March 28, 2025
Recently, Lucy Gonzalez, a communications associate at Hendricks Chapel, asked some of Hendricks Chapel’s hospitality associates about their role at the chapel. Hendricks Chapel hires several (up to 50 per year!) hospitality associates to help with events and cover the welcome desk. Here’s what Lucy heard from some of our student employees:
Continue ReadingWorld’s largest Jewish college organization convened campus leaders, for the 2024 Global Assembly, recognized extraordinary leadership efforts.
Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, honored outstanding Hillel professionals and campus Hillels for their exemplary efforts in supporting Jewish students at colleges and universities. The awards were presented during the 2024 Hillel International Global Assembly (HIGA), an annual gathering of Hillel professionals from around the world.
Hillel International awarded Syracuse Hillel with an Excellence Award, which celebrates success achieved in a specific area of Hillel work, whether through the strengthening of a local relationship or the creation and solidification of new or existing relationships.
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Last night, Eboo Patel, the founder and president of Interfaith America, shared his vision of what the future can hold for our country and our world. To a crowd of nearly 300 community members, he shared several messages of hope and responsibility to weave us together.
Continue ReadingSarah Willie-LeBreton, the 12th president of Smith College and daughter of Syracuse University’s first Black full professor, department chair, and vice president, Charles Willie G’57, H’92, will serve as featured speaker for the 40th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse University.
Continue ReadingAn ongoing tradition hosted by Hendricks Chapel and the Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Syracuse University, “Holidays at Hendricks” celebrates the sounds of the season and is anchored by the Hendricks Chapel Choir and its director José “Peppie” Calvar, professor of applied music and performance and assistant director of choral activities in the Setnor School.
Continue ReadingOn Nov. 23, 2024 the Hendricks Chapel food pantry was dedicated and renamed as the Coach Mac Food Pantry just before Coach Mac’s induction into Syracuse Football‘s Ring of Honor. We are so grateful to our wonderful campus partners and generous donors. Special thanks to Newhouse School at Syracuse University alum Sean McDonough ’84 and the entire MacPherson family!
Continue ReadingBy Dara Harper
Rabbi Ethan Bair and Imam Amir Durić, chaplains at Hendricks Chapel, model how friendship and understanding can transcend and transform adversity. Through the Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Fellowship they co-founded, Bair and Durić have helped the Syracuse University campus community unlock the potential of religious and spiritual diversity, and their shared efforts are receiving national recognition.
Each year, Interfaith America, founded by Eboo Patel and known as one of the nation’s premier interfaith organizations, chooses exemplary leaders as Interfaith Innovation Fellows. Out of over 200 applicants across the country, both Durić and Bair were chosen. The Fellowship awards grant funding to leaders with an inspirational vision for social change. Durić and Bair will network with cohort members, learn from one another’s projects, participate in a retreat geared toward professional development, and work with mentors at Interfaith America. Along with Durić and Bair, nine other Fellows representing various worldviews and projects were also named as Fellows.
After Bair and Durić first met at a Hendricks Chapel retreat in 2022, they perceived potential not just for their friendship but for the opportunities to continue the interfaith work they both valued. “Interfaith work has always been a priority for me,” said Bair. “Amir and I really only knew each other for a year before we created this Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Fellowship and applied for our first grant from Interfaith America. I’ve been an ordained rabbi for 15 years and have dedicated myself to interfaith work in every position I’ve held. What’s new is being able to work with an ordained Muslim imam who shares so many of my values. That is a blessing.”
Continue ReadingWhen an anonymous donor family pledged $1 million to Hendricks Chapel and issued a challenge to inspire other donors to match it, no one could foresee the extraordinary outpouring of support for what is widely known as the spiritual heart of Syracuse University. The donor family promised an additional $1 million if the challenge could be met. Since last March, more than 2,500 donors stepped up to meet—and exceed—the challenge, raising $1,757,496.
That brings the total funds raised as part of this campaign to more than $3.7 million, significantly amplifying the impact of the initial pledge. “Hendricks Chapel is such an important part of the Syracuse experience for not only our students and alumni, but for faculty, staff, parents and friends,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “This outpouring of support is the direct result of the good work Hendricks Chapel does every day to foster belonging, friendship and acceptance within our campus community. It is truly in the spirit of Hendricks Chapel that so many who benefited from its programs made gifts to support a strong interfaith community for the next generation of students.”…
Thursday, September 26, 2024, By Kelly Homan Rodoski
Richard “Dick” Phillips G’63, G’65, dean emeritus of Hendricks Chapel who led the chapel through the 1980s and 1990s, died July 10 in Colorado. He was 90.
A native of Missouri, Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Northwest Missouri State University in 1957. He earned a master’s degree in theology from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, in 1960 and became a Methodist minister.
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Portrait of Richard “Dick” Phillips that is displayed in the entryway of Hendricks Chapel
By Dara Harper
Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University is excited to introduce Rev. Julie Kelly as Lutheran chaplain. Rev. Kelly will join Hendricks Chapel’s growing team of 15 chaplains, who collectively represent various religious and spiritual identities.
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