Dr. Cindi Love Represents ACPA at President's Campus Challenge

Dear Colleagues,

On September 10-11, 2015, I will be participating in the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge as a panelist presenter with Janina Montero, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UCLA, Greg Jao, the Vice President & Director of Campus Engagement at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Eboo Patel, Founder and CEO of IFYC.

Our panel will take place in the opening plenary of the President’s Challenge gathering at Howard University in DC at 1 pm. Our topics are complex and complicated and exciting. How can we best navigate the challenging issues related to religious identity on campus?  Campuses report that they are struggling to address the complexity of divestment, all-comers policies, free speech vs. “hate speech,” safe space for all persons to incorporate their religious freedom and expression.

We will talk about the ways in which we can cultivate positive relationships across communities of differing religious and secular identities. 

Background

The U.S. Department of Education Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships works with the White House, and the Corporation for National and Community Service to lead the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, an initiative inviting institutions of higher education to commit to interfaith and community service programming.

History

President Obama issued the Challenge in 2011 by sending a letter to all presidents of institutions of higher education in the United States. Read more about the first two years of the Challenge in The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Inaugural Years Report.

A program overview can be found here.

Interfaith service involves people from different religious and non-religious backgrounds tackling community challenges together – for example, Protestants and Catholics, Hindus and Jews, and Muslims and non-believers — building a Habitat for Humanity house together. Interfaith service impacts specific community challenges, from homelessness to mentoring to the environment, while building social capital and civility.

Join the Challenge

Currently more than 400 institutions of higher education have responded to the Challenge. They include community colleges, public and private universities, and professional schools. Schools indicate their participation by having the Chief Executive Officer or President appoint a staff member to be campus lead. Each institution designs its own program of interfaith/community service. When the sign-up form is returned to edpartners@ed.gov, the institution will be invited to regional and national gatherings, webinars, and other opportunities to share what the institution is doing and learn from others.

President’s Interfaith and Community Service Honor Roll

Additional recognition is available to participating institutions through the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. At the Fourth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Fall Gathering in September of 2014, we celebrated the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in the Interfaith Service Category.  There were 98 institutions of higher education honored for their leadership in developing programs in Interfaith/Community Service. Thirty-eight of the schools are recognized “With Distinction.” Augsburg College, Seattle University, University of La Verne, and University of Pennsylvania are finalist for the Presidential Award. The award went to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Here is a list of all the awardees.

Annual Gathering in Washington, D.C.

The Fifth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Gathering will be held at Howard University on September 10-11, 2015. This is an opportunity for students, faculty, and administrators to share ideas and learn from others about interfaith/community service programs. Please see our complete agenda.

We are looking forward to the rich conversation and learning ahead.

The Fourth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge National Gathering occurred on September 22-23, 2014 at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. This year, about 480 students, faculty, staff, and network organizations traveled from across the United States and territories.

I had the opportunity to meet Eboo Patel at the meeting last year and he was a keynote presenter at the ACPA Annual Convention in Tampa 2015. (See a video of him speaking!  If asked for a passcode, use LOVEACPA.)  Since that time we have partnered with NASPA and IFYC to convene thought leaders in religion, spirituality and secular life in DC.  This meeting was funded by the Ford Foundation.

I want to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Jennie Small and others involved with our Commission on Spirituality, Faith, Religion & Meaning.  They been instrumental in providing resources and context for this on-going work with our partners at NASPA and IFYC.