Cornell university could be the latest of many schools to add a full-time Muslim chaplain to its staff, according to a USA Today article this week.
Alumni at the school talked about the addition of a chaplain as part of a “natural evolution,” as many schools around the country including Duke, Princeton and Yale already host Muslim chaplains.
Omer Bajwa, Yale’s coordinator of Muslim life, told USA Today that the addition of a chaplain not only represents the increasing Muslim population in the country, but also serves to improve the understanding of an often-tainted portrayal of Islam after 9/11.
Many Muslim Chaplains including Tahera Ahmad at Northwestern University say that they have had more encounters with non- Muslim students than with Muslims in their offices –they are in no way bound by religion.
The job prospects are good, and hence the numbers of chaplains are steadily growing.
Today, there are more than 30 in the United states.