Nevada
03-30-2005, 11:02 AM
I would love to see more of this around the country!
Second annual Religion on Campus Week features the various groups on campus.
By Leslie Jones
Published: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: Rachel Elias | Daily Trojan
Helping hands. (Left to right) Kate Findley, Raquel Chavez and Licinia McMorrow prepare lunches for the homeless Tuesday as part of Religion on Campus Week. The packages are distributed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at St. Mark´s Lutheran Church.
"I am a whore," proclaimed the front of Campus Crusade T-shirts. "Yet he married me," was written on the back.
The shirts were one of many messages put forth at Tuesday's religious exploration fair, part of the "Religion on Campus Week" schedule of events.
There are more than 70 different religious groups on campus, said the Rev. Elizabeth Davenport, associate dean of religious life.
Davenport said that Religion on Campus Week gives students a chance to learn more about different religions and experience religious traditions they might not get to see otherwise.
"For example, if they've always wanted to see what Friday prayers are like at a mosque, this is their chance ... plus there's a lot of special programming for particular religious lines," Davenport said.
The Religion on Campus Week began last weekend with Easter and Purim holiday celebrations, but the interfaith events started Tuesday with the religious exploration fair on Trousdale Parkway.
This is the second annual Religion on Campus Week, said Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of religious life and creator of the week. Laemmle said that the spring was an apt time to host events because it is a season full of celebration across the religious spectrum.
Events were coordinated by the Office of Religious Life, the interfaith council and numerous student religious organizations.
Davenport said that since events have started, students have expressed an interest in learning more about certain religions, based on attendance of the open-invitation events.
The purpose of Religion on Campus Week is not to force religion on anyone, but to make a variety of religious options available to students, said Jonathan Stein, a sophomore majoring in cinema-television and visual anthropology and the representative for the USC Catholic council on the interfaith council.
"Some people come to college, and it's a confusing time. It's a time where a lot of people are asking 'What do I believe in?'" Stein said. "If you look at the conflicts in the world today, it's Muslims versus Hindus, Christianity versus Islam, East versus West, and if we can promote understanding, we can find solutions."
Another member of the interfaith council, Anna Riley, a sophomore vocal performance major, manned the Latter-Day Saints Student Association table at the fair.
"We're here to let people see and ask questions - and know that Mormons aren't crazy polygamists," Riley said.
Adjacent to the Latter-Day Saints Student Association table was a table for Pagans and Wiccans at USC.
"It's a blessing to be somewhere where it's OK to be a pagan or a wiccan and not be ostracized," said Jeanne Weiss, the academic adviser for the gender studies major and religious adviser for Pagans and Wiccans at USC.
Pagans and Wiccans at USC is a new organization on campus. Students of Ancient Religions used to be a Pagan organization on campus, but it disbanded as students graduated.
"The Office of Religions Life really encourage starting back up - Rabbi Laemmle and Rev. Davenport have just been wonderful," Weiss said.
The Religious Left is another example of a new religious group.
Jon Danforth-Appell, a sophomore majoring in film critical studies, wore a black mask emulating the one worn by a tortured Abu Ghraib prisoner at the fair. Danforth-Appell said RLA was started because students saw a need for a religious group that represented people of faith with progressive politics.
After President Bush was re-elected, Danforth-Appell and others felt that people on the left were being represented as immoral.
"It was like saying 'if you're progressive then you have no morality,'" Danforth-Appell said. "We started this group because we believe our progressive politics come from our faith."
The "I am a whore, yet he married me" T-shirts many students wore Tuesday were part of Campus Crusade's effort to raise awareness.
"I think the purpose of the shirt is to engage people and talk about who Jesus is," said Janelle Froehlich, senior majoring in theater and broadcast journalism and a member of Campus Crusade.
Froehlich explained that the T-shirt's message was a representation of man's relationship with God.
Not all of the groups participating in religions on campus week are denominational. Natural Path, a non-denominational mediation group, was present at the fair, as was the Atheists, Humanist & Free Thought Alliance.
Peter Weiland, a senior majoring in political science and history, said the Atheist, Humanist & Free Thought Alliance is a group for people who take a rational view of religious traditions and superstitions.
Religion on Campus Week events continues until April 5. More information is available through the Office of Religious Life.
Second annual Religion on Campus Week features the various groups on campus.
By Leslie Jones
Published: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: Rachel Elias | Daily Trojan
Helping hands. (Left to right) Kate Findley, Raquel Chavez and Licinia McMorrow prepare lunches for the homeless Tuesday as part of Religion on Campus Week. The packages are distributed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at St. Mark´s Lutheran Church.
"I am a whore," proclaimed the front of Campus Crusade T-shirts. "Yet he married me," was written on the back.
The shirts were one of many messages put forth at Tuesday's religious exploration fair, part of the "Religion on Campus Week" schedule of events.
There are more than 70 different religious groups on campus, said the Rev. Elizabeth Davenport, associate dean of religious life.
Davenport said that Religion on Campus Week gives students a chance to learn more about different religions and experience religious traditions they might not get to see otherwise.
"For example, if they've always wanted to see what Friday prayers are like at a mosque, this is their chance ... plus there's a lot of special programming for particular religious lines," Davenport said.
The Religion on Campus Week began last weekend with Easter and Purim holiday celebrations, but the interfaith events started Tuesday with the religious exploration fair on Trousdale Parkway.
This is the second annual Religion on Campus Week, said Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of religious life and creator of the week. Laemmle said that the spring was an apt time to host events because it is a season full of celebration across the religious spectrum.
Events were coordinated by the Office of Religious Life, the interfaith council and numerous student religious organizations.
Davenport said that since events have started, students have expressed an interest in learning more about certain religions, based on attendance of the open-invitation events.
The purpose of Religion on Campus Week is not to force religion on anyone, but to make a variety of religious options available to students, said Jonathan Stein, a sophomore majoring in cinema-television and visual anthropology and the representative for the USC Catholic council on the interfaith council.
"Some people come to college, and it's a confusing time. It's a time where a lot of people are asking 'What do I believe in?'" Stein said. "If you look at the conflicts in the world today, it's Muslims versus Hindus, Christianity versus Islam, East versus West, and if we can promote understanding, we can find solutions."
Another member of the interfaith council, Anna Riley, a sophomore vocal performance major, manned the Latter-Day Saints Student Association table at the fair.
"We're here to let people see and ask questions - and know that Mormons aren't crazy polygamists," Riley said.
Adjacent to the Latter-Day Saints Student Association table was a table for Pagans and Wiccans at USC.
"It's a blessing to be somewhere where it's OK to be a pagan or a wiccan and not be ostracized," said Jeanne Weiss, the academic adviser for the gender studies major and religious adviser for Pagans and Wiccans at USC.
Pagans and Wiccans at USC is a new organization on campus. Students of Ancient Religions used to be a Pagan organization on campus, but it disbanded as students graduated.
"The Office of Religions Life really encourage starting back up - Rabbi Laemmle and Rev. Davenport have just been wonderful," Weiss said.
The Religious Left is another example of a new religious group.
Jon Danforth-Appell, a sophomore majoring in film critical studies, wore a black mask emulating the one worn by a tortured Abu Ghraib prisoner at the fair. Danforth-Appell said RLA was started because students saw a need for a religious group that represented people of faith with progressive politics.
After President Bush was re-elected, Danforth-Appell and others felt that people on the left were being represented as immoral.
"It was like saying 'if you're progressive then you have no morality,'" Danforth-Appell said. "We started this group because we believe our progressive politics come from our faith."
The "I am a whore, yet he married me" T-shirts many students wore Tuesday were part of Campus Crusade's effort to raise awareness.
"I think the purpose of the shirt is to engage people and talk about who Jesus is," said Janelle Froehlich, senior majoring in theater and broadcast journalism and a member of Campus Crusade.
Froehlich explained that the T-shirt's message was a representation of man's relationship with God.
Not all of the groups participating in religions on campus week are denominational. Natural Path, a non-denominational mediation group, was present at the fair, as was the Atheists, Humanist & Free Thought Alliance.
Peter Weiland, a senior majoring in political science and history, said the Atheist, Humanist & Free Thought Alliance is a group for people who take a rational view of religious traditions and superstitions.
Religion on Campus Week events continues until April 5. More information is available through the Office of Religious Life.