In 2009, the old Spiritual Life website went live. For that first year, we were a virtual office. No space, but a lively website (redesigned in 2015), and then the people followed.

Creating a Spiritual Destination

Rockefeller Chapel has been the hub of spiritual and religious life at the University of Chicago since 1928. Resembling a medieval cathedral in appearance and size, Rockefeller is also the locus of a major arts program. It continues to host gatherings of many different spiritual and religious traditions.

Spiritual Life became a separate but connected office in 2009, when Dean Elizabeth Davenport established it as a program addressing spiritual and religious diversity. In 2011, Jigna Shah joined her as Assistant Dean of Rockefeller Chapel and as the first director of Spiritual Life (and also as the first person from a tradition other than Christian to hold a dean’s title at Rockefeller). Tahir Abdullah was appointed Assistant Director of Spiritual Life and Advisor for Muslim Affairs in 2012.

We collaborate with religious advisors and campus partners to offer resources specific to particular traditions. And we accomplish all of this before noon each day. Just kidding—we need our coffee first.