jesus past and present and a disservice to any inquisitive student reflecting on the influence of Jesus throughout all western classical education.
I hope that in the next decade Dartmouth will renovate Rollins as a functionally sophisticated multi-faith worship center. But I welcome the historical reminder that is honest to its past.
