Members of Choate's Hillel Club gather to celebrate with music and other festivities in the Spears Common Room PHOTO/Contributed Photo

With Passover and Easter within the past few weeks

but no reprieve from work, many Choate students wonder

why classes are not cancelled for religious holidays.

To Mr. Ford, the answer is simple: “We don’t give days

off for national holidays, either. We don’t give days off,

period, becuase we’re a boarding school, and when we’re

in session, we want our students to be going to school.

The concept is that, as a boarding school, we remain in

session unless we’re on a school holiday.”

Students who request an excused absence from

school because of religious faith are granted that, of

course. Rev. Trister, Head of Campus Ministry, also emphasized

the impracticality inherent in giving days off for

religious holidays. “Some people say, well, it’s Passover,

why don’t we shut down? But then we’d be showing

preferential treatment, and we would have to shut down

for all relgious holidays. If we did that, we’d be here all

year,” Trister said.

Despite the school’s unwillingness to give the entire

community a day off to observe a religious holiday,

students of all religious practices are encouraged to take

days off for religious purposes if necessary. Rev. Trister

reiterated that while the school does not feel the need to

give everyone a day off for a specific religious holiday, the

school accommodates students’ needs as long as they are

able to make up missed assignments.

Support on Campus

For those who would rather go to class, many options

exist on campus to participate in religious activities. The

campus ministry makes a concerted effort to support the

religious needs of students to the best of its ability. “We

want to make it possible for those students who can’t go

home for, be it for a seder or for Easter services, to still be

able to observe religious holidays. We wanted to support

them by having services on campus. We do things very

quietly, but we’re here. There are a lot of us doing a lot of

different things,” Mr. Trister commented.

Aramark also contributes to the effort of honoring

various religious practices. For example, the dining hall

devoted a table during Passover to food acceptable for

consumption under the holiday’s standards. Lily Cohen

’07 described the table, saying, “I thought the food was

no better or worse than the normal dining hall food. It’s

nice to know that the school respects people’s different

religious needs.” Even some non-Jewish students ate

from the Passover table, selecting matzo and diced cheese

instead of regular sit-down lunch fare.

Unique Approach to Religion at Choate

Many religious groups on campus also meet weekly,

providing students with additional outlets for expression.

These groups included such as Hillel, Christian Fellowship,

and an alternative spiritualities group that recognizes

several outlying religions. In addition, Buddhist

meditation meets weekly on Wednesdays in the chapel.

Choate’s policy of not giving days off for religious

holidays fits the norm among non-denominational boarding

schools. Choate differs from many others, though, in

its commitment to supporting the religious needs of its

students. “I think we do a great job, and I would like to

think that our peer schools do the same, but something

tells me that they don’t. I don’t know exactly how we

compare, but what pleases me is that we try really hard,

and we’re concerned about providing as much support

as we can,” says Rev. Trister. “I think it’s a symbol of our

dedication that the administration wants to make sure

that there is always a minister, priest, and rabbi on hand,

as well as other faculty members who are here to work

with the different religious groups on campus. I think

it’s important to the life of the school.” According to Rev.

Trister, some of the other boarding schools do not have

a priest, rabbi, and minister, and most do not offer the

religious groups and events that Choate does.

Open to New Practices

Trister summed up the school’s eagerness to provide

assistance with religious groups in saying that, “If a group

of Hindi students came forward and asked me, as Head

of Campus Ministry, to do something for them, you bet I

would. We would be happy to do that.” Despite Choate’s

reluctance to give students a break from trekking down

to the science center, the school is more than willing to

accommodate any and all religious needs.