Syracuse University website promotes 'pagan-curious' student group that practices 'ritual' and meets in university chapel

Syracuse University is currently promoting a weekly meeting for a “pagan” student group that meets to practice rituals in the University’s chapel. 

On Syracuse University’s website, a promotion for the University’s “Student Pagan Information, Relations, and Learning (SPIRAL),” is asking students to join the group in the “safe space for Pagans, Pagan-curious, and Pagan-friendly people.” 

The University description of the SPIRAL group meeting states that students engaging with the group will “come together in community to discuss ideas, practice ritual, and to expand their knowledge of the many Pagan faith traditions.” 

Listed under a webpage for Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel, the SPIRAL group lists further activities and descriptions of meetings that they offer students. 

Amongst the various events listed that the group organizes are weekly meetings that run for two hours and provide students with “Time for meditation or group practice.” 

Additionally, the pagan student group has a recurring meeting on the first Tuesday of each month, called the “SPIRAL Skill Chill” where students are asked to “join SPIRAL members as they walk you through a new practice or hands-on activity.” 

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Each of the listed events are held in “The Small Chapel in Hendricks Chapel” at Syracuse University. On a separate university webpage, The Small Chapel is described as narrow and “does not have windows and includes a small worship center.” 

Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel is described as “the spiritual heart of Syracuse University, is the student-centered global home for religious, spiritual, moral and ethical life,” and is a “home for all faiths and place for all people.”

SPIRAL is also listed under Syracuse’s “Religious and Spiritual Life Groups” and the University’s website adds that each religious groups on campus works together “as part of the Student Assembly of Interfaith Leaders (SAIL).”

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SAIL is described as a “setting for students of all backgrounds, with the trust that such efforts will foster and support an inclusive, accessible campus community of opportunity for a richly diverse student body.”

SAIL also has listed goals, including that it aspires to “develop interfaith leaders” and “strenghten all participating religions and spiritual life groups.” 

Campus Reform has contacted Syracuse University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.