Tufts University Hires Humanist Student Chaplain

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Sep 30, 2014

Tufts University Hires Humanist Student Chaplain

Tufts University has heeded the demands of atheist students on campus and employed a Humanist chaplain, the first known nonreligious student chaplain. 

Walker Bristol filled the position. The Daily Signal reports that Bristol formerly served as an intern for Harvard’s Humanist Community. 

Tufts University chaplain Rev. Greg McGonigle, said that the school made a good decision by hiring Bristol.

“[W]e believe having humanist leadership and involvement in our work is crucial to our efforts supporting students, educating the campus, and seeking to make an impact on the world,” McGonigle said. 

The nonreligious chaplain position is being funded by student tuition and fees. 

The American Humanist Association says, “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.”

Publication date: September 30, 2014



Tufts University Hires Humanist Student Chaplain