THE PRESIDENT’S INTERFAITH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE CAMPUS CHALLENGE

INSTITUTION LEAD STAFF Christina Ciocca [email protected] Melody Fox Ahmed [email protected] 37th & O Streets, NW Lisa Pannucci [email protected] Ray Shiu [email protected] Washington, DC 20057 INSTITUTION LEAD STUDENT President John J. DeGioia Aamir Hussein, Student Interfaith Council President [email protected]

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ 1 UNIVERSITY OFFICES & CENTERS: • Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs • Kalmonavitz Initiative • Catholic Studies Department • McDonough School of Business • Center for Contemporary Arab Studies • Mission and Ministry • Center for Minority Educational Affairs • Mortara Center • Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding • Office of Campus Ministry • Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and • Office of Communications Service • Office of the President • Center for Student Programs • Philosophy Department • Chaplains and Jesuits in Residence • Program for Jewish Civilization • The College • Program in Education, Inquiry and Justice • Faith in Action DC • Program on Justice and Peace • Faith Leaders for Community Change • Psychology Department • Film Studies Department • Residence Life • The Gelardin New Media Center • School of Continuing Studies • Government Department • School of Foreign Service • Georgetown Public Policy Institute • School of Nursing and Health Studies • GUWellness • Theology Department • History Department • Women’s Center • Human Resources • Woodstock Theological Center STUDENT PARTNERS: • Alternative Spring Breaks • JUHAN • Armenian Students Association • Justice and Diversity in Action Living-Learning • ASK Coordinator Community • Blanket New Orleans • Kino Border Immersion Student Leader • Catholic Daughters • “Knights of Columbus“ • Catholic Graduate Student Fellowship • Latter-day Saint Students Association (LDSSA) • Catholic Student Association • Magis Immersion • Cristo Rey Tutoring • Georgetown University Math and Science Hands- • DC Reads Coordinator On Enrichment • DCSP Coordinator • Georgetown University Native American Experience • Education and Social Justice Project • Muslim Interest Living Community • Georgetown First Book • Muslim Student Association • Georgetown Friends of Turning the Page • Orthodox Christian Fellowship • Georgetown Israel Alliance (GIA) • Patrick Healy Fellows • Georgetown Jewish Sisterhood • Georgetown University Prison Outreach • Georgetown University Buddhist Meditation • Project Hilltop Sangha • Social Innovation and Public Service Project • Georgetown University Young Scholars (GUYS) • Bring on the Books Initiative • Girl Talk • Students of Georgetown, Inc. • Graduate Student Coucil • Student Interfaith Council • GU Brothers for Christ • Sursum Corda Literacy Program • GU Sisters for Christ • Thai Society • GU Students Association • • GU Urban Debate League Alliance • • Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) • The Gathering • Georgetown Habitat For Humanity • The Protestant Student Forum • Hindu Student Association • The Voice • Hoya Outreach Programs and Education (H.O.P.E) • UNICEF – Georgetown • International Relations Club • Georgetown University Urban Debate League • Jewish Student Association (JSA) • Georgetown University Young Scholars

2 http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ COMMUNITY PARTNERS: • DC Public Schools (various) • Ideal Public Charter School • DC Court Social Services • Mary Mcleod Public Charter School • KIPP DC Charter Schools • Rosemount Center • Thurgood Marshall Academy • Barbara Chambers Children’s Center • Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington • Best Buddies of Northern Virginia • YMCA • Boy Scouts of America • Kenilworth Community Center • Girl Scouts of America • Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy • First Book • DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative • DC Reviving Baseball in Inner-Cities • National Coalition for the Homeless • Weatherize DC • Office of DC Councilmember Yvette Alexander • Sasha Bruce Youthwork • DC Central Kitchen • Washington Parks and People • Capital Area Food Bank • Fishing School • Food and Friends • Eastland Gardens Community Center • Cristo Rey Don Bosco High School • A Wider Circle • Capitol City Public Charter School • Damien Ministries • Turning the Page • Spanish Education Center • Perry School • Fr. McKenna Center • Urban Debate League of Greater Washington • Kid Power DC • Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC • Washington Animal Rescue League • Martha’s Table • Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless • Arlington County Detention Facility • 826DC • Alexandria County Detention Facility • Washington Literacy Council • New Beginnings • Elder Buddies • Tunnels to Towers Foundation • Downtown Cluster • St. Elizabeth Hospital • L’Arche • Deanwood Recreation Center • A-SPAN • Paradise/Parkside Community Center • Little Light Urban Ministries • Paul Public Charter School • We Are Family

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ 3 ADVANCING COMMUNITY IMPACT THROUGH INTERFAITH SERVICE Through the Challenge, Georgetown University Activities included: continues to build upon a long tradition and commitment to service and community impact. • Each week, 10-15 Georgetown students distributed Several hundred students participated in regular food in Dupont Circle and engaged in meaningful and one-time service activities during the semester. and humanizing conversations. Below are some of the highlighted activities during the fall: • Twice a month, 6-10 Georgetown students conducted a “mobile soup kitchen” to distribute meals to • Georgetown’s Challenge is focused on education community members in parks at Franklin Square, the and poverty, and over 500 Georgetown students World Bank, and other locations. have participated in weekly tutoring and mentoring activities during the Challenge. These • Twice a month, 5-12 Georgetown students students have worked with underserved children participated in “Knit for the Needy” by knitting scarves, and adults in schools, community centers, and gloves, and other cold weather wear for distribution. homes throughout the greater metropolitan area. • Georgetown students collected over 200 dental care kits and information for distribution at DC General • During Georgetown’s Community Service Day, family homeless shelter. over 450 student leaders and incoming freshmen participated in a day of service focused in Ward • Georgetown students donated the dollar equivalent 7. The students served alongside community of remaining meals from their university meal plans members at 25 different locations, including to support Martha’s Table. neighborhood cleanups, the Deanwood Recreation Center, and Carver 2000 Senior • Georgetown planned a Hunger and Homelessness Center. Week in November to focus service, awareness, and advocacy on poverty issues. Events included a • During Georgetown’s “25 Days of Service” solidarity sleepout to raise funds and awareness to program, students focused their work on serving the Covenant House; participation in the Fannie Mae the homeless community and neighborhood Walk for the Homeless; stocking canned and dry goods clean-ups. This unique program aligns with the at Capital Area Food Bank; and hosting homeless spirit and goals of the Challenge by connecting advocacy speakers. Over 100 students participated diverse student organizations who do not in the week’s various events and activities. traditionally partner together around serving in the community. This program allows for meaningful impact and important dialogue among the nontraditional partner student organizations. • New service projects implemented during the Challenge include a 9/11 5K benefiting the Tunnels to Towers Foundation where over 180 people participated and raised over $5,000. • Georgetown has begun the planning for a new Day of Service in conjunction with celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The new Day of Service will focus on Ward 7 and aim for over 300 students, staff, and faculty to participate in the program. • Georgetown continued regular outreach programs to the homeless community in Washington, DC focusing on poverty issues.

4 http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ ADVANCING INTERFAITH COOPERATION Challenge Hub: Website and Outreach Events & Community

The Challenge website has become a valuable tool for Numerous programs this semester have encouraged advancing interfaith cooperation on campus and the growth within one’s own spirituality along with reflection on goals of the Challenge: reducing domestic poverty and Georgetown’s interfaith environment. These events provid- advancing educational opportunity in DC. The site ed opportunities for the community to engage in meaning- hosts a set of resources on poverty and education in ful dialogue across traditions. A few highlights include: Washington, DC to inspire service work; planning inter- faith dialogue and service events; and mapping inter- • Roundtables: At these monthly reflections, the faith dialogue work on campus, in the community, and university community joins together to contem- around the world. plate a particular theme (9/11 Remembrance Through Service, 25 Days of Service, Thanksgiv- • The Challenge Blog: Students, faculty, and staff have ing) as it relates to their community service and written 40 blog posts on numerous topics related to interfaith experiences. Each Roundtable has faith and service. These excellent essays demonstrate hosted approximately 30 individuals, including a high level of reflective thoughtfulness and aware- White House representatives. ness of Challenge goals. They have been cross-posted on other websites, including IFYC, received attention • Interfaith 9/11 Prayer Vigil: To honor the tenth anni- on and , and serve as a campus out- versary of September 11th, our university community let for writing on faith and service. joined together in remembrance. Student represen- tatives from different religious traditions presented • Interview Series: Students have interviewed leaders prayers and reflections to mark the day and how far in the campus and DC communities who exemplify we have progressed since this tragedy. the values of faith and service, but whose stories are not often highlighted. Full interviews can be found • Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Service: An annual GU on our Challenge website and will serve as a resource tradition, with over 50 participants, student repre- and inspiration for others to serve their community sentatives from nine different spiritual backgrounds using their faith and values. provided reflections on how their faith tradition calls them to be grateful. • Media: The Challenge website hosts 17 videos (with 3 more in production) from our fall semester en- • Religious Services Open House: A unique opportu- deavors. Our Facebook page is used daily with 115 nity to learn about faith traditions through direct par- likes and 250+ photos. We actively use Twitter with ticipation, members of the Georgetown community hashtags #GUbettertogether and #WHinterfaith, with opened their hearts and minds to the university’s di- many retweets from our followers. Challenge events verse spirituality by visiting eight worship services. have received considerable coverage from campus media outlets, including the Georgetown University • Faith in Conversation Series: Rooted in sharing per- homepage and student newspapers The Hoya and sonal experiences, appreciating differences, and . asking the tough questions, this program sustained inter-religious dialogue among 28 students in 9 dis- cussion groups.

• Campus Partner Events: Over 100 events related to the Challenge themes have been hosted by campus partners. The list is available here:

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/ presidents-interfaith-challenge/events

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ 5 IMPLEMENTATION, DOCUMENTATION, EVALUATION AND SUSTAINABILITY Documentation of the Challenge’s events is charac- have also allowed community members to express terized by active tracking and surveying from partici- their opinions and input on Challenge events and over- pating organizations on campus. At the end of each all personal experience gained from their participation. month, the Challenge events for the next month (along The monthly Roundtables have hosted open dialogue with contact information and an event summary) are between a broad cross-section of university members posted on the Interfaith Challenge website. This pro- on topics concerning to the Challenge. The Roundtable vides additional publicity for a wide variety of events, meetings have helped establish a sense of support and and facilitates greater communication among Chal- investment to students, which in turn helps to secure lenge partner organizations. the ongoing success of the program throughout our campus. The blog on the Interfaith Challenge website After each scheduled event, the sponsoring campus and the monthly Roundtable meetings will continue organization(s) are asked to complete an “Event Report even after the official Challenge concludes, as institu- Form” (https://www4.georgetown.edu/uis/keybridge/ tionalized tools to sustain the benefits from the dia- keyform/form.cfm?FormID=4288) . The form tracks logue begun through the Challenge’s events. dates, number of attendees, event locations, event descriptions, personal reflections, and other details. Several student groups have approached the Chal- The data obtained from the “Event Report Form” is then lenge Taskforce to support new ideas that are strong transferred to a chronological spreadsheet with each contenders to become a regular part of Georgetown’s event’s respective information. All four institutional service work. One example is the new Georgetown lead staff on the Challenge are involved in the tracking University Social Innovation & Public Service (SIPS) efforts with shared access to this data. Fund, an independent endowment whose mission is to make strategic investments in Georgetown students In addition, social media and monthly Roundtable and ideas that further our community’s Jesuit ideal of meetings have been instrumental in evaluating events service to others. and establishing sustainability. The White House Chal- lenge blog on the Interfaith Challenge webpage serves Grassroot, student-directed efforts are one of the stron- as a communication template for members of the gest methods for ensuring the sustainability of inter- university community to evaluate, reflect, and update faith collaboration. The GU Student Interfaith Council others involved in the Challenge. The video entries pioneered one such initiative known as “Faith in Con-

6 http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ versation” (FIC). This program for sustained inter-religious groups composed of participants from nearly all faith and dialogue between small groups of three or four students non-faith backgrounds represented at Georgetown. is rooted in sharing personal experiences, appreciating differences, and asking tough questions. FIC offers an op- The strong cross-campus partnerships we are forging portunity not only to learn about others, but also to expe- with such groups will ensure that interfaith dialogue and rience spiritual growth in one’s own tradition. The program service work continue to evolve in innovative ways on had a successful start this semester, with eight student campus into the future.

REFLECTING ON THIS FALL’S WORK

The Challenge has provided an opportunity to his father, a firefighter on 9/11, caused him not to react consciously deepen, and capture, the connections that with anger, but motivates him to serve those who suffer our community forms through service to others. Our in the world today. A student who had never attended goal to capture the often unrecorded, yet meaningful an interfaith event before wrote of the Thanksgiving and instructive, conversations and reflections that Roundtable he attended in November as an experience happen when our community participates in interfaith of “enlightenment” that opened his eyes to the diverse dialogue and service work has been realized through the experiences of so many people of different backgrounds Challenge blog. in the room and made him grateful to be at Georgetown. Three roommates, Hindu, We did not anticipate the Muslim, and Christian, level of interest the blog wrote a reflection for would attract - rather than 9/11 on how their faiths having to solicit posts, blogs connect rather than divide are now regularly contributed them and how they use by many community this connection to assess members, including students who they are, who they who never participated want to be, and how they in interfaith activities can improve the world before. The opportunity to around them. Dozens of connect over shared values students wrote about the of spirituality and service service work they did in the motivates our community community, from sleeping to go beyond theology and out in solidarity with the has resulted in many new homeless, to preparing students and community and serving food to the members taking part in hungry around the city to the Challenge as regular tutoring and mentoring participants. underserved students. The reflections are thoughtful These are stories that and meaningful, providing may have been told even a window into the diverse world of faiths, cultures, and if the Challenge was not occurring this semester, but ethical commitments that motivates students to serve to have them gathered in one place, accessible by the others and reflect on the purpose of their work and time at whole community, and to have the chance to share them Georgetown. One student wrote how his experience as a at our monthly Roundtables, gives these reflections a Mormon at Georgetown motivates him to work for justice power they would not have on their own. Our campus and the common good. A non-believer wrote of how she and community life is enriched by the ability to engage feels at home at a Catholic university that nurtures her in interfaith dialogue, to serve others, and then to work in educating underserved students and provides consciously and actively reflect on the meaning of this her with an interfaith circle of friends. Our essay contest work, as “men and women for others” being the change winner described how his suffering over the death of we want to see in the world.

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/presidents-interfaith-challenge/ 7