Colleagues, students, and friends gathered to honor University Chaplain Reverend Scotty McLennan at a reception held in Ballou last Friday. After 16 years of service to the Tufts community, McLennan will become the dean of religious life at Stanford University at the beginning of next semester.
Former athletic department director Rocky Carzo hosted the tribute, which consisted of a reception followed by a series of emotional, laudatory remarks from members of the estimated 100 people in attendance. After an hour of praise and applause, the guest of honor expressed his thanks for the opportunities Tufts afforded to him and his family.
"The Tufts community has been really accepting... this University has a sense of informality and friendliness, a real sense of family" McLennan said. "The community empowered me and freed me to do what I love the most - to be a preacher."
All those who spoke of him commended McLennan for the moral, ethical, and spiritual leadership that he lovingly bestowed upon the Tufts community.
"Scotty has helped the entire University think about what it means to be a moral person on the deepest level," Associate Chaplain Rabbi Jeff Summit said.
"Scotty has truly worked to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of those who founded this university," said Howard Hunter, the former chair of the comparative religion department.
McLennan came to Tufts in 1984 after working as an attorney offering legal services to low-income individuals in Dorchester, Mass. Labeled the "Miracle of Medford" by Provost Sol Gittleman, McLennan actively encouraged the "cynical, disinterested, unspiritual" faculty, staff, and student body to consider issues of ethics, morality, and spirituality. According to Gittleman, he was extremely successful in his attempts to combat the anti-religious sentiment that pervaded Tufts during the 1970s.
"People will go to any chaplain now in a way they never would have before," Gittleman said.
McLennan nurtured a greater awareness of morality and spirituality for all aspects of campus life. Besides his traditional role as a preacher, he led the Chaplain's Table, a series of roundtable discussions focusing on topics from religion in the media to human rights. A Unitarian Universalist minister, McLennan advocated individuality and personal growth during the popular sessions.
"It's not 'my way or the highway' with Scotty," said junior Douglass Hansen, a regular participant in chaplaincy events. "You can be yourself and do your own thing... Scotty really stresses personal fulfillment."
McLennan also tried to communicate the importance of ethics as a lecturer at the Harvard Business School and as a professor in Tufts' department of comparative religion. His courses at Tufts, "Ethics through literature" and "Religion in international relations," focused on the roles that ethics play in society and called on students to question and understand their own moral standards. Professor Mohamed Mahmoud, the department chair, extolled the reverend's ability to touch students from different backgrounds and with a variety of personal philosophies.
"There's a constant tension between different faiths. It's incredible how he bridges the gaps and relates to all the different faith communities," Mahmood said. "Whoever comes next is going to have a hell of a role to follow."
Sophomore Oliver Wise elicited laughs from the crowd when he said that McLennan does not do much teaching in class. Wise explained that in lieu of lecturing on a topic, "he helps you find out what the lessons mean for themselves."
In addition to his posts as a preacher and an academic, McLennan served as an advisor for the Leonard Carmichael Society as well as a counselor for individuals wrestling with personal issues. Summit described his colleague of 16 years as a thoroughly humble man who always made time to see students. He cited McLennan's academic accomplishments including degrees from Harvards Law and Divinity schools when declaring him "one of the smartest men I know."
University President John DiBiaggio remarked that McLennan has been a tremendous leader for students - a role he played "out of the goodness of his heart, which is very big indeed."
The celebration was mostly devoid of religious reference, with Catholic Associate Chaplain David O'Leary offering perhaps the only scriptural reference. Speaking of the biblical story in which Jacob displaces his hip after wrestling with an angel, O'Leary that Jacob forever walked with a limp after his metaphorical struggle with morality.
"I will forever limp as a result of my encounter with Scotty McLennan," O'Leary said. Following his short remarks, McLennan led the audience in a group prayer.
