University Chaplaincy welcomes new chaplains to Tufts community

The Tufts University Chaplaincy, led by Reverend Greg McGonigle, appointed two new chaplains, Muslim Chaplain Celene Ibrahim-Lizzio and Protestant Chaplain Chanta Bhan, this semester. They join the chaplaincy alongside the new Humanist in Residence, Walker Bristol (A'14).

Each chaplain aims to provide accessible spiritual guidance to students and to foster more collaboration among the various religious communities at Tufts.

This summer, Ibrahim-Lizzio served as interim Muslim Chaplain before deciding to adopt the permanent position. While pursuing her Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, she studied Islam in North America and Europe.

Ibrahim-Lizzio said she chose to continue serving at Tufts because she enjoys working with the diverse student body.

“I had transformative years at college, so I know that students are people who are discovering themselves and are open to all sorts of ideas," she said. "Tufts is the microcosm of the Islamic world because there are all types of Muslims here, religious and non-religious."

Ibrahim-Lizzio encourages students, regardless of religious affiliation, to reach out to her.

“I would love to see students drop by or even stop me and introduce themselves when they see me walking by," she said.

Bhan received a Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and has been involved in humanitarian work in Pakistan in support of the Christian community there. She also serves as vice chair of the Cambridge Human Rights Commission and is the founding director of spiritual consulting firm Global Compass.

Her goal at Tufts is to discover and address the gaps in what the Protestant chaplaincy can offer to students, Bhan explained.

“I want to know what the students need and where I can meet them in their needs," she said. "I have already had many one-to-one conversations with many students, where I ask them what they would like to see happen within the Protestant chaplaincy.”

Bhan expressed enthusiasm about her experience at Tufts so far, citing the involvement of students in the chaplaincy.

“Tufts students are incredibly intelligent and active in their community," she said. "I am impressed because, despite the endless opportunities they have, they chose to be part of the Protestant chaplaincy."

The university also added a Humanist in Residence to the chaplaincy, hiring Bristol to assume the two-year pilot position. After graduating from Tufts in May, Bristol is now pursuing a master's degree at Harvard Divinity School.

He said that he became interested in religion after getting involved in the Tufts Freethought Society.

Bristol believes that what separates Tufts students from other students is the passion with which they approach both academics and extracurricular activities.

“Other universities that I have been affiliated with give importance to academics and keep everything else secondary," Bristol said. "I have realized that what makes Tufts students special is that they keep academics at par with extracurricular activities and invest themselves so fully and emotionally in their passions that those passions become their lives.”