Editor’s note: Sara Klein is the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs.
In regard to the article entitled, “Religious Student Organizations Upset with ‘Unfair’ Treatment” published on October 5, 2018, I wanted to provide some clarification and insight.
The article indicated that ‘Stevens Administration’ is not providing an office, prayer space, or storage for religious organizations in Alexander House when it opens. It is true that an office will not be provided – the only student organizations with office spaces in Alexander House are those who depend on an office for operations. This includes the media organizations (newspaper, radio station, yearbook), SGA, and the Honor Board. Space is limited, so most student organizations will not receive an office space. To my knowledge, many organizations do not fully utilize their existing offices in Jacobus for much beyond storage space, and all student organizations who need it will receive storage space in the Alexander House basement, including religious organizations.
The article also referred to the President’s email in November 2017, which communicated that a quiet space for meditation and prayer would open in Alexander House. Soon after that, Stevens became aware of significant concerns in the Alexander House basement that made it cost prohibitive to allow occupancy on the basement level. Therefore, the amount of usable space in Alexander House grew much smaller, and many spaces that we had hoped to offer in the facility had to be cut or scaled back. At the time when this took place, I personally communicated this change to the SGA, as well as to all student organization representatives throughout the past year at various meetings and in numerous informal conversations. It was our preference to have the additional space for student prayer and meditation, but we could not have predicted the significant cost to add the basement level to the Alexander House project.
The Office of Student Life has always made accommodations and prioritized space for religious groups on campus to offer opportunities for student prayer. As far as I’m aware, this is a practice that has happened consistently for many years, and will continue in the future. Just the week before the article was published, I asked a member of the Student Life team to reach out to the religious groups who typically reserve space for prayer to determine the needs for the space we will have in Alexander House as we will be prioritizing booking student organizations with prayer needs in the reservable spaces. It has been, and it will continue to be the priority to secure space for student prayer to the extent that we are able. We have also offered a storage closet in Alexander House solely for the storage of prayer mats.
It was disappointing to hear that students in our religious organizations feel that the administration is ‘resistant’ to meeting their needs. I can assure you that is far from the truth. I am always open to speaking with students, and would appreciate for students who have concerns to reach out to me or another staff member in Student Affairs for assistance and support. It is of the utmost importance to me that students from all backgrounds feel included and comfortable on our campus.
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