University of Wisconsin–Madison

Interfaith Student Council First Meeting

(In foreground from left) Rachel Shela of Hillel and Naisha Bepar of Muslim Student Association. (In background from left) Marie Meyer of Pres House, Interfaith Fellow Simerjot Kaur, Khadijah Dhoondia of Islamic STEM Association, Justin Mildebrandt of Lutheran Campus Ministry, Disha Babra of Sikh Student Association, and Shiqi Shen of Baha'i Campus Association.

Interfaith Student Council members introduce themselves. (In foreground from left) Rachel Shela of Hillel and Naisha Bepar of Muslim Student Association. (In background from left) Marie Meyer of Pres House, Interfaith Fellow Simerjot Kaur, Khadijah Dhoondia of Islamic STEM Association, Justin Mildebrandt of Lutheran Campus Ministry, Disha Babra of Sikh Student Association, and Shiqi Shen of Baha’i Campus Association.

CID Director Dr. Ulrich Rosenhagen, Sara Ventura of UW Chabad, Libby Cohen of UW Chabad, and CID Program Coordinator Talia Ivry

CID Director Dr. Ulrich Rosenhagen, Sara Ventura of UW Chabad, Libby Cohen of UW Chabad, and CID Program Coordinator Talia Ivry.

The Interfaith Student Council (IFSC), convened by the Center for Interfaith Dialogue, met for the first time on February 20th in the Pyle Center. The Council is made up of student leaders representing religious RSOs across campus including the Muslim Student Association, the Baha’i Campus Association, Hillel, Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Sikh Student Association, Badger Catholic, Pres House, UW Chabad, St. Francis House, the Persian Student Society, the Islamic STEM Association, and the CID Interfaith Fellows. Over lunch, the student leaders introduced themselves, shared about their RSOs, and discussed current needs of religious students on campus. The members noted requests for more campus prayer spaces, accommodations for religious holidays from faculty, and the need for interfaith understanding within the student body.
“I hope this ever-expanding circle of interfaith unity will continue to provide a necessary space on campus for us to listen, reflect, and learn from each other so that we can channel the constructive power of faith for the betterment of the world.” –Shiqi Shen, Baha’i Campus Association representative.