Stained-Glass Windows

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Gunnison Chapel is renowned for its breathtaking stained-glass windows. The stained-glass windows are a central part of the chapel. When the chapel was built, only two stained glass windows were installed at the time. Those two original windows are still here. The Cross and the Crown window is positioned directly behind the altar and it is fashioned after a window found in the Universalist Church of Malden, Massachusetts where Dr. Richard Eddy Sykes, President of St. Lawrence University at the time of the chapel's construction served before becoming St. Lawrence’s president in 1919. The other original stained glass window is from Virgil’s and from Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur.

All other windows were clear and undisturbed for nearly 50 years. Installation of the remaining stained-glass windows began in 1972 by the renowned Willet Studios. The newer windows were installed as memorial gifts from alumni, family members and friends of the University. Through our stained-glass windows, Gunnison Memorial Chapel is essentially a teaching chapel, as each window educates the observer. 

The Clerestory/large upper windows display components of a liberal arts education. Each Clerestory window adheres to the following structure:

• The thesis of each window (with the exception of the Arts Window, the Cross and the Crown Window and the Aeneid/Le Morte d’Arthur Window) is a biblical text illustrating a theme of the liberal arts.

• Biblical and historical characters illustrate the theme.

• Each window showcases a bit of local history related to St. Lawrence University.

• Finally, each window has at least one bird or animal, emphasizing humanity’s relationship to life around us.

The Nave/small lower windows display The Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew. All nave windows display historical figures whose life reflects the theme of the beatitude window. 

The largest of all stained-glass windows is The Great North Window, in the rear of the chapel, in the balcony. This window depicts a famous quote from one of the school’s founders: “We have lit a candle in the wilderness that will never be extinguished.”

Chaplain Shaun periodically offers Chapel Windows Tours throughout the year.