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Atlantic
18-05-2025
- General
- Atlantic
The Staying Power of the College Chaplain
On May 24, 1961, the Yale University chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr. led a group of Freedom Riders on a 160-mile bus ride from Atlanta, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregation laws. The voyage and his subsequent arrest turned Coffin into a national figure in the fight for civil rights. Yet even as he made headlines, Coffin remained committed to another, quieter aspect of his role as a college chaplain. Over the course of his 18 years at Yale, he spent virtually every afternoon counseling students. They discussed relationships, academic worries, theological questions, and—for those eligible—the prospect of being drafted into the Vietnam War. A priest first and foremost, he considered it 'a great privilege' to enter what he called 'the secret garden of another person's soul.' Today, at a moment when young people are much less likely to say they're religious, you might think that the demand for college chaplains would be on the decline. But recent evidence suggests that the opposite is true. Although a 2022 report from the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly 40 percent of young adults do not identify with any established religion, college students are actually attending religious-life programs in larger numbers than they have in decades, and many colleges and universities have more chaplains, some volunteer and some paid, than they did in the early 2000s, James W. Fraser, a professor emeritus of history and education at New York University and the author of the forthcoming book Religion and the American University, told me. Many of these chaplains are taking inspiration from Coffin: They're reimagining what a spiritual leader can be in order to better meet the needs and beliefs of their students—many of whom, religious or not, still crave a sense of belonging, meaning, and purpose. For centuries, religion was central to American university life. Many colleges were established as divinity schools and led by presidents who doubled as ordained ministers, John Schmalzbauer, a religious-studies professor at Missouri State University who studies chaplaincy and campus ministry, told me. But in the early 20th century, a great number of those institutions began shifting their focus from ministry to research, and college presidents started to devote less of their time to spiritual life. In their place, universities hired chaplains to preside over daily chapel services and offer moral guidance to students. The shape of the college chaplaincy transformed multiple times over the next several decades—first during the Coffin era, when it became a platform from which to advocate for social justice; and again in the late 1970s and '80s, when the social movements of the '60s lost steam, academic communities became significantly less religious, and the college chaplaincy shed some of its previous status. Modern college chaplains, deans, and directors of religious life have taken on a new grab bag of duties. In addition to leading forms of worship and talking with students about their faith, as they always have, many chaplains also help students navigate housing insecurity, safety threats, and campus protests. Although the position was once thought of as a 'defined pot,' Kirstin Boswell, Elon University's chaplain and dean of multifaith engagement, told me, it is now more an interdisciplinary 'web.' The chaplains themselves are also much more diverse. Whereas the chaplaincy was once dominated by white Christian men, many today are women or people of color, and they come from a range of religious traditions. Of the 471 chaplains recently surveyed by the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education (ACSLHE)—the nation's largest membership organization for university chaplains, directors, and deans of religious and spiritual life—6 percent said they don't identify with a major religion, and 2 percent said they don't believe in God at all. Chaplains' primary work is still counseling students, but many approach these conversations with more openness than their predecessors did. Reporting this story, I spoke with about a dozen college chaplains and campus-ministry experts across the country, several of whom sit on ACSLHE's board. Citing their own experiences, which are backed up by a robust body of research, they explained that most modern-day chaplains both engage with established religious practices and embrace alternative forms of spirituality or self-care, which can be as varied as coloring sessions, friendship courses, and nature walks. Some students might see 'the religious center as a place where someone would try to convert them,' Vanessa Gomez Brake, the senior associate dean of religious life at the University of Southern California and the first atheist-humanist to occupy that position at a major American university, told me. But chaplains today tend to draw from a range of texts and traditions, rather than proselytizing their own beliefs. For less-religious students, some of their first conversations about spiritual matters may be with chaplains. At a stage of life when they are figuring out who they are and what they believe, many undergrads are likely to find themselves in a 'hardwired body, mind, and soul spiritual growth spurt,' Lisa Miller, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University, told me. Although religion is by no means necessary for navigating this growth spurt, it has historically served as a helpful starting point for many students. Until relatively recently, most American families were religious to some degree, which fostered 'a de facto spiritual life in the air and water of our culture,' Miller explained. Regardless of their own religious beliefs, many teens used to arrive on campus with a 'backpack of spiritual and religious practices.' Today, many show up having never prayed. Perhaps because of students' lack of exposure, contemporary college chaplains say they 'have never felt more needed,' Schmalzbauer, of Missouri State, told me. Having devoted their lives to service and existential inquiry, chaplains can be well positioned to advise religious devotees, the spiritually curious, or just the average young person beset by angst. Their guidance might help undergrads as they sort through any number of uncertainties, whether about God, school, friendships, romance, family, or their undecided futures. 'Students need someone who will hear them, who will sit with them, who will be present with them, and who won't be on their phones in front of them,' Nathan Albert, ACSLHE's board president and the chaplain at the University of Lynchburg, told me. Of course, the help college students need is sometimes beyond what chaplains are trained to provide. Recent data show that Gen Z is, by some measures, the loneliest generation in the United States, and that rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation on university campuses are at a peak. 'These kids achieve to very high levels, they jump through the hoops, they get to college, and then they're left wondering what it's all for,' Jennifer Breheny Wallace, the author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It, told me. Universities aren't blind to the pressures students are under, and many have made student wellness a priority. This may be one reason more schools are investing in religious and spiritual life, Schmalzbauer, NYU's Fraser, and others told me. But crucially, as Schmalzbauer explained, pastoral care is not the same thing as psychological counseling. Chaplains can occasionally end up in tough spots, particularly as demand for mental-health care has outpaced the supply of therapists and psychiatrists on college campuses. Varun Soni, the dean of religious life at USC, told me that most of his students are dealing with routine anxieties, which he feels comfortable talking through. Yet he also meets with some students experiencing depression and suicidal ideation. For these more serious cases, Soni and his colleagues work closely with the university's mental-health center and even walk students to a counselor's door themselves. This isn't to say that chaplains don't have a role to play in improving student health and well-being. Research from Columbia University's Miller and others has found that spiritual development is associated with protection against depression and substance abuse, and with setting young adults up for healthier relationships, more purposeful work, and greater emotional resilience. In recent years, some schools have paired chaplains with therapists and counselors to provide 'preventative mental health care,' Wendy Cadge, the president of Bryn Mawr College and founder of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, told me. Yet, unlike mental-health professionals, the chaplain's goal is not to treat students, but rather to help them find community, meaning, and a reprieve from the grind. 'People want to feel loved for who they are and not what they do,' Chaz Lattimore Howard, the university chaplain and vice president for social equity and community at the University of Pennsylvania, told me. Whether or not they believe in God, they 'want to be reassured that it's going to be okay.' In a world where so much may not seem okay, college chaplains say they can help students—not via certainty or quick fixes, but as Coffin once did: by tending to their inner lives.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dixie Bowling Lanes hosts fundraiser bowl event
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) — People come out to bowl at Dixie Bowling Lanes for the annual Bowl for Our Children Fundraiser. The event helps raise money for children who have experienced abuse or have been neglected. Valley Arts4All to return in Sayre in May More than 20 bowling alleys were taken up with around 100 people participating with four bowlers per team. The proceeds from the event will go to the Chemung County Child Advocacy Center. First time bowler of the event Justin Coffin said how he was impressed by the turnout. 'I didn't know what to expect, being our first time, and so I'm really excited that it did. I don't know if I would say surprise, because it's a good cause, and so that part is exciting. I didn't have any idea what to expect,' Coffin said. Raffle items in the images above were donated by businesses around Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben and Tompkins Counties for the event. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BBC News
04-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Trump tariffs: How island of penguins and seals ended up on list
Two tiny, remote Antarctic outposts populated by penguins and seals are among the obscure places targeted by the Trump administration's new and McDonald Islands - a territory which sits 4,000km (2,485 miles) south-west of Australia - are only accessible via a seven-day boat trip from Perth, and haven't been visited by humans in almost a Trump on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping import tax scheme, in retaliation for what he said are unfair trade barriers on US products. A handful of other Australian territories were also hit by the new tariffs, in addition to the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard, the Falkland Islands and The British Indian Ocean Territory. "It just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from this," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on the rest of Australia, the Heard and McDonald Islands, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are now subject to a tariff of 10%. A tariff of 29% was imposed on the Norfolk Island, which is also an Australian territory and has a population of about 2,200 Island, though, is barren, icy and completely uninhabited - home to Australia's largest and only active volcano, Big Ben, and mostly covered by is believed the last time people ventured on to Heard Island was in 2016, when a group of amateur radio enthusiasts broadcasted from there with permission of the Australian Coffin, from the University of Tasmania, has made the journey to the surrounding waters seven times to conduct scientific research, and is sceptical about the existence of major exports from the island to the US. "There's nothing there," he told the far as he knows, there's only two Australian companies which catch and export Patagonian toothfish and mackerel icefish. What is in abundance, however, is unique and spectacular nature. The islands are listed by Unesco World Heritage as a rare example of an ecosystem untouched by external plants, animals or human impact."It's heavily colonised by penguins and elephant seals and all kinds of sea birds," said Prof Coffin, who studies the undersea geography of the recalls observing from afar what he thought was a beach, only the sands "turned out to be probably a few 100,000 penguins"."Every time a ship goes there and observes it, there's lava flowing down the flanks [of Big Ben]," he said, describing it sweeping over ice and sending up steam. It's hard to get a clear picture of the trade relationship between the Heard and McDonald Islands and the US. According to export data from the World Bank, the islands have, over the past few years, usually exported a small amount of products to the US. But in 2022 the US imported US$1.4m (A$2.23m; ) from the territory, nearly all of it unnamed "machinery and electrical" US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for with many governments around the world, the tariffs have frustrated Australia's leaders, with Albanese saying they are "totally unwarranted" and "not the act of a friend."
CBC
02-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
After 4 years, 2021 N.L. election challenge will be heard in court
After four years of moving slowly through the courts, two people will have their day in June over the 2021 chaotic Newfoundland and Labrador election. In a judgment issued by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday, the trial date has been set for June 16. The lawsuit stems from when Alison Coffin, the former Newfoundland and Labrador NDP leader who lost her seat in to St. John's East-Quidi Vidi to Liberal John Abbott, alleged that issues during the last provincial election — including special ballots — resulted in her right to vote being denied. The other plaintiff is Whymarrh Whitby, a St. John's man who claims he never received a ballot for the election and wasn't able to vote. The defendants in the case are former chief electoral officer Bruce Chaulk, electoral officer Sherry Morrissey and Abbott, who is currently running to become leader of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, and by extension the next premier. "Overall, I am satisfied that this matter is ready for trial," Justice Garrett Handrigan wrote in his judgment. He did accept that the defendants — particularly Abbott — want some matters addressed ahead of the trial, but he believes that can be resolved before the trial is scheduled to take place. "The plaintiffs have shown by their application that they have 'crystallized' their evidence, that the defendants are informed of it and that it is a well-appointed, concise packet that they will rely on at trial," wrote Handrigan. Three candidates — Coffin and PC candidates Jim Lester and Sheila Fitzgerald — have been calling for a new byelection in their respective districts since 2021. Arguing for trial On March 20 the judge heard the applicants. Coffin and Whitby, represented by lawyers Will Hiscock and Lori Wareham, argued they were ready for the matter to go to trial. However, lawyers for Elections Newfoundland and Labrador and Abbott argued it was too late for a the controverted election application to go to trial, as a new general election is likely months away. In Handrigan's judgment, he said that Abbott is "adamant that this matter is not ready for trial. Generally, he submits that the plaintiffs have failed to provide a coherent and comprehensive basis for their claim. He submits further that he does not know the case that he has to meet, despite his repeated requests and demands of the plaintiffs." Abbott, according to the judgment, also alleges that Coffin and Whitby have "not been diligent in meeting his requests for disclosure of evidence." In their memorandum of facts and law, Coffin and Whitby argued "the issues in this matter are fundamental and constitutional rights of the plaintiff." As a provincial election must happen this year, they say delaying their trial "risks an increasing likelihood the plaintiffs will be denied a remedy to their claim is successful."
CBC
12-03-2025
- CBC
70 years after he was hanged for murder in Quebec, family hopes his name can finally be cleared
Social Sharing Jim Coffin's mom wouldn't buy newspapers and kept the radio station fixed on the country music channel. She would keep her son away from the small black-and-white TV and sneak him out of the house using the back door. For the first 11 years of Jim's life, he had no idea reporters would stand on his lawn, waiting to ask questions about his father who was found guilty of murder in a high-profile case and subsequently executed in 1956. He knew his father was dead, but was told he had died in a car accident. It was only on a trip back home to Gaspé, Que., when that version of events was shattered. "Some of the kids were teasing me about my dad dying and hanging," said Jim, 77, who now lives in Sechelt, B.C. "I just lost it… that's when my mother told me what had really happened. She said she couldn't keep me away from it any longer." On Feb. 10, 1956, at the Bordeaux prison in Montreal, Wilbert Coffin was hanged for the murder of 17-year-old Richard E. Lindsay. Despite his conviction, he went to his grave swearing he had nothing to do with the murder of the young American tourist. The case captured the public's attention much like a true crime mystery, spurring theories and inspiring the publication of books, podcasts and movies — several suggesting a wrongful conviction. Nearly 70 years later, the fight to clear Coffin's name continues as a new miscarriage of justice review commission gives his family hope. Family had faith in the system Three years prior to Coffin's execution, three Americans — a man, his son and a friend — went missing in the woods while out on a hunting trip in Gaspé. Their remains, ravaged by animals, wouldn't be found for weeks. Police turned to Coffin, who helped in the search in 1953. He became the last person known to see the men alive — and then the sole suspect Coffin admitted to having met the men and helped them when their truck ran into mechanical problems before their disappearance. He also admitted to being in possession of some items stolen from the victims. A jack of all trades and a prospector who knew the Gaspé woods like the back of his hand, Coffin became an "ideal suspect," says Kathryn Campbell, criminal defence lawyer and professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. She says former Quebec premier Maurice Duplessis likely felt the triple homicide would have a negative effect on tourism from American hunting associations. "He needed to solve this homicide quickly," said Campbell. She doesn't represent the family, but has researched the case and produced a podcast about it. "It just seemed like a foregone conclusion from the beginning that he was going to be convicted and he was going to be hanged and it would be a message to the Americans." She claims the government was pushing the police for a resolution and Coffin was an obvious and "vulnerable" suspect. The "hallmarks" of a miscarriage of justice were evident, she says — police tunnel vision, judicial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. "His family had faith in the system," said Campbell. "They thought, 'well, he didn't do it, so he's not going to be convicted, right?'" The jury unanimously convicted him of the murder of the youngest victim, sentencing him to hang. Coffin was not held responsible for the death of the other two Americans. The attempt to appeal Coffin's sentence was unsuccessful. In 1963, Montreal journalist and politician, Jacques Hébert, published a book — J'accuse les assassins de Coffin — raising doubt on Coffin's guilt and helping launch the creation of a provincial commission to look into his conviction. The controversy was so great that in 1964, the Brossard Commission convened to investigate the case and heard from hundreds of witnesses. It eventually determined he received a fair trial. In 2007, amid mounting pressure from Coffin's family and supporters, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion calling for a swift investigation into the case. Nothing much came from the largely symbolic motion. The federal Justice Department did not answer CBC's questions regarding the outcome of the investigation. In an emailed statement, it said out of respect for "individual privacy, we cannot provide any information on specific criminal conviction reviews." Previously, the justice minister would decide if a case could be retried or sent back to a Court of Appeal if they believed a miscarriage of justice likely occurred, says Campbell. "That was government making decisions about cases that had gone through government. So there was a conflict of interest," she said. But a new bill passed in December 2024 looks to move the review process for cases away from the justice minister and give it to an independent commission dedicated exclusively to miscarriage of justice reviews. Imposing a full-time chief commissioner and four to eight other full-time or part-time commissioners, the federal government says Bill C-40 will make the process easier, faster and more fair for the potentially wrongfully convicted. In an email, the Justice Department confirmed it will be able to look at posthumous cases like Coffin's, but it declined to comment on when the commission will be established or how it might choose cases. 'You never really get over it,' says 94-year-old sister Marie Coffin-Stewart tries to remember her older brother as a kind soul and a good cook with a sense of humour. But the way he died changed his legacy. "You never really get over it … this has been a horrendous nightmare all my life," said Coffin-Stewart, her voice breaking. Clasping her hands together, she said she never "dreamt that it would end as it did." At 94 years old, Coffin-Stewart has never let up in her conviction that her brother was not what the government painted him out to be. She maintains he was a "scapegoat" and hopes that now, after all these years, Canadians will start to understand how this case was mishandled. Coffin's lawyer did not call on any witnesses and did not have him testify. Coffin-Stewart says her brother was transferred to Quebec City jail before his execution in Montreal. "To say it was a shock is putting it mildly. We couldn't believe it," said Coffin-Stewart. The last time she saw him was in prison, through a sheet of glass. "I couldn't hug him. I couldn't hold him, touch him," said Coffin-Stewart. "The next time I saw him, he was in the casket." One of 11 siblings, all of whom have since passed away, she says the circumstances of her brother's death haunt her. "There's no way that he could have killed those Americans and I think it's about time that something is done and that the public should be aware," said Coffin-Stewart. WATCH | Marie Coffin-Stewart recalls visiting her brother in prison for the very last time: Decades after Wilbert Coffin was hanged for murder, his family is still trying to clear his name 3 minutes ago Duration 7:13 Advocates say a new federal review process could be the breakthrough they're waiting for. The CBC's Matthew Kupfer explains. Legal non-profit hopeful new commission will help The family's campaign to clear Coffin's name officially started when Innocence Canada connected with them about 15 years ago. A Canadian legal non-profit organization, Innocence Canada advocates for the wrongly convicted and has helped exonerate 30 innocent people since 1993. Director James Lockyer hopes the organization can demonstrate that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred — and provide another reminder about the dangers of the death penalty, which was abolished in Canada in 1976. "The wind in our sails for moving the case forward as best we can is the family members," said Lockyer. "It's just a case of coming up against this locked door that we haven't been able to get in." That locked door refers to documents from the Brossard Commission. Although it generated materials previously unavailable and interviewed people who did not testify at the trial, Lockyer says a lot of the work was placed under a ban. "Heaven knows why this is. We're not talking about state secrets here," said Lockyer. "I've never run into a locked door like this before and you have to say to yourself, 'why is it there in the first place?' "Makes me highly suspicious." Just recently, Lockyer says the organization enlisted the help of a new Quebec City lawyer to review French and English material which might help its case. Unable to get material Lockyer thinks would enable them to challenge Coffin's conviction, he says the new federal commission — likely given subpoena and investigatory powers — will be able to obtain access. 'I don't want to die the son of a convicted murderer' With doubt circling Coffin's conviction, several theories have popped up over the years. A 1986 Radio-Canada report suggested several people may have seen a Jeep potentially carrying a separate group of Americans. One man told Radio-Canada he thought the licence plate looked like it was from Pennsylvania. The court did not take this into consideration. Another theory suggests a Quebec man, Philippe Cabot, might be responsible for the triple homicide. In 2006, years after his death, his daughter Micheline Cabot told Radio-Canada that her brother admitted he was witness to their father running over one of the Americans with his car and shooting the two others with a firearm. Micheline's brother, Jean-Gabriel, and her father, Phillippe Cabot, were both dead at the time of this revelation, which is hearsay and not receivable in court. Jim Coffin says he wants to see his father's name cleared in his lifetime. He says some police files about the case have been sealed for 99 years. Quebec's Justice Ministry did not respond to CBC's request for clarification regarding the duration or reason behind the restrictions. "I'm gonna live long enough to make sure that they see [the files] open," said Coffin. "If he could walk up to those gallows, I can stay around.
