CGU School of Religion Announces Mormon Studies Chair Campaign

Claremont Graduate University announced the launch of a $6 million fundraising campaign for the Howard W. Hunter Chair for Mormon Studies, the first of its kind at a secular university in the United States. The new course furthers CGU’s focus on comparative analysis of faith-based traditions, making the institution a national leader in world religious studies.

In preparation for creating this chair, the School hosted a national conference, “Positioning Mormonism in Religious Studies and History,” to discuss the place of Mormon Studies within the university.

“Mormonism is one of the least understood religions and the university is the ideal place to study this uniquely American religion,” said Karen Torjesen, Dean of the School of Religion, who hopes the endowed chair will be completely funded within two years. Ideally, coursework could begin in the fall of 2007.

The planned Chair in Mormon Studies is part of the School of Religion’s efforts to create a broad comparative study of religion, and the university actively recruits students from a variety of faith traditions. The School of Religion also promotes comparative studies of the faith traditions of Indic, Jewish, Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, Middle Eastern Orthodox and Zoroastrian religious traditions.

“Religious conflict and misunderstanding are among the world’s gravest problems. Universities can help,” said CGU President Robert Klitgaard. “Our School of Religion is working with diverse communities of faith to create new vehicles for understanding. The new chair in Mormon studies is a pioneering example.”

As with these other religious traditions, planning for a chair in Mormon Studies is guided by a Council, which serves as an ambassador to the community and interpreter of the values of the university, such as academic freedom, while assisting in student recruitment and fundraising. Councils are composed of CGU faculty and lay leaders from religious communities, which build trust, mutual understanding and a common vision in how each religion will be handled.

To date, the School of Religion and the Council have sponsored several major events on the study of Mormonism, including lectures by leading scholars on the study of Mormonism, Richard Bushman (Columbia University) and Jan Shipps (Indiana University—Purdue), and academic conferences in 2004 and 2005 that positioned Mormonism in relation to other faith traditions.

The Latter-day Saint community is supportive of an academic study of their tradition.

“The more we examine and understand a religion’s true beliefs and practices, the more we can respect its differences with our own,” said Joseph Bentley, Chairman of the Council for the Study of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is raising funds to endow the chair.

Howard W. Hunter, for whom the endowed chair will be named, is the only LDS Church president from California. Both of his sons currently reside in California and his widow resides in Orange County.

The Department of Religion became a School of Religion in 2000 to develop a comparative study of religion, engaging both insider and outsider perspectives.

“The goal is to expand the religious pluralism within the classroom and to teach and model rules of engagement where insider and outsider issues can be addressed within an academic context,” Dean Torjesen said. “In a climate of growing religious conflict the ability to engage insiders is critical. The academic study of religion has an important contribution to make.”