Nazareth Students Take Part in First Annual Interfaith Retreat

November 17, 2009

More than 30 college student leaders from all different religious faiths gathered together recently for the first-ever Rochester-area Intercollegiate Interfaith Retreat. Many faiths were represented: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Bahai, and Atheist. The students, from Nazareth, RIT, University of Rochester, St. John Fisher, and SUNY Geneseo, met at the Presidential Suite of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Rochester. They worked together to plan pieces of the upcoming Interfaith Understanding Conference (IUC) in April 2010 at Nazareth College, sponsored by the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue. They also discussed kinds of interfaith work they would like to see on college campuses and chose what interfaith films geared towards the next generation they would like to show.

The 2010 IUC conference will allow participants to customize their conference experience through interactive workshops, roundtable discussions, film series, and discover how others experience and live their faith through diverse practices. The themes of the conference will focus on faith for the next generation, women’s interfaith leadership, LGBT and religion, religious stereotypes and prejudices, global interfaith coexistence, and more. Conference-goers be able to explore their own and others’ spirituality through music, art, comedy, dance, and meditation. Advocates and speakers will be available to create impromptu sessions and for networking. There will be several speakers representing five major religions that will inspire and empower current and future interfaith leaders.

Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is a coeducational college with undergraduate and graduate studies in the liberal arts and sciences and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management. The College is located on 150 scenic acres near Rochester, New York, and currently enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. Nazareth has a strong commitment to experience-based learning and civic engagement. In the past decade, Nazareth has produced 18 Fulbright recipients and two Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships. For more information on the College, visit www.naz.edu.

Photos courtesy of Isobel Goldman.

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