General
Group Name:
Interfaith@MIT
President's Name:
Leanna Morinishi
President's Username:
leanna
Treasurer's Name:
Nina Sinatra
Treasurer's Username:
nina
Initial Membership: (usernames of at least 5 MIT students who will join the group)
nsinatra
deeni
fsafir
arfa
bmm515
afrah
Statement of Purpose
Why are you, the founders, starting the group?
The purpose of Interfaith@MIT is to catalyze relationships between religious groups on campus and to invite the MIT community to take notice and take part in activities that reach across cultural, intellectual and religious bounds. Specifically, Interfaith strives towards the following goals:
- Interfaith Catalyst
*: To bring religious or belief groups on campus together, two at a time, to deepen understanding and cultivate respect at both the religious and personal level; to involve the MIT community in casual activities on campus between peoples of different beliefs; to promote interfaith and faith-specific events on campus and encourage attendance from all belief groups.
- Common Action
*: To organize interfaith cooperation through projects such as service-learning and social action that will influence both personal attitudes and the bonds of a community through a common goal and a positive collective experience.
- Faith Focus
*: To celebrate the diverse and remarkable people on campus, showcasing one belief group at a time through a brief cultural or intellectual presentation to foster understanding between peoples.
How is this group unique? Could the ASA find similarities with other groups? If so, why should this group obtain recognition? What are the differences?
This group is very unique. There is no other interfaith-focused group on campus. The one program that the ASA might see as similar to Interfaith@MIT is the "Addir Fellows Program" organized through the Division of Student Life and run by Ora Gladstone. Throughout the application and starting-up process, Interfaith has worked very closely with Ora for insight and advice, and not only has she agreed that our methodology of fostering interfaith understanding and relationships is fundamentally different, but she has been the biggest advocate of us founding this group so far.
The main difference between the well-established Addir and what Interfaith hopes to accomplish is that Addir fosters deeper intellectual understanding between individuals of different faiths through small group discussions, where Interfaith hopes to bring the established religious groups on campus together through community service and collaborative informative events for the greater MIT community. While our goals of fostering interfaith understanding and mutual respect are the same, our methods are completely different. Interfaith@MIT holds that interfaith cooperation such as service-learning and social action that facilitates meaningful encounters between peoples is the most effective way to transform negative stereotypes.
Why does the group need ASA recognition? What resources do you expect to use?
First, the ability to attend and advertise at the ASA Activities Midways throughout the year would help us not only recruit new, excited members, but also give the religious community at MIT a fresh and welcoming quality. Even if someone's specific belief group does not exist on campus, Interfaith can be proof of MIT's active endeavor to make all students feel comfortable and part of an approachable community on campus.
Second, many of our events throughout the year would require us to reserve rooms, and we would appreciate this ability through recognition as an ASA group. We would also like to apply for money from the Fresh Fund for our first interfaith events on campus.
Lastly, this group requires ASA recognition to exist as a legitimate platform for bringing religious groups on campus together. We plan on organizing many interfaith events throughout the academic year, and being an official club at MIT as opposed to a disorganized group of students would facilitate our communications with the chaplains as well as the belief groups on campus.
How do you plan to fund the group?
Initially, we hope to receive money from the Fresh Fund for publicity and our first general body meeting. We would apply for the funding available to ASA groups for club events such as panels, faith focus dinners, casual hot chocolate nights in the religious building, interfaith dinners, and cultural presentations. Beyond that, we would work together with specific religious groups on campus and the Division of Student Life to help bring in speakers or for any larger event.