Boston University officials agreed to meet with Hindu students advocating for a permanent prayer space in Marsh Chapel and the School of Theology.
After four meetings last year, members of the Hindu Students Council secured a meeting with Marsh Chapel Dean Robert Hill and possibly other officials to discuss the students’ proposal for a permanent space in the basement of Marsh Chapel, where many Hindu students go for prayer, and a number of rooms in STH.
The HSC has wanted a prayer space for the last five or six years, executive board members said.
“We have a closet in the basement of Marsh Chapel and have to stuff everything in there – all the murtis, all the candles, all the prayer books,” said Karan Assudani, HSC vice president, during a phone interview. “Many times we have to store them in our own apartments because of limited space. Sometimes when we transfer murtis in our own suitcases, [and] they break as they’re too heavy to carry.”
Assudani, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said Hindus are a larger minority on campus and have been taken advantage of as a peaceful people.
Rajan Zed, a national advocate for Hindu rights from Nevada, said BU should respond to its students and build a prayer-meditation hall for rituals, according to a statement made Friday and cited in a press release.
The statement said more than 350 students at BU practice Hinduism.
Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, described students’ having to store images of deities in a basement closet after weekly services as borderline sacrilegious. The space would be a step in the right direction for the large numbers of Hindu students on campus.
CAS junior Akshata Sahasrabudhe, co-president of HSC, said the group submitted an official proposal last year to Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore after meeting with him in May.
“There have been scheduling issues, but we have been in contact with [Executive Director of Student Activities and Operations] John Battaglino to try to see what kind of prayer space is available,” Sahasrabudhe said in a phone interview. “John says it’s a long term goal and can’t be achieved soon.”
Sahasrabudhe said other spaces on campus, like the new East Campus Student Services Center, have taken priority over the religious space.
Elmore said exclusive spaces are hard to create because of space issues.
“Space is something we deal with all the time,” Elmore said. “Particularly, as we get more students from around the world coming here, where aspects of culture are deeply tied with religion, we are seeing more participation in religious activity.”
Elmore said he looks favorably upon the idea of students having a place where they can engage in their religious practices.
Hindu students are able to pray together one hour each week, Sahasrabudhe said. About 10 students attend the weekly pujas, but more than 100 attend the larger pujas.
“A prayer space would help not just for praying but for our weekly and monthly discussions,” she said. “More people would be interested, increasing attendance.”
Elmore said administration tries to accommodate all religious groups.
“We’re trying to problem solve right now,” Elmore said. “It’s not just the Hindu students. There are Buddhists. There are a lot of Christian students. The hard part is space . . .. It’s got to be appropriate spaces for people.”
Elmore said he and Hill are working with students to provide more space.
“I think people know one of my agendas is [to] really push for better ways that we can have appropriate ways for people to . . . engage in faith,” Elmore said.
Hill said BU is working to address the space issue actively.
“There are lots of problems in life that don’t have solutions, but this is one that will definitely have a solution over time,” he said in a phone interview.
Manisha Mahtani, a member of HSC and a sophomore in the School of Management, said she hoped the request for a prayer space doesn’t die down.
“A permanent space would be nice and would give the club a sense of consistency,” Mahtani said in a phone interview. “As a member, it’s difficult to know where the next puja is going to be because the location changes.”
Rasika Murali, a freshman in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and a member of HSC, said she would attend more regularly if there was a permanent space.
“It would be nice to know where to go and have a place comfortable for everyone,” Murali said in a phone interview. “I’ll be more motivated to go.”
Steph Solis contributed to the reporting of this article.
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