Sundays at Guilford are quiet days. For most students, Sundays are the time to catch up on sleep, homework, and whatever else they didn’t manage to do earlier in the week. For football players, Sunday means a day of indoor conditioning and . chapel? Yes, chapel. Every Sunday, as part of their routine and regardless of their religion, all football players attend a 3 p.m. chapel service.

This chapel time is supposedly “highly suggested,” but former football player Stephen Dziedzic told me it might as well be mandatory.

“There’s no point in not going to something coach tells you to go to. That’s just stupid,” said Dziedzic.

When I heard about the chapel time, I was more than a little confused by it. I’m a spiritual person and certainly respect all forms of religion, but I find myself wondering: does religion have any place in football?

Were this a more religiously-oriented school, of course that association would make sense. But on a campus famous for its diversity and acceptance of religions, it seems a little bizarre.

“I don’t think forced religious service of any kind really has a place – especially at Guilford,” said first-year John Rock.

“I could see myself feeling really uncomfortable being forced to go to any religious service. I’m skeptical as to what it accomplishes to force players to go to it,” said first-year Nick Laskow.

I have to agree. I just don’t think that chapel time has anything to do with football, nor do I find it beneficial to the team or players at all. If anything, I’d say it’s detrimental, especially if the players don’t want to be spending their Sunday afternoons there.

“To a lot of the football players, it wasn’t about the religious aspect,” said Dziedzic, “They just didn’t want to be there.”

Football already takes up so much of the players’ time – they practice Tuesday through Friday, have a game on Saturday, and condition on Sunday. If nothing else, this chapel time adds even more to a team member’s busy schedule.

Then again, I don’t find that time is the main issue here. The issue, pure and simple, is that nobody on this campus (or anywhere) should be forced to go to a religious meeting if they don’t want to.

I’m not claiming that all of the football players hate going to chapel, or even that they don’t want to go – not at all. There are at least a few, though, who don’t want to go, and who may even be uncomfortable going. Due to that, chapel should be an optional thing, not “highly suggested.”

“It doesn’t fit here,” said Dziedzic. “It doesn’t.”

You’re right, Stephen.

I understand that the coach is a religious man, and I absolutely respect that. In return, I think he should respect his players and understand when they don’t want to take part in a worship service. Guilford College is not the place for mandatory worship of any kind, for anyone.

Of all places, everyone should be free to religiously express themselves here.