College junior Pavi Jaisankar never thought twice about the Penn Women’s Center and the Chaplain’s Office sharing a building. Once she did, however, the idea for an interfaith group specifically for women was born.
Jaisankar is the founder of a new group aimed to foster discussion among women of diverse faiths.
The group remains unnamed, Jaisankar said, because they’re still in the initial stages of “forming a group identity.”
Jaisankar first thought of forming the group last November, when she realized that “two spaces that represent a huge part of [her] identity” were in such close proximity.
She added that there hasn’t necessarily been a space for women’s interfaith dialogue in the past.
Program and Outreach Coordinator for the Women’s Center Shaina Adams-El Guabli wrote in an e-mail that Jaisankar approached her “with an interest in discussing ways in which the Chaplain’s Office and the Penn Women’s Center could be spaces for collaboration across intersecting identities.”
After meetings among Adams-El Guabli, Associate Chaplain Steve Kocher and various female religious leaders on campus, plans for the first meeting began forming.
The initial gathering took place Jan. 29. The meeting was attended by “women who identified as multi-religious, agnostic, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim,” Adams-El Guabli wrote.
At the first meeting, College junior Sarah Matsui felt that attendees’ “honesty led to a meaningful discussion. People felt safe to express their personal beliefs and even their doubts.”
Meetings take place every Friday at the Women’s Center and are discussion-based.
There is currently no official board strucure in place for the group. In future meetings, different women will take turns leading the discussion, according to Matsui.
“I think it’s refreshing … when you’re sitting around at a table with friends and talking to them about God, there is no board structure,” Jaisankar said.
Adams-El Guabli feels that the group’s set-up “allows students to ask questions, to share opinions and struggles, but in a non-judgmental way.”
