Chapter 10
For his final year, Jerry took up residence on the top floor of Alexander Hall dormitory. Situated on the west side of the quad, catty-corner from the chapel, this austere colonial building stood four floors tall, made of red brick and topped with a gleaming white steeple. The steeple housed the campus bells that announced the beginning and end of all classes. He no longer would have the excuse of not hearing the bell.
Jerry’s door sprung open after a no-wait knock.
“Far out.” said Sam. “My room’s right across from yours.”
Jerry’s creature comfort voice demanded payback for the summer confinement and Sam’s proximity made that all too easy to oblige. They created The Golden Calf Club, a reference to Exodus 32.4 when the Jewish tribe, tired of waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai, threw a helluva bacchanal, kind of an original Burning Man festival. Dedicated to not waiting to party, Club members’ names were engraved on a golden plaque which hung proudly on the hallway wall.
The “par-tay” commenced with an invented game called Hallway Frisbee, the object being to throw the Frisbee from one end of the hallway all the way – and it was long – to the other end without it smashing into someone’s door, a someone who might actually be studying.
It progressed to a morning disco fest blared out Sam’s window to serenade students below trudging off to class, followed by afternoon croquet on the quad dressed up in their Nantucket best, Bermuda shorts, Lacoste polo shirts and blazers and a pitcher of bloody mary’s, then finished with happy hour at the nearby Rusty Scupper, rolling loudly into the seminary cafeteria just before closing to grab dinner. Trays of food plopped onto the table, bodies flopped down and crazed laughter ensued.
On the table this night, there was a flyer. It stated that the seminary was a major stockholder in Union Carbide, maker of deadly nerve gas, and General Motors, operating in apartheid South Africa and not signing on to the Sullivan Principles which guaranteed equal pay regardless of race. It called on all students to pack the annual Board of Directors meeting and demand that the seminary divest itself of these stockholdings.
Jerry seethed: What kind of a Christian institution is this?
As Jerry headed to class the next morning, President McCord’s Cadillac swished by him and pulled into its reserved parking space. McCord emerged, a rotund figure with heavy jowls, smoking a cigar, like the proverbial corporate fat cat.
With every step McCord took, Jerry’s bile rose.
Was this seminary just a tool of the military industrial complex? Church history had taught him how papal Rome kept silent over political immorality, indeed instigated the very action. Their money was tainted. So, was this how it worked, bolstered by the ethos that financial success signaled God’s chosen.
That was not the church Jerry signed up for.
That night when his digital clock glowed 1 a.m., Jerry arose from his bed. The air was cushioned with the sounds of slumber. He slipped a piece of paper into his Smith Corona. “I HATE PRINCETON SEMINARY,” he typed. A chill ran through him, yet freed by the hour of confession, in the spirit of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which he was currently studying, he wrote:
15 Theses
- Princeton Theological Seminary does not bestow goodness unto the rich.
- PTS does not bestow goodness unto Union Carbide.
- PTS does not bestow goodness unto General Motors.
- Princeton must demand that Union Carbide cease to produce weapons of mass destruction and General Motors sign the Sullivan Principles or divest itself of its stockholdings with them.
- PTS must stand by the poor.
- PTS students must have a voice.
- Students must have a voice at the Board of Directors’ table.
- Students must have a voice in the selection of faculty.
- The Presbyterian church has lost touch with its congregation.
- PTS must recognize this crisis and respond to it. This must not be a case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
- Money is not God’s reward.
- America is not God’s chosen country.
- Seminary education must be relevant to a secular world.
- Students must have a voice in their own education.
- Pope McCord must be de-poped.
His heart raced. He hesitated. Would they expel him?
Before he could change his mind, he bolted outside and nailed it to the chapel door.
***
Dean Byers summoned Jerry to his office. Smaller than Jerry’s dorm room, there was no window, no pictures on the walls, just a single desk with a single framed family photo. Dr. Byers pulled in a chair and positioned it sideways beside the desk. Jerry squeezed in and twisted himself towards Dr. Byers.
“Let’s see, Jerry. I understand you posted a document on the chapel door this morning. It does seem to be quite the talk of the campus. Let’s address some of these issues, shall we?” His smile cleared his cheeks over to the sides of his face like snow off a driveway.
Jerry returned the smile. Now we’re getting somewhere, he thought.
“You know, Jerry, it’s common for students to have all sorts of idealistic views, and I support that. It keeps us old codgers on our toes. But change, like evolution, is not a sudden thing. It takes time. I mean, where is that Second Coming? Am I right?”
“Well, actually sir, within evolution, change does come suddenly. It’s not a smooth curve. It’s more like steps: no change, no change, no change, then suddenly a huge leap in development, a step up to the next level. That’s where we are now. PTS needs to take that leap.”
Dr. Byers cheek piles reappeared.
“Jerry, Jerry Jerry.” He shook his head. “I’ve known your father now for, well, let’s see, at least 25 years, since before you were born. I’ve seen pictures of you growing up, and now, here you are, this fine young man sitting in front of me, well, beside me, ready to take on the world.
“But you strike me as an angry man. I wonder why? Perhaps you hold a lot of anger towards your father.”
Jerry flushed. “I’m not angry at my dad. I’m very grateful for my dad. I wouldn’t be here without him. I am angry at this institution. I would like to see it practice what it preaches.”
“Well Jerry, we do things here decently and in order. What you did is punishable. I’m not going to take any action this time. I am issuing you a warning. Another action like that and there will be serious consequences.
“Thank you for coming in, and do say hello to your father for me.”