Nazareth Delegation Travels to White House for Interfaith Institute

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Picture of Iffat Shafiq

ROCHESTER, NY (10/22/2010)(readMedia)-- Nazareth College is proud to announce that a delegation of students and staff is visiting the White House to attend the Interfaith Youth Core's (IFYC) Student Leadership Institute from October 22 – 24, 2010. Nazareth students Iffat Shafiq of Rochester, N.Y. and Maura Whitman of Fairport, N.Y., along with Center for Spirituality Director Lynne Staropoli Boucher of Brighton, N.Y., were selected to represent Nazareth College at the institute. IFYC received more than 500 applications for the 200 available spots for the Student Leadership Institute.

The institute is designed to equip interfaith student leaders with the skills needed to advance IFYC's "Better Together Campaign" and encourage interfaith cooperation on their campuses. Student participants will learn how to speak out on the importance of interfaith cooperation on their campus, mobilize their communities to take action and sustain their efforts to create a lasting impact on campus. The Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will host the opening session of the institute at the White House. Other workshops, trainings and networking events will take place at Georgetown University. Representatives from more than 130 campuses from across the country will attend the institute, including delegates from St. John Fisher College and the University of Rochester.

In April 2010, Nazareth College hosted a national Interfaith Understanding Conference which attracted the attention of the Interfaith Youth Core and its founder, Dr. Eboo Patel (a member of the White House Religious Advisory Council). Since then, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq, executive director of the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue at Nazareth College, Daan Braveman, president of Nazareth College, and Lynne Starapoli Boucher have participated in a White House Summit (June 2010) for leaders from U.S. colleges and universities and a national meeting in Chicago (August 2010) to develop national guidelines for interfaith work in higher education settings.

Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is a coeducational college with undergraduate and graduate studies in the liberal arts and sciences and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management. The College is located on 150 scenic acres near Rochester, New York, and currently enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. Nazareth has a strong commitment to experience-based learning and civic engagement. In the past decade, Nazareth has produced 18 Fulbright recipients and two Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships. For more information on the College, visit www.naz.edu.