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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3162 notes).

Note 3160 by UMNS on Sept. 10, 1996 at 16:21 Eastern (4765 characters).

SEARCH: center, religious, freedom, Virginia, Wesleyan, school
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Green                          446(10-22-71B){3160}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470            Sept. 10, 1996

Virginia Wesleyan College establishes center 
for study of religious freedom and tolerance 

                 By United Methodist News Service

     In an effort to educate its students about their religious
rights, United Methodist-related Virginia Wesleyan College,
Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Va., announced Sept. 5, establishment of a
Center for the Study of Religious Freedom.
     Also reported was an anonymous gift of $1 million and a grant
of $250,000 from the Alison J. and Ella W. Parsons Foundation of
Norfolk, Va. The gifts will be used as seed money to finance the
activities of the new religious study center.
     Jane Batten, chairwoman of the school's board of trustees,
said the center is expected to provide "the education and
foundation needed to counteract prejudice and promote the
principles of spiritual coexistence and understanding." Education,
she said, is critical to meet the challenge of religious tolerance
in a multi-cultural world.
     College President William T. Greer Jr., said the center will
create opportunities for short-term and long-term study of
religious freedom and will enable people of many faiths to
recognize their common qualities through open discussion, debate
and study. 
     The new facility will co-sponsor a variety of college courses
and integrate all of its functions, including conferences,
lectures and workshops, with the college's curriculum. The
Center's academic programs and other undertakings will be
interdisciplinary and interfaith in nature.
     A director will be named and the center's first courses will
be offered at the beginning of spring semester of 1997. The staff
will consist of college faculty. One of the center's first tasks 
will be to create a professorship in "World Religions."
     Programs will be designed to give the college's more than
1,500 students opportunities to learn the founding principle of
religious liberty. " Every person, protected by disinterested
government vigilance, has the right to believe and practice any
religion, or to refrain from belief and practice," says the
Center's mission statement. The statement also declaress that the
founding principle of religious liberty is  "fundamental to human
freedom and essential to the foundation of human rights throughout
the world."
     As plans for the religious study center were unveiled, Greer
said that Virginia Wesleyan's identification as a United
Methodist-related college and as a liberal arts institution
provide "an ideal environment" because "historically the Methodist
Church has advocated tolerance and acceptance of religious
diversity." He said college faculty and administrators met with
representatives of the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and
Hindu communities before establishing the center.
     Scholars with reputations in a variety of fields will be
brought to the college not only to serve students and faculty but
also the 1.5 million people in the metropolitan area surrounding
the institution and citizens around the world. These scholars will
offer courses, participate in workshops, be available for formal
and informal dialogue in the community and serve as consultants
for private and public entities.
     The Parsons gift will fund the Alison J. and Ella W. Parson
Visiting Scholars Program. The first visiting scholar will teach
during the 1997-98 academic year. Each year the center will focus
on one issue related to religious diversity or freedom and will
feature speakers of national prominence.
     Speaking on behalf of the newly assigned Virginia Bishop
Joseph Pennel, retired Bishop Hasbrouck Hughes Jr. called Virginia
Wesleyan's initiative  "a bold and forward-looking undertaking."
He said the vision for the center is consistent with the
denomination's social principles that relate to religious
exercise.
     "With world tensions often rooted in religious differences,
and incidents of religious intolerance sometimes leading to
violence and discrimination, any effort that seeks to achieve
understanding across religious lines, and provides a forum in
which to work toward ensuring religious liberty, is to be
applauded," Hughes said.   
                              #  #  #

     Information for this story was provided by Mary S. Bruner,
director of news and media for Virginia Wesleyan College.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photo available on request (804) 455-3293.

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