Program of Religious Work Includes Priest, Rabbi and Minister

A program of united religious work among students at Cornell University, initiated ten years ago by the Rev. R. H. Edwards, executive secretary of the Cornell University Christian Association, has reached a significant climax with the announcement just made that a priest, a rabbi and a Unitarian minister have joined the permanent religious staff. Rabbi Isadore B. Hoffman has been assigned by the Hillel Foundation to minister to the spiritual needs of Jewish students.

A staff of ten now provides for the special interests of eight religious groups and the general interests of Cornell men as a whole. Cornell thus becomes the first university in America where such co-operative action has been achieved to the same degree, although several other universities have now moved in the same direction.

As an indication of the broad purpose of the newly-completed alliance, the name of the organization has been changed from the Cornell University Christian Association to the Cornell United Religious Work. The change was made voluntarily by the older groups in order to stress the united character of the work performed among the students.

The organization consists of a staff made up of the executive secretary and an assistant and the representatives of the eight religious groups. In the opinion of President Livingstone Farrand, the United Religious Work at Cornell has definitely passed the experimental stage, and in a recent statement he expressed his approval of the co-operative enterprise as follows: “I have followed with hearty approval the steady progress of the United Reliigous Work at Cornell. I am particularly glad to learn that three more religious groups recently have added men to the staff. The plan by which these groups are uniting in a common service to the university, while each maintains its own distinctive program and traditions, has been tested by ten years of effective co-operation here. The united work is conducted under the leadership of Rev. Edwards in a broad, liberal and helpful spirit, and in accordance with the traditions of Cornell.”