When Guru Khalsa, an Ohio University student, was a child, her family repeatedly faced religious based discrimination. Today, she is one of 20 members of Interfaith Youth Core, working to promote religious tolerance throughout the nation.
Khalsa, a senior studying journalism, and her family are of the Sikh faith — something that she said drew negative attention following 9/11.
“Each day my father would go to work wearing a turban, and people routinely called out ‘Osama’ and ‘terrorist,’” she said. “At the time, I was really terrified that our family would become an object of violence.”
Khalsa is now the leader of IFYC’s steering community at OU, an organization that uses community service projects to bridge the gap between different religions.
“Often when people of different faiths interact it leads to conflict,” she said. “We’re trying to prove that people of all or no faith can work together to serve others.”
IFYC raised $250 this past winter for relief following the Haitian earthquake.
“There are a lot of problems with water pollution spreading disease,” Khalsa said. “We raised enough to provide clean water for Haitian citizens for one year through personal water filters.”
The efforts of OU’s IFYC chapter received attention in the form of the Interfaith Community Service Campus Challenge, Khalsa said.
“That was really exciting for us,” she said. “In his announcement, he actually cited the work of OU and our work with water pollution as something he wants other campuses to do next year.”
Brian Bridges, vice provost for diversity, access and equity, said promoting religious tolerance in society should not be just a campus wide goal, but one for the nation as well.
“Our communities become stronger and more affirming for everyone when peace is a central tenant in all our communication,” he said at last night’s Better Together Bash. “That is when we are able to overcome the petty differences that have often divided us.”
Rather than debate about religious differences, Khalsa said IFYC works to find a more universal common ground.
“We’re not sitting around talking about theological differences,” she said. “We’re trying to come together to help others. That’s a common thread in almost any religion.”
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