An Interview with Tammy McLeod, the President of the Harvard College Chaplains
Tammy McLeod is the President of the Harvard College Chaplains. On staff with Cru, she serves as an advisor to Christian Impact and its athletic ministry, Athletes in Action.
Caleb: What was your path into college ministry?
Tammy: When I was a sophomore in college, my sorority president asked me three tough questions: “Why are you here? Where are you going? And what makes you happy?” I sat down and tried to write out the answers, but I realized I had no idea how to respond. When I returned to campus, someone was sitting in my dorm’s lobby. She said that she was doing leadership surveys, and I asked if I could take one. In the survey, the last question was, “What do you think of Jesus as a leader?” I said that he was a great leader, so she asked me if I wanted to be in a Bible study.
I didn't know what those words meant, but I thought I would try it because I was working through big questions. It was the first time I'd ever studied Scripture, and I just kept reading and loving the Scriptures. She eventually invited me to a retreat, where I first heard the Gospel. I became a Christian as a sophomore.
Then, when I went on a summer mission, I felt called to spend my time doing things like this woman who introduced me to Christ had done. I decided to give my life to this work on the college campus—to help other people know Jesus.
Caleb: During college, students often struggle to understand God’s calling. Even non-believers grapple with how to spend their lives. How do your experiences shape the way that you coach students through college?
Tammy: I have a tender heart toward people who don't yet know Jesus, so I'm always trying to build bridges with students who are still considering these big questions.
For Christians, one of my favorite things is helping people craft what I call a “rhythm of life.” In Christian history, it would be called a Rule of Life, and it came out of the monastic tradition. When we take students on mission trips to South Africa, I have them work on a rhythm of life, and it shapes who they want to become. They spend time thinking about how they're made and how they want to contribute and serve. Another discipline that I use is the Examen. I ask students to look back on their day and consider what was life-giving. All the time—in weekly small groups, in our weekly meeting—we'll ask what brings people joy.
Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.” For students, looking back on what brings them joy may help them discover what they want to do in the world, because they'll see how they've been made by God, what they love to do, and where they might want to contribute. The Rule of Life and the Examen are practices that I do to help make space for God and to help me pay attention to God’s work in my life.
Caleb: The University is a busy place, so it can be hard to adhere to a rhythm of life or maintain spiritual disciplines. How do you encourage students who hope to incorporate these rhythms but feel they don't have the time?
Tammy: I try to make it easy. When I talk about the Examen, I tell students it only takes five minutes at the end of the day, and I give only two questions. Ignatius designed the practice as more complex, and you can read books about it, but I try to make everything simple for students. For the rhythm of life, I encourage students to pick only a few things—not everything they want to change in their lives. We actually work on the rhythm of life in community so that students can give feedback to one another and implement suggestions.
My favorite book to use is the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Every chapter is only two pages long, so you don't have to read a whole book on contemplative prayer to understand what it is. There are action steps right away. I use the simplest book. I use the simplest frameworks. I use the spiritual practices in their simplest forms.
Caleb: Are there thinkers who have been particularly influential in the way that you think about spiritual formation?
Tammy: Henri Nouwen is my favorite spiritual writer. His books influence how I interact with students. My spiritual director is Adele Calhoun, and she wrote the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. I receive spiritual direction quarterly from her. I was part of a spiritual leadership community for three years, and some of my favorite books from that time included Mulholland’s and Ruth Haley Barton’s books. There are current, living people who have influenced me.
My favorite history class on spiritual formation was on the medieval thinkers: I wrote a paper on the medieval monastics for the 21st-century student. It was fascinating to look at the Christian mystics–and the early women–who greatly influenced theology and spiritual formation. I read most about Catherine of Siena as I worked on a research paper. Her love for Jesus inspired me. Julian of Norwich’s understanding of the love of God was the deepest, richest part of seminary for me. I enjoyed getting lost in her Revelations of Divine Love. Often, men dominate the pages of Church history. I was greatly shaped by St. Benedict and his rule, but I enjoyed learning about the impact women had, too.
Caleb: You have spent a long time doing college ministry. How have these years shaped your perspective on God?
Tammy: This is year 42 of working with 18 to 22-year-olds, and it's almost like I wind up back to where I started. The very first song I learned was “Jesus Loves Me,” and it seems like that's where Julian of Norwich lands: her understanding of the love of God. Basil Pennington, Thomas Keating, so many great writers–one of the big things they’re trying to communicate is to develop intimacy with God, develop that relationship.
From the very beginning, when I didn't yet know God and heard “Jesus Loves Me,” to spending 42 years helping people grow in their relationship with God, it’s the love of God that still captures me more than anything. The Biblical language that connects with me deeply is Emmanuel, God with us. God is near us.
This hit me the most in suffering. In 2008, our first son, one of four children, was 16 years old. He had a traumatic brain injury playing football, and he became severely disabled for life in an instant. He lives in a group home now: he can't speak, has no short-term memory, and needs 24/7 care for the rest of his life.
I remember hearing about people who had suffered and would still talk about the love of God, and I read Scriptures about the love of God, even in tough times. But then I experienced the nearness of God in suffering. People would interview us for the media and ask, “Has this caused you as a chaplain to question your faith? Your son is gone, as you knew him.” My husband and I would answer the same way every time: it didn't shake our faith. All that we realized is that the love of God is even deeper and stronger than we've ever experienced before. Some of our deepest connections with God were through suffering, through connecting with the crucified God.
Jesus understands suffering, and He's with us in our suffering. Through my 42 years of ministry, I have been helping people understand the love of God. The 42 years of campus ministry have kept me near to the love of God and reminded me about the joy of the love of God, as I see new people come to know Him, or people who have known him for many years grow in a deeper relationship.
Caleb: In the spring, you told the New York Times that Harvard is witnessing increased openness and interest in religion. Could you talk about what you are seeing?
Tammy: I'm serving as president of the Harvard Chaplains, and one of the first things to happen in my presidency was October 7. From that point, the Jewish and Muslim chaplains forged a close bond, meeting every week during those early months, and we kept looking for a way to respond on campus. Finally, in the fourth month, we decided to grieve together with a ceremony on the steps of Memorial Church. A Palestinian Christian had asked me, “Would you do something to mourn the lives of Palestinians lost?” I asked her, “Would it be okay if we mourned all lives lost?” And she said, “Yes.” So we did that event to mourn all of the lives that were lost.
What happened on October 7 showed the university that to solve some of the world's biggest problems, you need to be in dialogue with people of faith. It is really important. Since then, I've never seen as much openness to faith among administrators. The Dean of Students Office at the College expressed, “Whatever we can do to help you get people into faith communities as quickly as possible, let us know.” We formed connections with all the Houses and groups of dorms, so now we're inside the residential system. The President's Office fully supports the work that we're doing as chaplains. They formed the new Director of Interfaith Engagement on campus: a former Hillel Chaplain is now in that position. The university is seeing that faith is very important, and they want faith to be central to the life of Harvard University.
The students’ interest is also high. For example, the last two meetings our fellowship had are the biggest meetings we've had at Harvard in 26 years.
One more thing: we did a survey and found that Harvard Chaplains work with 5000 undergraduates, 6000 graduate students, 500 post-docs, 500 faculty, and 700 staff every year. The scope is larger than people know. The spiritual interest is not just among the administrators or the students, but campus-wide, with people at every level wanting to be involved in spiritual growth. And I've heard about it not only in America. When people read The New York Times article, they said, “The same thing's happening here” in many other places in the world.
Caleb: In the long run, what gives you hope for ministry?
Tammy: I've seen so much change over my 26 years at Harvard. The administration, which is trying to give us support, has shifted over time. It is very helpful to see the change at the institutional level with support for religious, spiritual, and ethical life. It's fun to see that the interest is just growing, so that gives me hope.
When I think about the 18 to 22-year-olds, I have great hope. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see the 18 to 22-year-olds become the leaders in the Church, because they're unbelievable, amazing. They have incredible ideas. They love God passionately, and they know how to love people. They're great at having conversations. They're great at listening: they'll just listen to people's stories, and journey with them, and be patient and understanding. They're very loving. They understand community.. They're not into being people of power—they'll put down their power and serve instead. Their view of shared leadership, power, love, community, connection—everything about that makes me excited. I'm getting tears in my eyes. The Church will be in really good hands as these young people lead.
This interview of Tammy McLeod was conducted by Caleb Chung ‘27.
