<p>Re Yale: Old Campus, where the freshmen live, contains a chapel.</p>
<p>I looked at the responses in that thread and found this even more disturbing. How can people make these assertions. āI have been in the chapel several times over the last couple of months and there are no religious symbols.ā There is a GIANT stained glass window of Jesus and LOOK at the building. You can google it and see there is a large stained glass window with a cross right in the middle of the building. How can you claim there is no religious imagery.</p>
<p>Maya54, I wasnāt trying to make any assertion regarding your claim. I was simply pointing you to a thread where it had been discussed and some opinions that had been shared, especially by UVa students regarding Jewish life at UVa. I would encourage you to contact the admissions office at UVa and let them know about your experience. They need to know if you were given a response that was not acceptable to you and your daughter. Given the date and location they will know who gave the presentation that day.</p>
<p>Thanks blueiguana, that is a good idea.</p>
<p>The term ānondenominationalā unfortunately has a couple of different usages. We commonly refer to different Christian sects, particularly protestant ones, as denominations, e.g. Lutheran, Methodist, etc. Nondenominational therefore often means Christian but not specific to any particular denomination. This would clearly apply to the nondenominational chapel at UVA. If it has a large stained glass image of Jesus itās definitely Christian, but is presumably not specific to any one Christian denomination.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the term nondenominational seems to also be used by some to mean religious but not specific to any particular religion. I personally prefer the term inter-faith for this meaning. Itās clearer, especially since I donāt think we ever use the term ādenominationsā to apply to non-Christian religions. The university where I went to grad school has an āinterfaith chapelā and itās used by Christians, Jews, Muslims et al. Needless to say, it is not furnished with any cross, stained glass Jesus, menorah, etc. Some of the groups that use the chapel have some portable religious symbols which they bring out when they are holding a service, and put away afterwards.</p>
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<p>The old joke, in the days of quotas on Jewish students (1920-50ās) was, " if you can read this, donāt bother applying here".</p>
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<p>As a Rochester alum, I heard that when I attended there. The Interfaith Chapel is completely non-denominational and religious symbols are brought in for the appropriate services and is extremely respectful of other faiths.</p>
<p>At many colleges, chapels are used for public events just because of the space they provide. But, I have to say that UVA should be more explanatory to prospective students about this, and certainly the reaction of the administrator to that visitor is appalling. I also read the reply from Dean J on the UVA thread and I thought his tone was pretty dismissive of the OP on that thread.</p>
<p>I google imaged UVA chapel, and clearly there is a cross on top and in the stained glass window on the front of the building. I could not find a close-up of the stained glass at the alter area, but from afar it looks like a figure of Jesus. From the outside, it is a beautiful building.</p>
<p>One tidbit: One of the reasons why the President of William and Mary was fired was because he tried to remove the cross from a prominent place on the most historic building on campus.</p>
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<p>Thank you for mentioning this, jandjdad!</p>
<p>I would expect to see religious imagery in a Jesuit school. I would not expect to see it in a public school. The presence of permanently installed religious imagery on a public school campus sends a message . . . and an administratorās obliviousness to the presence or potential impact of such imagery sends an even clearer one.</p>
<p>nice description of the distinction, weather</p>
<p>One more distinction, but not related to this specific case (I hope). Where I live (PNW) nondenominational usually means MORE conservative Christianity as the predominant denominations here are Lutheran, Episcopalian, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian (not as many Southern Baptist and Assemblies of God). The nondenominational churches are usually the mega churches with the sound and light shows that skew towards obeying your husband and vocal media opposition to homosexuality.</p>
<p>This is a picture of the stained glass in the chapel. It certainly looks like it is depicting a Christian theme, if not Jesusā¦
[Stained</a> Glass Window: University of Virginia ChapelāCharlottesville VA | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=āhttp://www.ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā /photos/71288712@N00/387261508/]Stainedā>Stained Glass Window: University of Virginia Chapel--Charlā¦ | Flickr)</p>
<p>That is Mary - you can always tell because she is ALWAYS pictured in a blue robe and nobody else ever is. The inscriptions says that it was given in memorial for a wife and mother who was named Mary.</p>
<p>Ok, so we are arguing about a piece of art, hanging in a building that no longer holds services that was a donation from a former studentās family? Oh, and just an FYI, pretty much every Catholic Church in the nation has Hebrew/Jewish imagery in the church buildings. Again, non-issue unless you choose to make it one, which obviously you are. How exactly is this piece of art affecting your education? How many classes do you take in that building, how often do you go INTO that building?</p>
<p>Oh look, [Home</a> - Brody Jewish Center at the University of Virginia](<a href=āhttp://bjcatuva.hillel.org/home.aspx]Homeā>http://bjcatuva.hillel.org/home.aspx) . They have a hillel on campus tooā¦</p>
<p>I really donāt mind that there is Christian imagery on campus. As maya said, as I said, as many other posters said ā¦ itās the obliviousness to it when you use that building for a tour. Just a quick mention, just a quick acknowledgment was all that was needed. Iām not suggesting they tear down the cross or the Jesus stained window. </p>
<p>And if for some reason they had a general tour or orientation in the Hillel building, Iād expect them to acknowledge the religious theme; to mention that there are a variety of religious organizations on campus, etc. And at least if someone asks, to not go āhuh? what religious theme? This building doesnāt have any religious theme!ā Iād count that as obliviousness, too.</p>
<p>Just as I would expect Christian imagery in a CHAPEL on campusā¦</p>
<p>Yes, the Adcomm was oblivious, but to discount an entire school base one one comment seems a little overboard to me.</p>
<p>Saintfan, The Hillel is not representing itself as a non-denominational chapel. When a picture of Mary is depicted in the chapel the chapel is clearly not non-denominational and should not be represented as such. The chapel might be a non-denominational Christian chapel but it is not a non-denominational chapel. If so, there would not be any Christian symbols. I can understand why someone that is not Christian would question this chapel as being described as non-denominational. UVA should also be aware of this.</p>
<p>Thatās just it, SteveMA. For you, it seems overboard, because you are clearly not a member of a religious minority in this country. For those of us who grew up with swastikas being painted on Jewish kidsā lockers, or whose kids were told when they were five that they were going to hell because they didnāt believe in Jesus, well, the obliviousness of the entire Admissions office of a public school is in fact really problematic.</p>