Abba, Allah, God, Buddha — although the titles and beliefs differ, various religious groups will gather at Howard Park on Tuesday.
Thirty organizations from Ohio University and Athens will come together for the first Religious Involvement Fair. Among them, the Adventist Christian Fellowship, Anointed Ministries, Hillel and Church of Earth Healing will be present.
The event, sponsored by the University Interfaith Association and the OU Office of Event Services, aims to provide interested students with a way to get involved with religious groups, said Evan Young, a coordinator for the event and campus minister for United Campus Ministry.
“We were interested in including religious diversity in the university’s definition of diversity,” Young said. “We want to promote religious diversity not as a problem to be solved but an asset to be celebrated.”
Rich Teske, director of Reach Out on Campus, said he was approached by Sujit Chemburkar, former executive director of Baker University Center and Event Services, in the fall of 2011 and asked if a religious involvement fair was of interest.
After running the idea past interim vice president for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi, Young and Teske sent emails to various organizations with a religious affiliation.
“Lo and behold, we have 30 groups participating,” Teske said.
Ian Klein, president of Athletes in Action and a graduate student studying exercise physiology, said having groups together in a low-pressure situation is a great idea.
“It’s going to be good for those students who don’t know what groups are out there,” Klein said. “You aren’t going to like everything that’s there, but if something appeals to you, you can go forth and learn more about it.”
The fair is a good idea because our culture is taught to believe that religious diversity is a problem, Young said.
“When you create opportunities for people of different faiths to participate together and learn without talking solely through stereotypes, it becomes much more human,” he said.
This year is a test run, but Young said he hopes the fair can become an annual event.
“It’s good for the OU community to have this sort of structure with faith
communities, and it’s good for the faith communities to reach out to students,” he said. “It’s win-win.”
ao007510@ohiou.edu
