On Sunday, Ladd House came to life as the Rachel Lord Center for Religious and Spiritual Life hosted an Interfaith Leadership Summit. Attendees, including student Interfaith Fellows and faith group leaders, discussed what interfaith dialogue meant to them and planned future campus events.

Held for the first time this year, the summit was originally planned to take place at the Schiller Coastal Studies Center but was moved to Ladd due to last weekend’s winter storm.

Interim Assistant Director of Identity and Culture Maya Dowling-Wolfe ’23, one of the summit’s organizers, stated that the main purpose of the event was to provoke discussion surrounding faith and religious identity, topics she sees as not commonly talked about at the College.

“Religious and spiritual identities are often invisible identities,” Dowling-Wolfe said. “Because those identities often go invisible, I think the point of the summit was to really dig in deep to talk about religious identities and practices on campus.”

The summit’s programs were oriented towards developing dialogue and understanding between students of different religious identities. One highlight was a values activity for students to reflect on what truly matters to them. Participants also took part in a sacred object showcase, where students presented items that had special meaning to them.

Dowling-Wolfe believes students were able to find much more in common with each other then they may have expected.

“I think a lot of students found that their values aligned with other students who may not have been in their religious or spiritual tradition, which I thought was really cool,” she said.

Ymir St. George ’25, an Interfaith Fellow and summit attendee, said the program emphasized how the spiritual questions humans search for are similar at heart.

“We all want to know, why do we suffer? Why do we die? What happens after we die?” St. George said. “And the paths that we take to get to finding that answer are all different, but what we really want fundamentally is the same.”

St. George also appreciated how the program demystified the idea of interfaith conversation and outreach.

“The idea of interfaith dialogue sounds very academic and very stoic, but it can be something as simple as just asking somebody about a holiday that they celebrate.… It doesn’t need to be, ‘Why do you think that humans suffer?’” St. George said. “I think that that is one of the strongest foundations that you can have for a dialogue of this kind.”

Feysal Abdirahaman ’27, another Interfaith Fellow, valued how the summit built community between different faith groups at the College, who normally do not interact with each other in his experience.

“Being able to be in a space to hear other opinions, views, lives and stories really makes you understand the importance of community and diversity,” Abdirahaman said. “Those collaborations are really important.”

In addition to reflection and dialogue, the summit also raised ideas for Interfaith Visibility Week, which is held annually during the first week of February. As part of the summit, attendees from faith groups such as the Catholic Student Union, Christian Student Association, Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Hillel planned events to host during the week.

Abdirahaman, who is also a MSA student leader, said this was a highlight of the day for him.

“It was really cool,” he said. “It was a good opportunity for us to discuss [planning events].”

Student faith groups won’t be the only ones hosting events during Interfaith Visibility Week, with the Rachel Lord Center planning to host activities such as a kickoff event in Smith Union and an interfaith trivia night.

Though the College has previously held programming for Interfaith Visibility Week, in Dowling-Wolfe’s eyes, interfaith programs such as the summit and the upcoming slate of events are more important now than ever.

“I think in a time where the world and our country are so divided, it’s important to remember the similarities that we have rather than the differences. And so I see the importance in interfaith work being [a] commitment to being inclusive and understanding of different beliefs,” Dowling-Wolfe said.

When asked if she could see the summit as a recurring program, Dowling-Wolfe was hopeful.

“I would love to see this happen again,” she said. “I think it was really fruitful this year, so I’m excited.”