Penn has a large number of religious organizations that represent students from a multitude of faiths. But in the past, these organizations couldn’t directly receive University funding.
That is changing. Campus religious groups — as well as nonreligious ones — will now have access to a student-run Faith Fund that will provide financial resources for religious programming and events.
The Faith Fund has the potential to do a world of good, and we commend the Office of the Chaplain and Programs in Religious, Interfaith, and Spiritual Matters for working to secure $8,000 from the Provost’s Office for this purpose.
The resource will make it easier for religious organizations to create programming and to hold more events throughout the year. The Faith Fund could also lead to more opportunities for religious groups to collaborate with each other — fostering greater interaction between organizations and hopefully leading to greater religious tolereance and understanding. And we like the fact that the Faith Fund’s board can serve not only as a financial resource but also as a source of information about how best to handle the logistics of planning their programs.
We look forward to seeing religious groups take advantage of this new resource and provide even more value to the Penn community.
