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Proposal Letter to Student Affiars
Regarding Meditation Space
The following letter, with 60+ endorsements (see bottom), was delivered to Student Affairs on Friday afternoon, January 20, 2006.
Thanks to all who added their names in support!
From:
Rev. Wakoh Shannon Hickey, MA/M.Div.
Chaplain, Buddhist Community at Duke
Duke University Box 98528
Durham, NC 27708
January 20, 2006
To:
Larry Moneta, Ed.D., Vice President
Zoila Airall, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President
Duke University Student Affairs
102 Flowers Building
Durham, NC 27708
Dear Drs. Moneta and Airall,
I am writing on behalf of many people at Duke who would like to see a stable meditation
space established on West Campus. We are most grateful that you have expressed openness
to such a proposal. We believe a meditation space would benefit many individuals and
groups on campus. CAPS and the Center for Integrative Medicine offer secular meditation
training for stress-reduction to members of the Duke community, and graduates of those
programs need a place to continue their practice. The Buddhist Community at Duke, which I
represent on the Religious Life Staff, urgently needs a stable place to hold its weekly
meetings and store supplies. We also recognize the value of providing an adaptable,
nonsectarian meditation space for the whole campus community: many individual students,
staff, and faculty would appreciate having access to a place for quiet reflection and
decompression that is not overtly religious.
We have identified a place that is under-used and could be ideal for this purpose: one
half of the oval Louise Jones Brown art gallery on the main level of the Bryan Center.
Half of the gallery is large enough to accommodate a small group; the space is centrally
located, enclosed, and wheelchair accessible. It includes electrical outlets and,
apparently, closet space for storage. It does not currently seem to have high traffic.
All that would be necessary to convert the space for meditation would be an acoustical
curtain of some kind that would extend from the ceiling to the top of the wall, to block
background noise in half the space. A small fountain might create a peaceful, restful
environment. Meditation cushions, some chairs, a low table, and signage are the only
other necessary elements. The Buddhist Community at Duke, the Religious Life office, and
perhaps other constituents would be willing to contribute funds. Buddhist groups in the
community may also be willing to donate funds or supplies.
If half of the Bryan Center gallery were adapted for meditation, low-key art that hangs
on a wall could still be displayed there (paintings, photos, fabric art, etc.).
Sculptural art could be displayed in the other half of the space. Our proposal might
actually increase traffic through the gallery section. Although some art might be
displaced, the Nasher Museum now provides many thousands of square feet of additional
gallery space on campus.
Duke is home to many places for Christian prayer and worship; the Freeman Center provides
ample space for Jewish life on campus; and Muslim students have access to a room for
daily and weekly prayers. We commend the University for providing such spaces. The
Buddhist Community, whose mailing list numbers about 250, provides weekly public
meditation on campus, hosts a wide variety of Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachers each
semester, and participates in many interfaith activities. We have been obliged to bounce
from place to place each semester, storing our belongings in my car or whatever campus
closets we can find. We are committed to contributing to eruditio et religio at Duke, and
to participating in interfaith activities, but we need stable meditation and
administrative space in order to do this more effectively. We also wish to promote and
support meditation, which benefits body, mind, and spirit, for anyone who wants to
practice it, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. We believe a
non-sectarian meditation space outfitted with proper cushions and chairs, that can be
adapted as needed for Buddhist services and non-Buddhist groups, would be ideal. That is
why we are advocating not just for ourselves, but for the whole, stressed-out campus
community.
We hope you will agree that half the gallery space in the Bryan Center is well suited for
this purpose and can be adapted at minimal expense. If, for some reason, that space
cannot be so adapted, I will be happy to work with you to identify an alternative. We
urge you to help make this proposal a reality as quickly as possible, and we pledge our
support in that process.
Respectfully,
Wakoh Shannon Hickey
Chaplain, Buddhist Community at Duke and
Exec. Committee of the Graduate Student Association in Religion
This proposal circulated only among the Religious Life Staff and the Buddhist Community,
and received more than 60 endorsements in a few weeks (see below). Support on campus for
the idea is likely to be much broader.
The Steering Committee of the Buddhist Community at Duke:
Shian Ling Keng, Co-President and Trinity College Class of 2007,
Chee Liang Hoe, Co-President and graduate student,
Dept. of Physics, Dept. of Radiology, and Duke Advanced Imaging Laboratories
Forrest Sheldon, Treasurer and Trinity College Class of 2008,
Harold Chen, MA student in Religion, Co-Founder and Past President
Richard Jaffe, Ph.D.
Assoc. Professor of Buddhist Studies, and Buddhist Community Faculty Advisor
Members of Duke's Religious Life Staff
The Revd. Canon Dr. Sam Wells
Dean of the Chapel and Research Professor of Christian Ethics
The Rev. Craig T. Kocher
Assistant Dean of the Chapel and Director of Religious Life
M. Keith Daniel
Director, PathWays at Duke
The Rev. Nancy Ferree-Clark
Pastor, Congregation at Duke Chapel
Rabbi Michael Goldman
Freeman Center for Jewish Life
The Rev. Cheryl Barton Henry
Presbyterian Campus Minister
The Rev. Ted L. Purcell
Baptist Campus Minister
The Rev. Dr. Mark Rutledge
United Church of Christ Campus Minister
John L. Saxon
Unitarian Universalist Campus Ministry Coordinator
Wes Tubel
Senior Staff, Campus Crusade for Christ
Father Joe Vetter
Newman Catholic Student Center
Nathan Ware
Chaplain, The Navigators at Duke, and Class of 2003
Physicians, Faculty and Staff
Counseling and Psychological Services
(Note: the staff endorses a stable meditation space, but did not reach consensus about
any specific space.)
Jeff Brantley, M.D.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Prog., Duke Ctr. for Integrative Medicine
Holly Rogers, M.D.
Counseling and Psych. Services, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor
Jeff Kulley, Ph.D.
Counseling and Psychological Services
Betsy Tuttle-Newhall, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery, DUMC Div. of Transplant Surgery/Critical Care
Carla M. Antonaccio, Ph.D.
Professor of Classical Studies
Owen J. Flanagan, Jr., Ph.D.
James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy
Margaret L. Kirby, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology), Cell Biology and Biology
John Orr
Instructor, Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation
Betsy Alden
Kenan Institute for Ethics
Claiborne M. Clark
Video Producer/Director, Duke University Media Services
Brian Elliott, MS3
Duke School of Medicine
Frances Kerr
Managing Editor, American Literature, Duke University Press
Joanna M. Parker
Coordinator, Bereavement Services, Duke University Medical Center
Angela Scannell
Administrative Coordinator, Duke Student Health Center
Students
Pilar Berg, PA-S
Graduate Health Professions Class of 2006
Sean Burt
Ph.D. candidate in Religion and
Exec. Committee of the Graduate Student Association in Religion
Kim Cocce
Trinity College Class of 2009
Luyuan Fan
Trinity College Class of 2007
Xinguo "Arron" Fan
MEM student, Pratt School of Engineering
Jonathan B. Fisher
Trinity College Class of 2006
Molly Francis
Master of Environmental Management student, Nicholas School
Ted Gilliland
Trinity College Class of 2007
Michael Higgins
Trinity College Class of 2007
Kyle Knight
Trinity College Class of 2008
Sejin Lim
Trinity College Class of 2009, LGBT Center
HunYoung Lee
LLM student, Duke Law School
Alex Maki-Jokela
Pratt School of Engineering, Class of 2009
Sarah Musser
Ph.D. student in Religion and
Exec. Committee of the Graduate Student Association in Religion
Dongjun Park
MA student, Department of Economics
Jimmy Richardson
Ph.D. candidate, Department of English
Peggy St. Jacques
Ph.D. student, Psychological & Brain Sciences
Sarah Schnee
Trinity College Class of 2007
J. Barton Scott
Ph.D. student in Religion and
Exec. Committee of the Graduate Student Association in Religion
Tutanon Sinthuprasith
Trinity College Class of 2008
Amanda Way
Trinity College Class of 2007
Julianne Weinzimmer, M.A.
Ph.D. student, Department of Sociology
Pei Yen
Trinity College Class of 2008
Yuan Yuan
Ph.D. student, Department of Religion
GPSC Representative for the Graduate Student Association in Religion
Community Supporters
Lisa Giannini, CVPM
Veterinary Metrics, Inc., Durham
The Rev. Jeanette Stokes, M.Div. Duke 1977
Executive Director, Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South
The Rev. (Kyomunim) Kim, DukJon and
The Rev. (Kyomunim) Wongong So
Won-Buddhism Temple in Chapel Hill
Additional Endorsements
Tom Hansen
Friend of the Buddhist Community
Bevin Tighe
Duke Universtiy School of Law Class of 2008
-- Your name here --
Please support us this proposal with your endorsement!
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