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Valerie Bailey

All content by Valerie Bailey
Chaplain’s Corner: Showing up for each other as we experience grief

Chaplain’s Corner: Showing up for each other as we experience grief

In this week's edition of Chaplain's Corner, the chaplains reflect on dealing with grief.
Chaplains’ Corner: On despair

Chaplains’ Corner: On despair

Valerie Bailey December 6, 2023
In this edition of the Chaplains' Corner, Rev. Valerie Bailey Fisher asks us to have meaningful conversations from our own perspectives.
Chaplains’ Corner: Reaffirming our need for compassion and care

Chaplains’ Corner: Reaffirming our need for compassion and care

Bridget Power, Seth Wax, Sidra Mahmood, and Valerie Bailey November 1, 2023
In an op-ed, the College's chaplains reaffirm their commitment to helping students through tough times.
Chaplains’ Corner: On silence and oppression

Chaplains’ Corner: On silence and oppression

Valerie Bailey October 25, 2023
In this week's edition of the Chaplains' Corner, Rev. Valerie Bailey Fisher asks the College community to respectfully acknowledge alternative viewpoints as a means of reaching deeper understandings of difficult issues.
Chaplain’s Corner: Interfaith Month and religion in the United States

Chaplain’s Corner: Interfaith Month and religion in the United States

Valerie Bailey April 12, 2023
In this week's Chaplain's Corner, Rev. Valerie Fischer offers pluralism as an alternative trend to secularism
Chaplain’s Corner: African American history must not become part of the null curriculum

Chaplain’s Corner: African American history must not become part of the null curriculum

Valerie Bailey February 8, 2023
In this addition of Chaplains' Corner, Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer argues for the inclusion of African American history in school curricula.
Chaplains’ Corner: Peace as an act of resistance against hatred

Chaplains’ Corner: Peace as an act of resistance against hatred

Valerie Bailey November 30, 2022
In this edition of “Chaplains’ Corner,” Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer discusses hate crimes and argues for us to internalize the holiday message of peace on earth.
Chaplains’ Corner: Interfaith Month at Williams

Chaplains’ Corner: Interfaith Month at Williams

Valerie Bailey April 13, 2022
In an op-ed, Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer discusses the value of Interfaith Month and the events hosted by Williams religious spaces.
Chaplains’ Corner: Embracing impermanence

Chaplains’ Corner: Embracing impermanence

Valerie Bailey March 16, 2022
In an op-ed, the Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer discusses life after two years of COVID-19 and reflects on the meaning of closure, impermanence, and community.
Chaplains Corner: To be a sophomore in a pandemic

Chaplains’ Corner: To be a sophomore in a pandemic

Valerie Bailey October 6, 2021
The Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer recognizes the challenges faced by the Class of 2024 and outlines a way forward inspired by their resilience.
Chaplains’ Corner: How rest can build much-needed resilience

Chaplains’ Corner: How rest can build much-needed resilience

Valerie Bailey April 21, 2021
In the spring semester’s first Chaplains’ Corner piece, Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer notes that as the pandemic has progressed, our community has replaced fear with resilience. Rest is essential for the cultivation of this resilience, she writes.
Chaplains’ Corner: Taking it One Day at at Time

Chaplains’ Corner: Taking it One Day at at Time

Valerie Bailey December 9, 2020

This is the semester where no one knew what to expect. No one knew what was going to happen. All we had were numerous scenarios. Our planning started with the worst-case — a massive outbreak of COVID-19...

Chaplains’ Corner

Chaplains’ Corner

Valerie Bailey November 4, 2020

Several weeks ago, I played the song, “The Kingdom of God is Justice and Peace” to a photo montage of the news of the week during a virtual Night Prayer service attended by an assortment of people,...

Letter to the Editor: Chaplains speak to WPD allegations

Letter to the Editor: Chaplains speak to WPD allegations

Valerie Bailey, Sharif Rosen, and Seth Wax August 22, 2020
As individuals who live and work in Williamstown, and especially as students and teachers of faith traditions that uphold the dignity of each person, we are appalled by the recent allegations of racial and sexual misconduct by the leadership of the Williamstown Police Department.
Chaplains’ Corner: Appreciation for the scientific method

Chaplains’ Corner: Appreciation for the scientific method

Valerie Bailey May 13, 2020

Each day I read the news reports, looking for clues to a better understanding of COVID-19. My favorite news sources tend to validate scientific research, while the national discourse seems to question...

Chaplains Corner: Something new

Chaplains’ Corner: Something new

Valerie Bailey April 15, 2020
The celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, one of the two most important events in the Christian calendar (Christmas being the other), is both wonderful and challenging. For many, the theological challenges of who Jesus is (Son of God, Incarnate Christ, teacher, prophet, healer) are difficult enough.

Chaplains’ Corner

Valerie Bailey February 26, 2020

 During this past Thanksgiving, I spent time at a friend’s house, and one of the guests for one of these large Thanksgiving parties fancied himself to be a cynic. Very nice person, but don’t...

Chaplains Corner: Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer

Chaplains’ Corner: Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer

Valerie Bailey November 20, 2019

Please, allow me to muse about being a young adult in the Reagan/Bush years. I can’t believe I have become nostalgic for those years! The polarization and divisions in society that we have become accustomed...

Chaplains Corner

Chaplains’ Corner

Valerie Bailey September 25, 2019

I was trying to talk myself out of doing anything for 9/11 and found myself still in a strange space still can’t mention her name still anchored to a subculture and a narrative beneath the rubble of...

Chaplains Corner

Chaplain’s Corner

Valerie Bailey, Sharif Rosen, and Seth Wax September 11, 2019

Welcome to the Chaplains’ Office column! We will be writing twice a month, offering reflections on spiritual themes that are inspired through our respective faith journeys and our engagement with thoughts...

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