Center for Interfaith Engagement
Keuka College seeks to create an interfaith culture on campus, which supports all religious, secular, and spiritual identities. The College encourages students to acquire knowledge and standards of value, develop a sense of civic responsibility, explore their religious concerns and issues, develop their own sense of purpose, and build bridges across lines of difference. Keuka College gives expression to this aspect of personal development through the programs of the Center for Interfaith Engagement, under direction of the College Chaplain.
The programs of the Center for Interfaith Engagement facilitate an interfaith culture on campus which supports members of the Keuka College community as they:
• address issues of religion, values, ethics, and morality in life;
• articulate their own belief system, worldview, and/or philosophy of life and to understand that of others;
• examine how their belief system, worldview, and/or philosophy of life relates to current moral, ethical, and social issues, and to various academic disciplines and professional and vocational fields;
•explore how religious, secular, and spiritual identities contribute to making meaning in life and contribute to social responsibility.
The Center for Interfaith Engagement utilizes student directors to provide programming on campus and interfaith engagement facilitators to provide programming in residence halls to facilitate interfaith conversations and programming on campus.
In addition to these interfaith conversations, the Center uses 8 paths to facilitate personal growth regardless of one’s religious, secular, or spiritual background. The 8 paths include: arts/creativity, contemplation, intellectual inquiry, nature, relationship, service, social activism and worship. A “Quest” survey is available to help identify which paths one most likely relates to. Weekly programming of Center for Interfaith Engagement includes: "What in the World" (reflections on life’s big questions), "Know Your Neighbor" (conversations on issues impacting the campus, culture, and/or the world), and "Celebrate!" (celebrations of religious holidays throughout the world).
Additionally, the Center offers interfaith dinners, retreats, field trips, and leads celebrations of World Interfaith Harmony Week, Better Together Days, an annual Alternative Spring Break trip, and many leadership opportunities.
The Center for Interfaith Engagement encourages student involvement in spiritually based groups on campus, and the development of new faith-based clubs on campus as opportunity allows. The Center also encourages student participation in religious life in the local community and the greater Rochester area.
The College Chaplain and the Center for Interfaith Engagement programs receive guidance, feedback, and advice from the Interfaith Advisory Board, which consists of students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and local religious leaders, from a variety of religious and denominational backgrounds. These teams serve as a resource to connect the religious resources of the College to the spiritual needs of the Keuka College community and to assist in the development of programming.
Within the office suite (Dahlstrom 40), the Center for Interfaith Engagement offers a Prayer, Meditation, and Reflection Room, which is open for students to use while the Center is open. The College Chaplain is available for counsel, care, support, guidance, and spiritual exploration and discernment. The Center for Interfaith Engagement is located in the Dahlstrom Student Center and the Chaplain can be reached at 315-279-5377.