Religion and religious life was an integral part of student life at Meredith for many decades. Meredith College was founded by the North Carolina Baptist Convention and was closely affiliated with that organization until the nineties. While this association did not dictate the religious affiliation of either students or staff, it did guide expectations of student behavior and routines. For many years, students were required to attend a local church of their choice on Sundays (with five allowed "cuts.") In addition, daily weekday chapel attendance - with assigned seats - was mandatory; three days a week was a religious service and the other two were student programs or by outside speakers, often with secular topics. There seems, for at least some students at this time, a sense of "such freedom of thought that it made it possible for you to expand your thinking."
Early students often graduated into careers as missionaries or church service through teaching, music or administration. Active campus organizations included the Baptist Student Union and the YWCA.
Until the mid 1990s, Religious Emphasis Week (for a time renamed Religious Focus Week) was an annual occasion for special speakers, evening chapel services, seminars and informal discussions. In the publication Baptist Student, a 1940 article described the week's purpose "to concentrate upon the spiritual forces of life for the building of Christian personality."
Until 2002, Bibles were gifted to graduating students along with their diplomas.
While these practices have evolved or dropped dropped away as the school culture has changed and its affiliation with the North Carolina Baptist Convention ended, the College continues to acknowledge its heritage and values the acceptance of all faiths and spiritual beliefs.
For decades, chapel was a required daily activity for students. Attendance was taken and only a limited number of absences was allowed each year. Despite the name, chapel did not always have a religious element, but often involved outside speakers talking on a variety of topics. This photograph is taken in the auditorium on the downtown campus in 1917.
Students attending the annual Blue Ridge Assembly met up with those representing Baptists from other schools.
Students were required to attend services on Sunday, but the denomination and location was up to the individual. This 1943 photograph is of students dressed for church.
Religious Emphasis Week was an annual event on campus during which speakers were brought in and special lectures and studies were conducted. This article was saved in the Class of 1949's scrapbook.
Buses line up in front of Johnson Hall to take students to church services (1952.)
In 1964 at the Baptist Student Union Retreat, Meredith students articulated the desire on campus for a place for small worship services or a place for meditation. A storage room in Jones Auditorium was converted to that purpose. The space was created largely by students with help of the School of Design at N.C.S.U. for plans and with the maintenance department for construction of the benches.
Despite the college's Baptist affiliation, the campus did not have a dedicated chapel until 1982. Prior to this, any services or gatherings were held in the auditorium. Fundraising efforts began in earnest in 1978 with substantial private gifts, sponsorships and fund-raising efforts of the alumnae. Ground was broken in 1981 by President Weems and Christina and Seby Jones.
Jones Chapel was dedicated on September 24, 1982.
Today, the chapel is used for non-denominational weekly programs on Wednesday mornings, and campus events, like concerts, lectures and orientation, as well as for weddings.
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
919-760-8532
