While the Universalist roots that anchored the nascent Tufts University to the hill may no longer be as pervasive as they once were, some Tufts students continue to embrace an evolved Unitarian Universalism for its liberal values and welcoming ideals.
"I would contend that there is still a Unitarian Universalist (UU) presence at the University today," University Chaplain Reverend David O'Leary said.
According to Reverend Hank Peirce of the UU Church of Medford, present-day Unitarian Universalism is a liberal, "non-creedal" religion with Protestant ties, in which the teachings are open to individual interpretation.
"UUs embrace the belief that revelation isn't sealed," Peirce said. "Wisdom and insight into the mystery of life have occurred both within and outside of all the books of scripture and are still occurring."
The religion was founded in 1961 as an amalgam of the Unitarians and the Universalists. Universalism was seen as a refreshing alternative to the more stringent Unitarianism, which was based heavily on Protestant values.
Whereas Harvard was Unitarian, Tufts leaned more toward the liberal Universalism. "That built in rivalry," Peirce said.
According to Peirce, Tufts was started by several Universalists who were dissatisfied with the "conservative, upper-crust" attitude perpetuated by Unitarians and other "biblical literalists."
Hosea Ballou I was one of the first Universalists to push for the establishment of a Universalist university. Dissatisfied with the educated ministry at Harvard, Ballou appealed to the Universalist Church of America to establish a university-level learning institution. The church looked to the hills of Medford, Mass. as a suitable starting place.
While the influence of Ballou I helped the University to come into existence, Tufts' first president, Hosea Ballou II, is credited with truly perpetuating the family name on the Hill.
"[Tufts] was the first college started by someone who wasn't a Congregationalist," Peirce said. "This really puts into perspective the lock in that sort of Puritan mindset at the time."
After the establishment of Tufts in 1852, several other Universalist benefactors built Universalist colleges in the New England area, which include St. Lawrence College, Goddard College, Westbrook College and Dean College.
Like many universities, however, the religious presence of Tufts' founding fathers has since diminished.
"Once a University has its own board of trustees, it becomes another legal entity," O'Leary said.
O'Leary said he also attributed the school's failing Universalism to the decline of the Chandler School of Theology in the late 1960s.
According to Peirce, Tufts' interest in increasing resources and enhancing reputation came at the expense of its ties to the religion.
"Tufts fell into the pattern that many other colleges and universities did - catering to the people with the most money," Peirce said.
Since the merger of 1961, however, Universalism in the form of Unitarian Universalism has continued to play a role in campus politics, both directly and indirectly.
"Most colleges in Boston have roots in religious tradition somehow," O'Leary said. "Now the question is how connected or loyal are those roots today."
O'Leary gave the example of a lecture from Reverend William Sinkford, the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), last October in Goddard Chapel as one of the UU activities on campus. According to O'Leary, the lecture was such a success that he plans to coordinate an annual lecture from a UU speaker each year with the help of Sinkford.
"Reverend Sinkford and myself both want to strengthen the connection between both entities, Tufts and the UUA, by having them sponsor an annual lecture," O'Leary said.
Senior Erik Kesting, who was raised UU, is a member of the student group Tufts Unitarian Universalists (TU3). According to Kesting, the group meets intermittently to perform a variety of social and worship activities.
"We'd get together for lunch, dinner, just to talk," Kesting said. "It's about building a sense of community."
Throughout his four years at Tufts, Kesting has worked at the UUA headquarters in Boston as an administrative assistant for the office of young adult and campus ministry. Next year Kesting will be studying religion at the Harvard Divinity School.
Reverend Peirce said he works closely with TU3, meeting with them several times of the year and offering his own guidance as students embark on their spiritual journeys.
"For folks in a faith that can be as diverse and divergent as ours, to find a community and to find people who are supportive is very important," Peirce said.
Recently the group has reached out to UU students from other area universities including Harvard, Northeastern and Boston Universities. Last fall, Tufts hosted the first in a series of collective worship services attended by the collective.
While many of the students in TU3 were raised UU, many became interested in the religion due to its non-creedal status as well as its notoriously longstanding concern for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.
"[The legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts] has given us the opportunity for us to educate ourselves around those issues of gender identity, sexuality and reminds us of all the other issues around race and class that we still have yet to tackle," Peirce said.
Peirce said he spent all of last May - the month when gay marriage was officially legalized in the state of Massachusetts - officiating same-sex marriages, free of charge.
"The liberal values of democracy that we find in our faith are also interwoven in the institutions and liberal institutions," Peirce said.
Kesting reiterated Peirce's notion that Unitarian Universalism has a place among college students questioning their own spiritual identities.
While UUs may not ascribe to a book of answers like the Bible, the religious questions in and of themselves are of the greatest value, Kesting said. "We need to be out there saying, 'You have questions, we have questions too! Let's get together and think about them.'"
