UMBC Receives $30K Interfaith America Grant

UMBC has been awarded a $30,000 Advancing Religious Pluralism Grant by Interfaith America to "further interfaith cooperation and learning on campus." The grant will allow Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b) to expand their interfaith infrastructures and, in collaboration with campus partners, to strengthen strategic plans, programs, initiatives, resources, and staff development across the University in order to equip students to engage across lines of religious differences in contributing to a sustainable and thriving democracy.

Matt Hoffman, assistant director in i3b, manages the Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being and is serving as team leader for this initiative. The team includes Dr. Ciara Christian, M.A. '18, Ph.D. '22, acting director of i3b; Darcie Adams '23, M.P.S.'25, i3b graduate assistant in the Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being; Dr. Renique Kersh, vice president for student affairs; Tanyka Barber, chief diversity officer and vice president of institutional equity; Dr. Laila Shishineh, director of Academic Engagement & Transition Programs; Rev. Kiran Sankhla, UMBC Hindu chaplain; and Aliza Silverman, interim director of UMBC Hillel.

Hoffman explains, "As i3b has grown its diversity, equity, and inclusion work, the two-year-old Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being in the Center for Well-Being has become the hub of religious and spiritual life--during a challenging time when increasing interfaith understanding and collaboration is more important than ever. While intentional interfaith work has been one focus in i3b, we recognize the need to develop new sustainable programs and educational opportunities that support our undergraduate and graduate students. Our goal is to create hallmark curricular programs that teach skills and provide a laboratory for students to learn how to create and facilitate interfaith conversations and programming.

"The timing for this grant is excellent as UMBC begins to develop a strategic plan that includes broad plans for students' comprehensive belonging and cross-cultural competency development, including leveraging the institution's compositional diversity in order to increase cultural and global competencies of students; promoting student health and well-being; and increasing opportunities for applied learning experiences," Hoffman adds.

UMBC will use the grant to develop two programs:

The UMBC Interfaith Fellows Program will be a stipended year-long fellowship program, with curricular (non-credit) and co-curricular experiences to develop student leaders committed to engaging across religious and spiritual traditions. It will also serve as an entry point for students who identify as spiritual but don't necessarily connect with a religion or defined worldview. Through a series of weekly meetings and campus-focused projects, students will gain practical and theoretical experience to develop communities committed to justice, dedicated to lifting up diverse identities and energetic pluralism. Fellows will be responsible for shaping campus culture to make interfaith engagement a campus norm. The capstone experience will be an opportunity for participants to lead a series of interfaith programs on campus, aimed at applying their skills and knowledge to address the growing, shifting, pluralistic community at UMBC and how the institution can continue to develop proactive systems to develop graduates to address emergent issues.

The UMBC Bridge Builders Program will be a semester-long program focused on dialogue across differences, related to pressing global issues in religious/spiritual spaces. In this weekly program, a small group of students will develop skills and competencies connected to dialogue, identity exploration, and community building that center restorative practices. Each Bridge Builders series will focus on one contemporary, contentious issue connected to religion and spirituality. Bridge Builders will proactively address such needs through the creation of an intensive, relationship-building dialogue-centric program. Participants will commit to a semester of engagement, developing relationships and skills for dialogue before engaging in a specified topic of conversation. This dialogue program will engage in the work of restorative practices to help participants learn how to respond and engage after harm has been done. 

Interfaith America's mission is to inspire, equip, and connect leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of America's religious diversity. Interfaith America seeks partnership with campuses who recognize that American colleges and universities have a unique role and responsibility to help our communities and our nation explore and learn how to embrace differences while maintaining a common life together.