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National Association of College and University Chaplains and Directors of Religious Life Records

 Collection
Call Number: RG 167

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the material is in Series I, Administrative Records, which contains minutes, correspondence, financial and legal records, and other materials related to the history and operations of NACUC. Series II contains newsletters and the Ailanthus news journal. Series III documents conferences of NACUC, with the largest amount of material related to the 1998 conference that was held at Yale.

Series IV contains forms submitted to NACUC's Information Service program by clergy who were seeking college and university chaplain positions. These forms were transferred from the Records of the University Chaplain (Bradford S. Abernethy) collection at Rutgers in 2006.

Series V is an addendum containing documentation up through 2014.

Dates

  • 1947 - 2016

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of NACUC.

Arrangement

  1. I. Administrative Records, 1947-2004
  2. II. Newsletters, 1948-2003
  3. III. Annual Conferences, 1962-2005
  4. IV. Information Service Program, 1959-1961
  5. V: Addendum, 1990-2018
  6. VI: Addendum, 2021

Extent

3.5 Linear Feet (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.167

Abstract

Administrative records, publications, and conference records document the work of the National Association of College and University Chaplains. The National Association of College and University Chaplains and Directors of Religious Life (NACUC) is the interfaith professional community of chaplains, rabbis, deans of chapel, and other personnel appointed by academic institutions to be responsible for the religious program of the academic community. It was founded in a national conference convened by Clarence Shedd which met at Yale University in 1948. Since then, NACUC has met annually throughout the country.

Biographical / Historical

NACUC was founded in 1948 at a conference convened by Clarence Shedd at Yale University. Since that time, the NACUC expanded to include a membership of 121 chaplains by 1996. It holds annual conferences throughout the country. The organization went through a variety of affiliations with other professional organizations of chaplains/religious leaders. The NACUC is directed by a president (a revolving position) and an executive committee. A high mark of the NACUC was the 50th anniversary conference, "Holy Wilderness" held at Yale University June 27-July 2, 1998.

Throughout its history the NACUC published a regular newsletter. Beginning in 1998 it also published a news journal called Ailanthus at irregular intervals.

The NACUC Information Service was started in 1959 with the intention of helping clergy find places at colleges and universities. Bradford S. Abernethy, University Chaplain at Rutgers University, ran this service, gathering personal data forms from interested clergy members and sending them to colleges and universities that were seeking to employ a chaplain or other religious leader. The service was discontinued in 1961 because Abernethy found it difficult to learn of openings at colleges.

Title
Guide to the National Association of College and University Chaplains and Directors of Religious Life Records
Author
Compiled by Divinity Library staff
Date
2015, 2018, 2021
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Divinity Library Descriptive Practices
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository

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