Like any young couple, Ivan Kirwan-Taylor, JE ’18, and I were nervous as we walked towards the chaplain’s office to ask about getting married in Battell Chapel. Sure, we had a ring, but our impending union was no fairytale romance. Our love for Yale and Hugh Grant movies brought us together, but so many factors were driving us apart: he’s British and I’m American; he’s in Directed Studies and I have very little direction; I dream of eloping to an off-campus apartment, and I’m pretty sure he’s just in it for a Green Card.
Understandably, University Chaplain Sharon Kugler was less than enthusiastic about the prospect of our union. (She declined to see us. Several times.) Kugler, who has officiated weddings in Battell since 2007, describes her main goal on her website as cultivating “a chaplaincy for students, faculty and staff which defines itself by serving the needs of the richly diverse religious and spiritual traditions on campus allowing for deeper dialogue, increased accessibility, personal growth, creative educational opportunities and leadership.” The Victorian Gothic chapel on Old Campus used to host daily chapel for Yale students and now is the home to the Sunday meetings of Yale’s University Church.
Gale Iannone, the administrative assistant in charge of facilities in the Chaplain’s office, has estimated that about a quarter of the marriages in Battell are for alumni; many other members of the Yale community also choose the chapel as their wedding location. In fact, Kugler of- ficiated Aug. 29 wedding of JE Dean Jody Spooner, JE ’91, and Nicole Gelfert in Battell Chapel. In an email to JE students, Spooner thanked Kugler for making it possible “for us to be married here at Yale to honor the 365th day that we had chosen to share our lives with one another.”
Chef Jacques Pépin’s daughter was married in Battell in 2003 (reception at Union League, obviously). And even em- pirical data supports the case for Battell as a perfect wed- ding destination. The chapel is rapidly climbing the ranks of Pinterest’s “Best College Chapels for a Wedding Ceremony” list, brought to you by www.myfauxdiamond.com.
Interestingly, the Chaplain’s Office requires potential young marrieds to comply with a series of specific regulations for a wedding. The official Battell Wedding Guidelines—this is a real 10-page document, accessible online—state that it is only open to use “by people affiliated with Yale and by members of the Greater New Haven community.” So all you Princeton alumni from Hartford salivating over Battell’s stained glass (and weirdly reading the Herald, we caught you) should go find another venue.
The guidelines also claim that there are no restrictions “per se” on interdenominational marriages, which seems a little judgy, if we’re being honest. Additionally, all ceremonies must be religious rather than civil, meaning you need a priest/reverend/rabbi type to marry you, rather than a judge or ship captain. Considering Kugler wouldn’t even let us make an appointment, let alone entertain the idea of a shotgun housing marriage in Battell, this posed a pretty serious problem.
Fortunately, though, Kirwan-Taylor and I are nothing if not persistent. Shunned by the chaplain (their “Welcome to All” motto apparently didn’t apply this week), we turned to the ancient world for inspiration. Please join us tomorrow at 5 p.m. in the Phelps Hall Classics Library for the wedding of the century. And bring gifts.