Center
on campus helps students keep the faith
By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
There
are many different religions in the world
and on campus. The University Interfaith
Center is a place where students from all
different denominations can go and talk,
have lunch, study or meet friends.
The University Interfaith Center is located
in the bottom floor of the University Student
Union and is made up of 12 groups on campus
who work together to provide educational
experiences which encourage students, faculty
and staff in their pursuit of spiritual
growth, community building, faith development
and personal values.
“We are here to provide services for students,
faculty and staff for religious services,”
said United Methodist Campus Minister Rev.
Mary Kay Will. “We provide service projects,
social events, educational and other services.”
Although the school does not fund the center
it is considered a division of student services
because it provides services for students.
“Our biggest problem is we have no money
for the programs,” said Will. “We receive
no funding from the school. We pay rent
for the space and pay our own phone bills.
Each faith groups provides their own financial
support.”
The 12 groups associated with the center
are the Catholic Newman, United Methodist,
Cooperative Protestant Campus Ministry,
which is made up of five denominations-Presbyterian
Church U.S.A., United Church of Christ,
Church of Brethren, Disciples of Christ,
and Lutherans-Episcopal, Hindu, Muslim Students
and Unitarian Universalist and the Long
Beach Hillel Jewish Student Association.
The different groups do individual and joint
projects. The United Methodist sponsors
a food drive in October and they also raise
money to help feed the hungry. Jewish and
Christian groups along with Catholic and
Methodist students work at checkpoints and
provided water and snacks for the walkers
said Will.
Students wanting to find a place to meet
other students of the same faith or learn
about another faith can find it at the center.
“I find a lot of students searching for
a sense of community,” said Will. “[CSULB]
is a large university. Many students find
this a good place to be connected with other
students of similar faiths.”
Sean Masero, a CSULB senior marketing and
managing major, has been part of the Catholic
Newman campus ministry for two years and
says he enjoys the center.
“I like it,” Masero said. “It’s a good thing.
It’s a positive place. It provides students
on campus with a place to go to interact
with other groups and understand them better.
We do a lot of positive things. Getting
people involved through fellowship. It provided
me with my friend base for college.”
The center has existed since the1970s and
it provides students with a place to go
to if they need someone to talk to. It serves
as a drop in place if people have a problem
they can come in and talk to someone or
if they have a more serious problem they
can make an appointment said Will.
Despite having 12 different groups with
different believes the groups do not have
any problems with each other.
“We’re about respecting each others faiths
and getting along,” Will said.
The UIC saw an increase in students going
to the center after Sept. 11, but didn’t
notice much of an increase during the war
with Iraq.
“We saw a big increase after Sept. 11 happened,”
Masero said. “During the war we had a little
increase but not that big.”
“It’s a unique place,” Will said. “There’s
lots of different activity possibilities
for students to get involved, to serve,
to talk and to study. It’s a place students
like to be. It’s comfortable.”
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