Past Stillman Hall and Frank Dining Hall, a road winds into the forest, leading visitors to Chapel House. The exterior is simple, made of stone and colored glass. Inside, the building is split into three parts: the window-bracketed entrance hallway, the quiet, multifaith Meditation Space and the House, which contains a dining area, music room, guest rooms and library. In the back, accessed through the entrance hallway, sits the recently-installed Meditation Garden.
Though these spaces are available for individual use, Chapel House also frequently hosts group events. Guided morning and afternoon meditation, where student leaders walk their peers through sessions, occurs throughout the week. “Reading Café,” a quiet time dedicated to literature, stretches over a few hours on Sundays. Every Wednesday, students gather in the House for “Chili with Lily,” an event where attendees can eat vegan chili and play with Lily, a therapy dog. Chapel House also holds events in partnership with academic departments, such as “Soup and Recoup” with Colgate’s religion department.
Chapel House also offers overnight retreats for Colgate students and guests from around the world. These retreats focus on exploration and curiosity. They are largely unstructured, allowing guests to be unhindered while they sate the desires that led them to Chapel House. The only matters on the schedule are lunch and dinner, which are home-cooked, vegetarian meals served in the dining room. Guests can speak with each other during this time, or if they choose, take their meal to the music room to be alone. Guests, whether Colgate students or outsiders, can also choose to join events like “Chili with Lily” or the student-led guided meditation.
Whether around campus or within the walls of the house, Chapel House allows guests to detach from their responsibilities. They can relax through prayer or simple self-reflection, or with a good book and plush chair. Regardless of religious affiliation, anyone searching for healing is welcomed with open arms.
Sophomore Judah Robbins Bernal has been attending Chapel House events since his first year at Colgate.
“I’ve been going to the Chapel House since I arrived on campus last fall, and it quickly became one of my favorite spaces on campus,” Robbins Bernal said. “I’ve been there for group meditations, day-long retreats and also just cozy evenings with a good book.”
Georgia Frank, professor of religion and interim director of Chapel House, organizes and attends many of the aforementioned events. Her passion for Chapel House transcends the building itself; although she eagerly shows curious guests around each space, she cares about how visitors experience Chapel House — or Chapel House-sponsored events — and what they get from it.
“There’s a doctor who — in the middle ages — whose basic philosophy of wellness [and] health was that you need Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merrymaker,” Frank said.
“Dr. Diet” refers to the consumption of foods and drinks that, past the purpose of sustaining life, satisfy both the body and mind. ‘Chili with Lily’ and ‘Soup and Recoup’ are two pursuits toward this aspect of wellness.
“Dr. Quiet” is as it sounds: the need for quiet. Some people may find a solitary quiet to suit them — an introvert’s break from other people — while others prefer to sit with their own thoughts in a room of others doing the same. Chapel House’s guided meditations and ‘Reading Café’ offer each kind of quiet.
“Dr. Merrymaker” or “Dr. Joy” may be both the simplest and most difficult. Through its various events, kind staff and inviting spaces, Chapel House does its best to provide students the opportunity to discover happiness for themselves.
Altogether, Chapel House promotes this sense of “whole” wellness, where a person’s base cravings for food, quiet and joy are satisfied. There, wellness isn’t limited to the physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual. It intertwines them, offering peace for every part of a person if they want to take advantage of it.
“People say that they like to come here because meditation has become part of their routine and it’s a space where they can count on having a break before a lab,” Frank said. “[You] knew in the moment what you wanted to be doing. You don’t need to come up here for us to tell you what to do.”
Chris Vanderhoef, a sophomore who works at Chapel House, offers a similar perspective.
“I would probably say [Chapel House] is a place where I can step away from the busyness of college life and truly relax in the present moment,” Vanderheof said. “In my experience, Chapel House is truly a gift, providing a space for much-needed restorative time.”
Robbins Bernal shared his experience with new events hosted by Chapel House.
“Recently they’ve made new efforts to get involved with campus life through ‘Recoup and Soup’ and ‘Chili with Lily,’” Robbins Bernal said. “Together these events have been a great source of community and contemplation, and also a great way to avoid [Frank Dining Hall] for two-thirds of my Wednesday meals — for free! Most importantly, Lily is awesome! As these events are getting off the ground, I’d love for more of my peers to experience the great services and community that the chapel house has to offer.”
Chapel House as a building and a program is comfortable, intellectual and spiritual. It’s also what a person makes of it. Some students only ever come to do schoolwork. Others meditate every morning and afternoon and attend retreats on the weekends. All methods of utilizing the space are equally welcomed. Only the individual knows what they need in matters of wellness, and Chapel House and its staff are just here to help students on their individual journeys.
