As school dawns near, a cause for concern grows inside my heart. Montclair State University proudly plays up their campus diversity. And when it comes to their LGBTQ+ efforts, they have a right to be proud. But Diversity is about more than sexuality and gender identities. Montclair is also largely diverse in their cultural groups. Asian, Caribbean, Chinese, German, Haitian, Hellenic, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Muslim, African American, Native African, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish students have organizations representing their cultures.
Montclair is diverse in both cultures and the LGBTQ+ community. But I have noticed when it comes to Religion, Montclair State does not provide as many diverse programs as they claim they do. Montclair State University has a Center for Faith and Spirituality that is Located in the Student Center. I have visited this center and found it to only have resources for four religions. Christianity, Muslim Religions, Judaism, and Buddhism.
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I am a Wiccan. This means I worship a God and a Goddess and that I also worship nature and all its creatures. As a Wiccan student, I feel extremely unrepresented by the Center for Faith and Spirituality, as well as Montclair State. The Center’s flyers and Facebook profile photo display a coexist wheel. These wheels neglect to include Wiccan and Pagan religious symbols. I cannot speak for my fellow Wiccan and Pagan students, but I know this is unsettling for me.
There are several associations for representing Christian students. As well as groups for Muslim and Jewish students. When you search deep enough, you can find that there may have been a Pagan Student Union group. But there is no information to be found on this group anywhere on the internet. There is also evidence of an Earth Spirituality Club. But when you go to the Facebook link provided it brings you to a blank error page. All links found for both groups lead to blank error pages.
I am going into my third year at Montclair State and have not once seen an effort to include Wicca and Paganism in the campus environment. There is no space for Wiccans to be able to set up their altar and perform my worship rituals without having to feel uneasy and exposed with a fear of the campus police being called for a “disturbance”. I personally don’t feel comfortable joining those “All Are Welcome” seminars, because, to me, it feels like they really mean “All Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Students Welcome”. There are no Wiccan or Pagan representatives in the Center for Faith and Spirituality. In fact, there are only Christian and Jewish Ministers on the Board for the Center. No representatives of other religions. A large handful of their interfaith group talks listed on the school page included topics on God, therefore only being relevant to Christian and Jewish students.
The Center for Faith and Spirituality has an online Virtual Religion Index. It has information on different religions as well as philosophy and theology theories. Sadly, there is no information or references to Wicca. And when you search 'Pagan', there is one link to another website that has a link to another website, which is an out of date library database. And when you search Pagan there, you get a list of irrelevant articles on Buddhism and Anglo-Saxon’s. If you search for Wicca, you get no results at all.
Wicca became a nationally recognized in 1985 after a court case in Virginia and is protected since then under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Wicca became a recognized religion by the U.S. Armed Forces in 2007 after Wiccan Armed Forces members were originally denied the right to place a pentacle on their military issues headstones. And for the 2016 and 2017 years, the New Jersey Board of Education has included Wiccan holidays on their schools’ calendars, making Wiccan holidays valid in all New Jersey schools. So if the state of New Jersey can recognize Wicca as a religion, why is Montclair State still falling behind. Wicca is not a taboo religion that needs to be hidden.
At a school that claims to be totally diverse, Wicca is still being oppressed. Wiccans should be able to have a safe place to worship outside of the dorms. Dorms are not sufficient for proper worship and rituals. Wicca also needs to be included more in the Center for Faith and Spirituality. I plan on reaching out to the Center, but I feel that this issue needs to be addressed by all Wiccan students at all college campuses. As Wiccan students, we have to fight for our rights to be validated. It is time to come out of the shadows.
