This year, the White House will invite an unprecedented integration of religion and community service across college campuses, and Penn’s religious organizations are ready for the Challenge.
Penn will participate in the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which was released by the White House last spring. According to the White House’s official website, the Challenge is an “initiative inviting institutions of higher education to commit to a year of interfaith and community service programming on campus.”
College senior and Programs in Religious, Interfaith and Spirituality Matters chairwoman Maria Bellantoni said that Chaplain Chaz Howard and involved students “jumped at the opportunity to participate. [The program] has been on the agenda for a while, and it’s a great time to enact it.”
The Office of the Chaplain and PRISM’s constituent groups have been working under the direction of Penn President Amy Gutmann, who initiated Penn’s participation in the Challenge as a result of her own relationship with the Obama administration.
In June, PRISM submitted a formal application to the White House, outlining its plan for the coming year and listing its constituents as well as community service groups that expressed interest in getting involved. In the coming weeks, these groups will coordinate and solidify their plans for expanding current service opportunities.
Although the implementation of the Challenge at Penn is still in its planning stages, students can expect to see the spread of campus-wide programming like the biannual CHORDS Spring Service Weekend — part of an initiative to support city-based faith groups sponsored by PRISM and the Office of the Chaplain — in October, as well as more specific, diverse opportunities for interfaith engagement and service.
The Anthropology department is participating in the Interfaith Challenge by offering a new course this spring called “I Believe — Interfaith in Action.” The new course, which in past years was structured as an informal meeting and spring break service opportunity, will delve into the history, politics and theory behind the interfaith movement. It will include a community service component as well.
In addition, PRISM will implement monthly service projects at the beginning of next semester and utilize MGMT100 teams to “help service organizations structure themselves,” College junior and CHORDS Chairwoman Allie Fuchs said. According to Fuchs, this will add to the efforts of the Chaplain’s Office to reverse Penn’s lack of attention to Philadelphia religious communities in past years. “The goal is to build stronger ties with faith-based organizations in West Philadelphia,” Fuchs said.
In the beginning of October, PRISM will host a summit for student religious leaders that will serve as a “launching point for the Challenge from which to coordinate with different religious groups,” Bellantoni said. PRISM will host its own programming but will also “serve as a resource or consultant for other religious groups that want to engage in interfaith service.”
