Introduction by the Editor: On Dartmouth’s Compulsory Chapel

Here follows Editor-in-Chief Matthew O. Skrod’s introduction to The Dartmouth Review’s themed issue of May 11, 2023: “The Religion Issue.” Links to the articles which appeared in that edition of The Review are provided below Mr. Skrod’s introduction.

The cornerstone of Dartmouth’s commitment to religion lies in its charter’s avowal to Christianize students, and, to be sure, in the early years of its existence the College thoroughly embraced and employed its foundational ideas of Christian education. However, as the College modernized, particularly from the late 19th century, it began to shift and intensify its focus towards academics alone, thereby paying increasingly less heed to Christian theology and practice. Of course, at the time of my writing today, the College no longer actively endorses one religion. Nevertheless, religious life—in various faiths and traditions—can be readily found across campus, as we hope this issue of The Dartmouth Review shall demonstrate in part. In broader terms, we at The Review have created this themed issue to present to our readership a variegated glimpse into religion and religious life at Dartmouth.

The College is so visibly historic an institution that many current undergraduates are doubtless led to ponder in what fashion and with what concerns Dartmouth students a century or two before us traversed the very campus, the very Green, on which we tread today. In any fair estimation, the word “ran” is probably the best description of what those students were doing—running, that is, to their daily “compulsory chapel,” which traditionally began at 6:00am.

For students of many generations, compulsory chapel was the crux of religious life at the College. It was an institution at Dartmouth from its founding under Eleazar Wheelock in 1769 all the way through the fall term of 1925, when the requirement was lifted under President Ernest Martin Hopkins.

Chapel as a practice was begun in Dartmouth Hall and in the early 19th century was moved to a wooden, free-standing edifice adjacent to Dartmouth Hall. In 1885, “chapel” was moved again to the newly constructed Rollins Chapel, whereafter it started to become inordinately bureaucratized. This effect was heightened when Rollins underwent two expansions—in 1908 and 1912—to accommodate fast growth in the student population. An orderly was ultimately employed to escort students in and out of Rollins, and card systems were used to monitor attendance records. The students made their opinions on these processes known by their public irreverence for chapel. This irreverence extended to chronic tardiness, even absence, and bringing “books, papers, conversation, dogs, and other disturbances” to chapel. In response, the College tried to make amends, reducing attendance requirements and shortening the length of services; however, these actions failed to lastingly quell students’ dissatisfaction.

Perhaps surprisingly, the chapel director at the time, Reverend Roy Bullard Chamberlain, greatly favored the abolition of compulsory chapel. He recalled that “daily services were worse than a joke … the men would cough, read books and magazines, and talk with one another. Even during the Sunday services, when some very excellent musical programs were given, there was always the feeling that the lid might blow off at any minute.” Chamberlain maintained that shifting to a voluntary basis was the only acceptable solution to the chapel problems. Ultimately, President Hopkins acceded to that view and ended the practice of compulsion in 1925. Upon its dissolution, a Dartmouth tradition was assuredly lost, albeit to few complaints.

Student attendance at services subsequently became only some three percent of the student body. However, Reverend Chamberlain was more pleased with his chapel services and audiences, which he felt had improved. He suggested that the “undercurrent of unrest and boredom was by no means peculiar to Dartmouth. The same thing will be found wherever compulsion exists. I would rather have 50 interested men coming here willingly than 1500 coming because they have to, sitting through the services mad.” Chamberlain rightly held that compulsion is incompatible with “satisfactory religion.” Indeed, compulsion prevents the development of genuine interest and thereby proves a hindrance rather than a help in advancing the cause of religion.

As religious and spiritual life at Dartmouth has diversified through the years, that same notion has held strong in application. Dartmouth today offers an abundance of spaces and opportunities for religious growth and understanding of which students may avail themselves if and when they so choose. These are options which may be explored and experienced out of personal interest and at any time. It seems to me that this makes commitment all the more rewarding for a student. Moreover, students who appear regularly at meetings of religious organizations do so because they derive some value from it. Theirs is not passive but meaningful involvement, the sort from which they gain some deeper understanding. It is thus that the question of the number of participants is itself largely immaterial.

In this themed issue of The Dartmouth Review, we present articles discussing religion and religious life on campus, both past and present, although this is only a small sampling. We hope you enjoy.

(Quotations from “Dartmouth Chapel Slimly Attended,” The Boston Herald, January 17, 1926.)