Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 20, 2006|Volume 35, Number 7


Callista Isabelle	Shamshad Sheikh

University names two new assistant chaplains, including the first Muslim to serve in that post

Two new assistant chaplains -- alumna Callista Isabelle and Shamshad Sheikh, who is the first Muslim chaplain at Yale -- recently began their work at the University.

The two women will be involved in religious worship and will meet with students, staff and faculty to discuss religious issues on campus, as well as offer individual counseling.

Isabelle, a Lutheran, is a 2005 graduate of the Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music. She returns to New Haven after an internship in college chaplaincy at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Raised on a farm in Iowa, she also spent time living in the mountains of Washington state at the Holden Village retreat center.

Isabelle's work will focus on Protestant Christians at the University. She has been developing a student-led evening prayer service on Sunday nights and a morning prayer service for Yale employees and others on Wednesdays. She is also meeting with students to discuss their needs.

Isabelle enjoys singing in early music ensembles and leading global music in congregations, as well as camping with her husband, Geoff.

Sheikh earned her bachelor's degree from Karachi University and an Islamic law degree from S.M. Law College in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed a master's degree at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. An educator and human rights advocate, she traveled in 2001 to a refugee camp on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan to bear witness to the suffering of Afghani women. She has since lectured widely about her experience. She has been an invited speaker at Harvard Divinity School and the Woman Bar Association of New York City, among other places, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times and the Washington Post. She has also appeared on a number of regional and national news networks, among them CNN.

Sheikh observes a daily practice of prayer and adheres to Islamic religious customs. "These traditional practices are essential models for traditional Yale students," she says, adding that for her, "Islam is a form of cultural identity with spirituality at its center." The assistant chaplain also notes that she believes "in the regular observance of performing acts of love and compassion to those in need." She enjoys Urdu poetry and classical music and is the mother of one daughter.

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Campus Notes