The Committee on Student Life’s recent decision limits and excludes religious expression at Tufts. The new policy, announced in an op-ed in The Tufts Daily on Feb. 6, prohibits religious student groups from selecting their religious leaders using the religious beliefs the group promotes. We commend the CSL for trying to foster “openness and inclusion” for all student organizations, but their decision undermines this value by excluding some religious Tufts students who wish to organize on campus in a way they see as authentic to their religious convictions.
As Tufts alumni who were involved in the formerly recognized InterVarsity chapter, “Tufts Christian Fellowship,” and as current campus ministers with InterVarsity New England and InterVarsity International Student Ministry, allow us to explain why having leaders who affirm the central beliefs and practices of the group’s religious tradition was, and is, important.
There are numerous different understandings of who Jesus is, including among the roughly one third of the world’s population that self-describes as Christian. Therefore, different groups of Christians across time have come up with specific ways of verbally articulating their faith. InterVarsity chapters articulate our understanding of Jesus in our Doctrinal Basis, commonly held by students on over 500 campuses nationwide that organize with the beliefs and mission of InterVarsity. Protestant and Catholic leaders have affirmed that our Doctrinal Basis is consistent with historic Christian belief. This Doctrinal Basis affirms, among other points, our belief in “The only true God, the almighty Creator of all things, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit full of love and glory;” and “Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, who lived as a perfect example, who assumed the judgment due sinners by dying in our place, and who was bodily raised from the dead and ascended as Savior and Lord;” and “The indwelling presence and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all believers a new life and a new calling to obedient service.” Believing in this God is not just about upholding certain tenets of religious dogma, but about embracing a transformative new life brought through God’s very presence. This is the God who leads believers by living within and among them. This is the God we want our leaders to follow.
Because the mission of the group is to be a community where students can grow in relationship with this God, leaders need to themselves be growing in relationship with this God. Those who believe in this God, and are being led by this God, are able to authentically lead their peers in following this God and help new believers enter into that relationship. InterVarsity student leaders don’t just have functional roles like secretary or treasurer, they serve in religious roles where being exemplars in faith and character is paramount. In asking leaders to uphold the Doctrinal Basis, InterVarsity students are not aberrant, but rather in-line with the myriad of examples from Scripture and the history of Christianity that affirm the need for Christian leadership for Christian community. Selecting leaders for ourselves who believe in our God is crucial to living out our faith and promoting it together as students here.
We understand that not all Christian students would articulate their faith in the same way we do, nor would many students who are part of different faith or philosophical traditions. That’s okay! We hope all students will have the opportunity to organize at Tufts around their religious or philosophical beliefs, and desire the presence of multiple such organizations to thrive at Tufts through religious practice and discussions surrounding faith and life. Tufts will only be the inclusive and diverse community we all want it to be when it fully welcomes all faith and philosophical communities.
A group of Tufts students first organized “Tufts InterVarsity Christian Fellowship” in 1946 because they wanted to follow Jesus together as students at Tufts in a way they saw as authentic to their faith. Though numbers have fluctuated from under ten to over one hundred ten, Tufts InterVarsity students have across the generations continued to stay true to their beliefs while fostering an environment where all students are welcome to explore God and consider for themselves the claims of Jesus Christ. For many years, students have come to Tufts with these beliefs, or taken them up during their time here, and have desired to practice and promote them together as a vibrant part of the diverse Tufts community. There are students currently here, and more to come, that desire the same. Let’s welcome these students, and all students who desire to practice their religion at Tufts, with open arms. In some cases, that means allowing religious students to explicitly organize with religious leadership.
The new CSL policy unfortunately denies these religious students the freedom to authentically organize around their faith at Tufts. Why deny their ability to reserve meeting rooms on campus? Why prevent their student organization from contributing to campus diversity? Why make them feel singled out as unwelcome at Tufts? That is not promoting openness and inclusion for students of all religious beliefs. That is not embracing authentic diversity. That is a policy of religious exclusion, and it is inconsistent with Tufts’ ideals.
