At the beginning of this semester, the new meditation and prayer room was revealed in Landis House. This room now hosts a more private, secluded area than the previous meditation room in the HUB underground. The new prayer and meditation room has windows (an upgrade from the basement!) and keycard access, which provides more security to minority religious students on campus. The meditation and prayer room is used for all religious and spiritual practices from all faiths; however, Muslim students in particular are in need of these rooms, as Islamic practice requires five daily prayers. Having a clean, private area to pray is necessary and will be beneficial for these groups to have.
The meditation room in the HUB underground was notorious for multiple incidents of the room being unsanitary, with food, drinks (including alcohol) and trash strewn about. During the 2022-2023 school year, there were multiple incidents where students made YikYak posts about having sex, particularly threesomes, in the mediation room. Fathima Mohammadi ’27 stated that in the 2023-2024 school year, she went to the mediation room to pray and walked in on students having sex. Another student, Camilla Chakir ‘’27, stated how she found ‘bodily fluids’ on one of the prayer mats. Mohammadi stated that on multiple occasions, MECA’s items stored in the former meditation and prayer room were vandalized, removed, and moved in the room. Chakir echoed this, as well.
Both Mohammadi and Chakir recalled the administration’s lack of accountability with the meditation and prayer room. Chakir stated that she submitted multiple BERT (bias education and response team) reports. Both students addressed their concerns in the student senate, and found that the administration was less than responsive. Both recall the difficulty during the interim period when CSSJ had no director. However, Chakir and Mohammadi state that the arrival of Dr. Rev. Jessica Chapman Lape provided direction and stability, especially regarding a safe and clean prayer space.
Chakir said, “one of the highlights of my day is praying.” It provides Chakir with a safe place to practice her faith. Mohammadi reiterates this by saying the prayer room recognizes Muslim students on campus. As it is a recognized prayer and meditation space, it is utilized for that purpose, and there is less opportunity for students to use it for recreational activities. With a recognized multifaith prayer and meditation room, there is recognition of the building space but also the students practicing.
