While Dartmouth may be a secular school, many '04s are looking back at their time here as years infused with the influence of religion, be it Christianity, Judaism or Islam. As the year winds down, these students reflected on their Dartmouth religious experiences and looked forward to a future guided by faith.
Frederica Ghesquiere '04, a double major in environmental studies and religion, wrote her senior thesis on the extent to which religion permeates society and the perspective of Christianity when dealing with the environment. Ghesquiere came to Dartmouth interested in studying religion from an academic perspective, and feels that the thesis fused both her academic and religious sides. Through the Christian group Navigators, she met a lot of close friends with whom she grew outside of the organization.
"Dartmouth helped me realize I can be both an intellectual and a Christian and that those two realms can overlap in a way that is healthy," Ghesquiere said.
Also a religion major, Rachel Bender '04 has pursued the ways in which religion plays into health care and concepts of life and death for people with different belief systems. Bender, who is president of Hillel, brought her Jewish values together with her interest in international public health through a Tucker fellowship in the Amazon region of Peru during her junior year. According to Bender, despite the strong influence of the Catholic church, Latin America has been undergoing change in its reproductive health and abortion views. She plans to pursue an MD and MPH at the University of Washington next year and return to make an impact on the health system in Latin America.
"While it may appear that my future plans are not related to anything Jewish, the world view and perspective I've gained from studying religion in an academic sense, with Jewish values in a personal sense, has really helped me to look outward from Dartmouth and understand my role in the bigger picture," Bender said.
Another Latin American country, Honduras, holds a different kind of draw for '04s Annabel Raebeck and Katinka Harrison. After spending last summer in Honduras working with a Christian missionary, Harrison was asked to help start a school in the community of Flor del Campo. Midway through Fall term, Harrison agreed to the nine-month post-graduation commitment. She asked Raebeck, whom she knew through Navigators, to join her.
Both women enjoyed the openness and welcoming sharing of faith that the Christian community at Dartmouth provided through Navigators, and they plan to instill their faith in their teaching. Raebeck and Harrison will develop a day-care and community education center in the area that will serve as a resource for parents. The center will add elementary school grades as it develops.
"We'll be teaching basic education infused with a love of Christian beliefs," Harrison said.
Moez Shivji '04, president of the Muslim association Al-Nur, will be combining his computer science and economics majors in a job at GE Capital next year but has many great memories of his Al-Nur activities at Dartmouth. Shivji said his well-rounded college experience has been in large part due to Al-Nur and its involvement with many different campus groups.
Shivji remembered a panel discussion about torture as a war crime that Al-Nur organized with Amnesty International and the Dartmouth College Greens.
He recalled more than 70 people in attendance, including a variety of Dartmouth students, professors and Upper Valley residents.
"I'm proud of events that show that religion doesn't have to be divisive," Shivji said, pointing out the get-togethers Al-Nur has had with Hillel. "It's great to see Muslim students interacting with a rabbi and priest, interested in learning about different traditions."
At the other end of the spectrum lie the post-graduation plans of Chris Ryan '04. Ryan, a geography major and religion minor, will be joining the Jesuits, a community of Roman Catholic priests, after graduation. On the Jesuit novitiate outside of Syracuse, N. Y., Ryan will be deepening his prayer life, learning about the way the order is set up, and engaging in ministry and service in the community. As president of Aquinas House, Ryan feels that his spirituality has been an invaluable refuge from the stress and challenges Dartmouth can sometimes present.
At Aquinas House and through his faith, Ryan said he found a greater sense of stability and spiritual connection that will surely strengthen in his future.
"It is a community in which I can take care of all the things important to me here at Dartmouth," Ryan said of Aquinas House. "It's a place to worship and be connected with my faith, a place to study and a place to hang out with friends."
