Interfaith Service at Georgetown

Five years ago, I decided to apply to Georgetown University, the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. My parents, having raised me in a Jewish household, were worried whether there would be a vibrant Jewish community on campus and whether I would feel comfortable surrounded by crosses, priests, and a large Catholic student body. Most of all, they were concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find a nice Jewish girl. I shared some of my parents’ concerns.

The political turmoil engulfing many Muslim-majority countries has left many people wondering, what does the ideal Muslim leader look like? Tyrants like Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Gadhafi have demonstrated the depths of human cruelty, while elected leaders like Mohamed Morsi struggle to maintain their legitimacy in the wake of increasing democratization. While classical Islamic political theory focuses on the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his successors (usually caliphs or imams, depending on Islamic sect) as political exemplars, I believe that the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in The Holy Quran also provides insight into the characteristics of an ideal leader.

This post was written by Sarah Mock, Georgetown School of Foreign Service Class of 2015, who was a participant on the Alternative Spring Break in Appalachia trip to Harlan, Kentucky.

Around what seemed like the thousandth turn on the road that ends in Harlan, Kentucky, my alternative spring break family found an extraordinary group. The Chapel on Calvary Hill welcomed us to their Sunday night service, where I met two women who managed to shape my Appalachian service experience in a way I never imagined. On our first night of a six day adventure to understand and serve this unique community in rural Kentucky with a Christian volunteer group called COAP (Christian Outreach with...

Given the shifting geopolitical landscape and the rising economic power of South and East Asia, it is becoming increasingly necessary to open new channels of interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural understanding between Buddhism and Islam. Massacres of the Muslim Rohingya people in Buddhist-majority Burma and tensions between the religiously divided regions of Indian-occupied Kashmir illustrate the lack of understanding between adherents of these two religions.

This post was written by Sapir Yarden, Georgetown School of Foreign Service Class of 2015, who serves as co-president of the Jewish Student Association.

This year I had the pleasure of spending Passover with my family in Israel. Passover is the Jewish holiday recognizing the Israelites liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. While leaving Egypt, the Jews were in a rush and did not have time for the dough they had to rise, so to celebrate we do not eat leavened goods, called hametz, for seven days and instead we eat matzah, which is similar to a cracker. On the first night we come together for the Seder, the traditional meal in which we read the story of our people in a book called...

Soon it will be 20 years. I’m not sure exactly when, maybe next year. Maybe the year after. I don’t doubt, though, that we’ll get there. Hallelujah Shabbat has truly become a Georgetown Tradition.

This post was adapted from a speech given by Taylor Griffin, Georgetown College Class of 2014, who is a Patrick Healy Fellow and served as the Chair of 25 Days of Service.

25 Days of Service is in its fifth year of existence and, over the course of its 5 years, over 100 different clubs and organizations on campus have participated. Created with the Jesuit value of being men and women for others, 25 Days of Service was started by two Patrick Healy Fellows with a goal to unite with the greater DC community through community service, but more importantly, bridge the gaps within our Georgetown community.

From March 2-9, 2013, a group of twelve Georgetown students and two Georgetown faculty members traveled to Tucson, Arizona to participate in an Alternative Spring Break immersion trip focused on the topic of immigration. Throughout the week the group had meetings with different key players in the world of immigration in order to expose themselves to a multitude of perspectives on this issue from people who are engaged in the realities of immigration firsthand. The post below is a reflection about this trip that was written by one of the participants.

Before we started our first reflection in the dance studio at the San Miguel Cristo Rey High School in Tucson, Arizona, one of our trip...

The post was written by Noreen Sajwani, Georgetown School of Nursing and Health Studies Class of 2015, who currently serves as interfaith coordinator for the Hindu Students Association (HSA) as well as secretary of the Interfaith Student Council (ISC) at Georgetown.

Sparking from a discussion between Father O’Brien and Hindu Students Association (HSA) and Catholic Daughters Presidents Neha Jejurikar and Abigail Galvan, I became increasingly interested in expanding the HSA’s interreligious efforts with various Campus Ministry organizations. As the current Secretary of the Interfaith Student Council (ISC) and HSA Interfaith Coordinator, this interest soon turned into fanaticism about...

This post was written by Kyra Hanlon, Georgetown School of Foreign Service Class of 2016, who serves as the interfaith chair for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

At the start of 2013, I was a second-semester freshman still trying to figure out what it meant to be a Georgetown student and how I was supposed to fill my new role as the Interfaith Chair of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. The Daughters had decided to expand our interfaith efforts but I had no idea what that would look like on campus. I was entirely thrilled, therefore, when the Hindu Students Association reached out in early January to gauge the Daughters' interest in holding an interfaith dialogue about...

Everyday I am reminded that my interests, although seemingly disparate, are all connected in a larger narrative. I never thought that my interest in religion and interfaith dialogue would intersect with my passion for global health and healthcare infrastructure issues. That all changed when I heard Pastor Rick Warren speak at Georgetown last week. Walking into Gaston Hall, I honestly did not know what to expect from this event. I did not know very much about Pastor Warren, only that he had written a bestselling book and that he was the pastor of a large congregation in California.