| Kay celebrates 40 years ‘His vision came true’ by sally acharya Classes hadn’t yet started, and freshman Aishah Ma’ruf was still learning her way around campus when she ventured into the Kay Spiritual Life Center one quiet August evening. The New Jersey political science major was reading aloud from the Koran in the lounge when the sounds of the AU Gospel Choir drifted down from the chapel. For a while, her reading mingled with the music. “It was so beautiful—not only the sound, but just the idea we were all in the same space, and all worshipping in our own way,” says Ma’ruf. 
Photos by Jeff Watts
Members of the Kay family gather at the 40th anniversary celebration; from left, Al Policicchio, Shelley Kay, Kenny Greenberg, Kevin Baker, Jack Kay, Barbara Green, Rick Pollin, Alvin Statland, Charlotte Statland, Beverly Halpert, and Stuart Halpert.
Among the speakers were, from top, AU university chaplain Joe Eldridge, AU rabbi and Hillel director Kenneth Cohen, Monsignor Michael Fisher of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, United Methodist bishop James Matthews, and AU Methodist chaplain Mark Schaefer. |
For 40 years, the Kay Spiritual Life Center has served as a spiritual home to the AU community. At times, it’s a quiet place for reflection. At other times, students mingle in offices and spread across the floors. Some may have come to discuss the Bible. Others may be planning a Hindu festival. Still others may be organizing a week to raise awareness about genocide in Darfur. To all of them, these are spiritual pursuits. And some students not only practice their own beliefs; they learn about the beliefs of others. Ma’ruf, for instance, has not only found a sense of community with other Muslims, but has attended Jewish and Christian services, and will soon be off-campus roommates with a friend in the Catholic choir who she found shares many of her values. These are the kinds of things, says Jack Kay, that would make the center’s namesake happy. Kay’s father, Abraham Kay, watched as a child as Jews like himself were killed in pogroms, and fled to America with his family. “I remember him telling me he just didn’t want to see people of any faith, including his own, face injustice and intolerance,” says Jack Kay, who accompanied his father at the 1963 groundbreaking shortly before the elder Kay passed away. “His vision was that people of different faiths could peacefully sit down and associate and even pray with each other. That way, if they got to know each other, they wouldn’t fight.” The Kay Spiritual Life Center opened its doors 40 years ago. It quickly became a gathering place for peace activism, with chaplains conducting draft counseling, and students seeking relief from tear gas attacks during antiwar protests. The years brought more students of diverse backgrounds, so that Kay now has more than 30 chaplains serving Baha’is and Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs, Jews and Muslims, Unitarians, Catholics, and Protestants. “There are two types of students who are drawn here—folks who are seekers of deepening the spiritual reality of their lives, and students who not only want to study the world, they want to change the world,” says AU chaplain Joe Eldridge. Among those who find spiritual fulfillment in seeking justice is Corina Parkwell, who spends many hours a week at Kay working for the Community Action and Social Justice Coalition, a student group with a long tradition at Kay. “It’s my second home,” she says. “I never thought I’d find as strong a community as I did at AU, and I never thought it would be tied to a religious place. But after being at Kay, it makes sense.” For sophomore Travis McArthur, his time at Kay is so central that it “takes first or second priority. It’s probably right at the level of all my academic commitments,” says McArthur, whose advocacy work helped him win an Oxfam internship. “It’s been invaluable in allowing me to obtain the skills that I’ll need in the future.” Social activists headquartered in Kay’s lower level often work with faith groups from neighboring offices—collaborating with Methodists on labor and human rights issues, with Hillel to raise awareness about genocide in Darfur, and with Christians in Chi Alpha Fellowship on hunger issues. 
Jack Kay talks with students. Sophomore Haig Kherlopian, active in Chi Alpha, frequently drops by the sanctuary in his free time for prayers. He’d prayed for guidance when making his college decision and felt his prayers were answered at a retreat when he met an AU alumni who told him about spiritual life on campus. Still, “I was surprised about the community of religious people, especially Christian people, coming here,” he says. “I didn’t really expect that. Everyone is coming [to services and activities] on their own. They’re not forced by their parents.” The opportunity to grow in one’s faith while connecting with others of different faiths was important to Abraham Kay, says grandson Kenneth Greenberg. “He was a very progressive thinker. He loved people and didn’t care what their specific background was,” says Greenberg, whose parents continued the family’s longtime AU connection by funding the Greenberg Theatre. “There is so much animosity and tension in the world today it’s nice to have a place where young people can get together in such a peaceful, spiritual environment.” At the Kay Spiritual Life Center, says Jack Kay, “his vision came true.” 
The AU Gospel Choir performs. |
