Features

By Jessica Gould
Contributing Writer

Reverend Gerald Philip Cohen died of a heart attack on Saturday, May 6 while visiting family in Massachusetts. Word of Father Cohen’s unexpected death reached the Wesleyan campus on Sunday, when Michael Whaley, dean of student services, informed the community of the sad news through a bulletin broadcast.

"[Father Cohen] had been up in Massachusetts for a birthday party for a family member, and he’d officiated a wedding earlier in the day, I believe for a Wesleyan alum, but I’m not sure," Whaley said.

Dean Whaley added that he has received countless phone calls and emails from people wishing to express their grief.

"I have to say you never really appreciate something until you don’t have it anymore... my phone and email have been flooded with members of our community–students, faculty, staff–and also alums," Whaley said. "Just an incredible outpouring, and I think it’s a fitting tribute to a man who really gave a lot to this community."

Father Cohen had been Wesleyan’s Roman Catholic Chaplain since 1989. According to students and faculty who knew him well, Father Cohen was a good listener, and a caring teacher and friend who worked hard to foster an open and inclusive religious community at the University.

Adjunct Professor of Romance Languages and Literature Octavio Flores is one of many members of the Wesleyan community who said he came to consider Father Cohen a spiritual leader and a friend. 

Cohen helped Flores make the transition to a new life when Flores moved to Middletown three years ago and began teaching at the University.

Flores said he attended Mass every Sunday because he loved Cohen’s sermons. Flores recalled Cohen’s unusual trademark of memorizing the Gospel and speaking it instead of reading directly from the scriptures.

"One night, I read [along with the text] to see if he was really following the Gospel, and he didn’t miss one word," Flores said.

Flores said when he asked Cohen why he did this, Cohen responded, "I do it this way because the Gospel is not to be read but felt."

Cohen, along with fellow Chaplains Rabbi Elyse Kramer and Gary Comstock, has taken important, sometimes radical steps to create an interfaith approach to religion at Wesleyan that allows people to question their religion and explore other beliefs in a supportive and respectful environment.

"He was always talking about bringing in those who were left out, those who were pro-Gay, pro-Choice, pro-union, and pro-student," Comstock said. "He knew he had to be a special kind of minister to work with college kids."

Comstock added that Cohen was a member of the search committee that hired him, which to Comstock’s knowledge, was the first committee of its kind in the nation to hire an openly gay Chaplain.

Comstock also recalled how Cohen suggested removing the large cross that used to hang in the front of the Chapel because he worried that it did not make people of all faiths feel comfortable worshipping there.

Those who knew Father Cohen well said Cohen embraced the challenges of being a Chaplain to college students, and worked hard to make his sermons and his faith accessible to all members of the Wesleyan community. 

According to Professor of Classical Studies Andrew Szegedy-Mazdek, when Cohen saw that few students roused themselves out of bed for Mass early on Sunday mornings, he moved the service to 9:00 on Sunday night. As predicted, the number of students attending increased significantly.

Andrew Bancroft ’00, who struggled with his own ambivalence towards religion, said he felt that he benefited from Cohen’s efforts to reach out to students.

"He was very in-touch. He fostered religious ties by making an old religion applicable to college lives by focusing on meaning," Bancroft said. "I think he wanted the words of the religion and its most important tenets put forth to students and integrated into their lives so that they could continue to question their relationship with spirituality."

Michael Shelley ’00, who will speak at this Thursday’s memorial service, described Cohen as someone who also struggled with his faith.

"He was sensible. He was never dogmatic. He recognized that the Church was not perfect," Shelley said. "He struggled with the Church’s apparent flaws and tried to mend them."

Shelley also spoke of how accessible Father Cohen was, both in the way he led services and in his interactions with members of the Wesleyan community.

Shelley recalled how Cohen always sat with the congregation, facing the alter during Mass and how he always invited people to stop by his office, to talk about religious matters, or just to chat.

"He was funny. He told jokes. He knew everybody’s name," Shelley said. "He stood at the back of the church and welcomed each person individually."

Josh Bennett ’00 knew Father Cohen since his frosh year, and played guitar during Sunday Mass. Bennett said Cohen believed in finding happiness in sacrifice.

"In sacrificing your time or parts of you, that was where you found the greatest rewards. He was a very learned person, he was very smart," Bennett recalled.

According to Bennett, Father Cohen put these beliefs to practice on a daily basis.

"He came and sat around for three hours to be in a close-up in my [senior] film," Bennett said. "He was really great and patient and enthusiastic... he was very much interested in what we wanted and connecting with the students. He was very in touch, I think, with the students and what they wanted and what they were about."

"It is good to know that he’s up [in Heaven] now," Shelley added. "We could use him down here, but we were blessed enough and lucky enough when he was with us. He taught us a lot. He will live on in the grace of our inspired actions."

Father Cohen’s wake will take place Tuesday night in Easton, Mass. The funeral mass will be on Wednesday morning at Stonehill College in Easton.

The Dean’s Office has arranged for several vans to transport members of the Wesleyan community to the funeral. The vans will leave from North College at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. There will also be a memorial service at noon on Thursday in Memorial Chapel.

Additional Reporting by Lily Raff.