Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993 TAG: 9302110169
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RELIGION FOCUS OF VMI WEEKEND
To some it might seem a bit odd having a "Religious Emphasis Weekend" at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.Not only is this a school training men to be officers in the armed forces, but it's a state-supported institution where $12,000 will be spent for a religious program.
But there is no conflict, says the program's sponsor and VMI Chaplain Col. Charles Caudill.
He knows from firsthand experience in Vietnam - where he was an Air Force chaplain - the need soldiers have for religion.
And the funds are all donated - "not a dime of tax money" is used to pay for the weekend's activities, which include speakers, concerts and "mission projects" in the Lexington community.
This is an ecumenical communitywide religious weekend, Caudill said.
Free events are scheduled in Cameron Hall on Friday and Saturday, and the weekend concludes with a chapel service in Jackson Memorial Hall on Sunday morning at 11.
There will be music by contemporary Christian artist Steve Camp, Addison's Walk, Mihai, the VMI Gospel Choir and the VMI Brass Choir.
Speakers will include Lee Corder, chaplain to the Washington Redskins and religion director of Young Life, a Christian organization for high school students; and Kathie Glenn, a Lexington Bible teacher.
The focal point of the weekend, however, will be the mission work projects.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, VMI cadets will join with other members of the Lexington community to clean the homes of shut-ins, help out at homes for the aged and provide other services.
The work will be followed by a potluck dinner provided by members of participating churches.
All the events are free and open to the entire community, Caudill said, including non-Christians, though the weekend is distinctively Christian in character.
In recent years, VMI students have become more comfortable expressing their religious faith, Caudill said. And there are religious groups active on campus for students and faculty, he said.
Caudill has been at VMI for 14 years, moving there after serving 23 years as an Air Force chaplain.
When he came to the school, he said, he noticed that a statue of its first commandant had "a Bible in one hand and a diploma in the other."
Caudill was inspired to revive a tradition that had died almost a century ago, giving each graduate a book of Scripture inscribed with his name.
Christians receive their choice of Bible version; Jews a copy of the Torah; and Muslims a copy of the Koran.
The practice is strictly voluntary, Caudill said, "but 90-plus percent request them."
The chaplain figures the percentage of his students who participate in their religious faith is unsurpassed at any other state university.
Though the student body is about 50 percent Roman Catholic - many the products of parochial schools - the rest includes a wide variety of faiths, Caudill said.
Many of the school's graduates remember its chaplaincy program with gratitude, he said, and contribute generously to a fund the chaplain can use for a variety of causes.
In one day this week, he said, he gave out $1,600. "Believe it or not, there are students here who cannot afford new shoes," he said, a condition the chaplain's fund can help relieve.
The fund, now totaling about $40,000, is used to help needy students buy books, pay tuition, make trips home for family emergencies, and send students to religious retreats and programs.
"God has been so good to us here," Caudill said. "Outstanding student leaders" have arisen in the religious organizations, he said, and some students have gone on from VMI to seminaries. There is even a scholarship specifically for VMI grads headed for seminary.
The current student body is full of young men "who are asking a lot of good questions . . . people of very high ideals," Caudill said.