The mission of the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life is to support Occidental students, faculty and staff in their pursuit of a vibrant and meaningful religious and spiritual life while engaging religious pluralism with a commitment to mutual respect, awareness and dialogue.
We encourage students to consider how their spiritual development intersects with their intellectual growth. The office hosts a variety of events including retreats, study breaks, opportunities to engage in spiritual practice including walking the labyrinth every Wednesday, the Interfaith Thanksgiving Lunch, and the Interfaith Baccalaureate Service. For more information about our events, visit our events page.
Resources for Food Insecurity and Economic Hardship
The Office for Religious and Spiritual Life has compiled a list of resources for individuals and families experiencing food insecurity or economic hardship due to the pandemic. If you have information about additional resources that we can add to this list, please contact Rev. Dr. Susan Young, the Director for Religious and Spiritual Life, at young@oxy.edu. Our office has tried to confirm that the information provided here is as up to date as possible. Please notify Rev. Dr. Young if you find that any of this information is inaccurate.
The Spring 2025 Values and Vocations Fellowship
The Values and Vocations Fellowship provides students the opportunity to explore the intersection of spirituality and social justice by volunteering with a community-based organization and participating in a weekly seminar. The seminar allows students to explore their passion for social justice and their need to develop a spiritual practice that will help to sustain a lifelong commitment to social justice.
- Read more and download the application
-
The Office for Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) will award up to five Values and Vocations Fellowships for the spring 2025 semester. Fellows volunteer 8 to 10 hours a week at a community organization. They also spend two hours each week attending a reflection seminar facilitated by Rev. Dr. Susan Young, Director for Religious and Spiritual Life. During the seminar, fellows engage in small group exercises, contemplative practices and discussions about religion, spirituality, social justice, community engagement and vocation. Fellows must demonstrate a commitment to interfaith respect, dialogue, and relationships. Students receive a study grant of $1,000 per semester for participating in the program.
To apply for the Fellowship, students must: (1) submit a written application and (2) participate in a fifteen-minute interview. The Values and Vocations Fellowship application consists of two parts. Part one is the student application and part two is the faculty reference.
Students may submit their application by emailing it to Rev. Dr. Young at young@oxy.edu or by dropping it off at our office located in Lower Herrick. Faculty members are asked to complete a reference form rather than writing a formal letter of reference. Faculty should submit their reference to ORSL directly by either: (1) emailing it to Rev. Dr. Young at young@oxy.edu; (2) dropping it off in a sealed, signed envelope to the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life in Lower Herrick; or (3) by mailing it in a sealed, signed envelope to the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life.
Interested students should contact the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Financial Aid Office to determine how receiving the $1,000 semester stipend may impact their financial aid package.
The deadline for the student application and faculty reference is Friday, January 31, 2025. Rev. Dr. Young will contact applicants to schedule the interview after receiving their application. Please click on the link below to download the student application and faculty reference form.
Policy on Academic Accommodations for Reasons of Faith and Conscience
As Â鶹ÊÓƵ strives to provide a gifted and diverse group of students with a total educational experience of the highest quality, we recognize that the student body includes adherents of many faiths and students who passionately believe their ideology. As our student body becomes more diverse, it is increasingly important that we, as an inclusive community, make academic accommodations for students from a variety of religious, spiritual and cultural backgrounds and personal convictions. View the full policy and the procedure for requesting accommodations for reasons of faith and conscience.
View a list of religious and spiritual holidays and days of conscience.
NetVUE Regional Conference
Â鶹ÊÓƵ was pleased to collaborate with the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) to host a regional conference "Voices from the Margins: Supporting Vocational Exploration with Underserved Students" on January 16-18, 2020. The conference was focused on how to foster meaningful vocational exploration with underserved college students