From noon on Jan. 18 until noon on Jan. 25, Room 014 saw a constant flow of Dartmouth students gathering to maintain continual prayer. The 168-hour event was coordinated by five Dartmouth students representing three different Christian organizations on campus. Lead coordinator Laura Andreae '10, a member of the Navigators, said she her motivation to organize the event came both from the recent perpetual prayer movement and a similar gathering that occurred at Dartmouth last year.
"Dartmouth is a totally possibly place to do this, so I thought, 'Why not?'" she said.
Andreae said she also wanted to extend students' conceptions of prayer outside daily practice or religious rituals and to "show people that communication with God can be expanded beyond words."
Throughout the week, the floor of the prayer room was littered with cushions, guitars, art supplies and packets of hot chocolate for thirsty participants. The walls were adorned with maps, copies of Old Testament biblical psalms and large sheets of paper covered with prayer requests. Colored curtains covered the windows and ornamental lights strung around the room provided light by which students could read, create art or play music.
"It's been amazing to have this space, and the organizers have done such a good job of making it feel homey," said Emily Eros '09, who prayed in the room for a few hours several days during the event.
Eros said she was particularly touched by a large map of the earth in the room, on which students had placed stickers indicating areas in the world they felt needed prayer from Dartmouth students. Andreae said the map was an obvious choice, given Dartmouth's diversity and international perspective.
"Dartmouth is an international place where students come from all over the world, study all over the world and care about the world," she said.
Andreae pointed to the prayer request posters as another powerful component of the room.
"As humans, we're often unwilling to share our hurt," Andreae said. "People at Dartmouth aren't vulnerable. These requests are raw and broken. That wall has people writing about eating disorders, about the fact that they cut themselves. I've seen people read the petitions and burst into tears."
Andreae praised the humanity of the students who pray with the petitions in mind.
"It's beautiful that people will intercede on others' behalf," she said. "It's really an act of compassion and selflessness."
Although all of the event's organizers represent Christian denominations, Andreae said the event was completely non-denominational and added that it did not matter whether participants even believed in a God. The other four organizers were Andrew Kim '08, Dana Day '09, Heidi Tan '11, and Annelise Hansen '08.
"We chose not to align ourself with any religious organization on campus, Christian or otherwise," Andreae said. "We felt it was very important not to interfere in student's prayer with any preconceptions."
Specially designated times were allotted for members of each class to pray. The group also held selected vigils for students who wanted to pray for Dartmouth or the world. According to Andreae, these special blocks of time arose from a need to maintain the prayer for a whole week, and were positive in fostering unity among students.
"Prayer is a thing that people always do, but you never see it happen," Eros said. "I mean, people aren't just out on the Green praying together. It's nice to have a place where you can really connect with others."
Andreae said that, even though she believed constant prayer had been maintained, the perpetuity of the prayer throughout the week was not crucial to the event's success.
"The idea behind the event is not about perfect continuity," she said. "Rather, it's about the concept that God is there all the time."
