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Interfaith Student Council

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2025-2026 Interfaith Student Council

 

The Interfaith Student Council (ISC) is composed of representative members from the undergraduate religious and philosophical communities at Tufts. The ISC meets weekly during the fall and spring semesters. Our time together is centered in spiritual storytelling, rest/renewal/joy, and sharing a warm meal. The ISC is co-facilitated by Muslim Chaplain, Khan Shairani and Associate Director and Catholic Chaplain Lynn Cooper. While the ISC is limited to formal representatives from Tufts' religious and philosophical communities, we are often have at-large members as well.  Students who are interested in interfaith work more broadly are encouraged to join COFFEE, an interfaith collective that meets on Monday nights.  Please contact Khan or Lynn to learn more about the ISC.

Reflections from ISC student leaders

“The Interfaith Student Council has been an incredible opportunity to learn to reflect upon our own beliefs and the beliefs of others with a sense of curiosity and reverence that I’ve never experienced before. It’s a space in which we can be our full, intentional selves— and in return, we get the opportunity to be receptive to our fellow council members and find the commonality in all of our experiences as humans. We take this commonality and channel it into an event or gathering that everyone is welcome to, so that others can feel the same joyous and friendly energy that we curate in our meetings (with snacks provided, of course!)” - Kate Beveridge '25 (Humanist Community at Tufts)

Members of the council smiling at the camera.

 

Kate Beveridge (right) with Ayub Nur, Lena Leavit, and Julia Appel on our Pilgrimage of Sacred Sites on Campus Fall 2022

 

“ISC holds significant meaning for me because it has provided me with a valuable opportunity to engage and learn about various faiths present on our campus. As a board member of the Hindu Student Association, it is easy for me to become engrossed in organizing our own events and interacting primarily with our fellow members. However, this narrow focus can sometimes prevent me from fully experiencing and appreciating the diverse range of activities of different faith communities on campus. Through our weekly meetings, I learn so much about different traditions and events that are happening. ISC also facilitates events such as the Food & Faith event. Here we talked about how food is important to our faith and how it has connected us to family, friends, or people we have just met.” - Raaj Pednekar '25 (Hindu Students Association)  

Members of the council posing for a picture.

Raaj and friends at Food and Faith May 2023

 

“The(Interfaith Student Council/Interfaith Ambassador Retreat was life changing, so cute! Our graduate intern Francesca had prepared an exercise about rest, and the lack thereof in our daily college lives. Mixing politics and performance, that activity made me see how an interfaith practice can be crafted around values of art and social-awareness I deeply resonate with. I hope to take this practice further with me in other groups I'm part of.”  

- Muri Mascarenhas '25 (Tufts Buddhist Mindfulness Sangha)

Muri crafting on retreat 

List of Groups Historically Represented on the Interfaith Student Council

  • Asian Baptist Fellowship
  • Baha'i Students Association
  • C. Stacey Woods Programming Board
  • COFFEE (an Interfaith dialogue group)
  • Catholic Community at Tufts
  • Chabad at Tufts University
  • Daily Flame
  • Humanist Community at Tufts
  • Latter-day Saints Students Association
  • Muslim Students Association
  • Non‐denominational Christian Fellowship
  • Protestant Students Association
  • Sikh Students Association
  • Tufts Adventist Christian Fellowship
  • Tufts Hillel
  • Tufts Hindu Students Association
  • Tufts Buddhist Mindfulness Sangha
  • Tufts Orthodox Christian Fellowship
  • Tufts University Unitarian Universalists

History and Initiatives

While there were earlier iterations of an interfaith leadership group in the 1990’s and 2011, the ISC as we know it now was established in the Fall of 2013 as a council including formal representation from all of the religious and philosophical student organizations on campus (as a requirement of their constitutions). Tufts’ diverse religious and philosophical landscape is something to celebrate and the ISC has helped make that possible through hosting interfaith events, creating opportunities for community service, and inviting students to build religious literacy by showing up for one another—literally and metaphorically.  We have also had the great privilege of sharing the story of the ISC at conferences and through cross-university collaborations.

Check out some of our highlights from over the years.

  • Film Screening of Inside Out 2 at the Interfaith Center thanks to being awarded a Mental Health Mini-Grant from Counseling and Mental Health Services. A partnership with Project Share.
  • Flower give aways
  • 23-25 ISC-sponsored Decompression Nights at the beginning of Reading Period. All students welcome to take a load off at Goddard Chapel. These evenings have featured music, Legos, cute dogs, friendship bracelets, crafts, ice cream sundaes, and good conversation.
  • Summer 2023, Former and current leaders of the ISC presented at the North American Student Affairs in Higher Education Conference, NASPA in Boston, Massachusetts
  • In 2022, 2023, the ISC organized and hosted Food and Faith, a time to come together and share stories about the intersection of religion, culture, and food.
  • Spring 2022 retreat with the Interfaith Ambassadors at Rolling Ridge Retreat Center
  • EarthFest 2019, a free annual event on the Academic Quad to celebrate sustainability in the community in honor of Earth Day. The event included live music, a vegetarian cookout provided by the GreEco Reps, a clothing exchange hosted by the Eco Reps, and Interfaith Student Council and the University Chaplaincy hosted a table. The Interfaith Student Council and University Chaplaincy asked students, staff, and community members to reflect on their values and why they want to live sustainably. Photos here.
  • Interfaith Conferences (Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018) - The University Chaplaincy has sent ISC representatives to interfaith student conferences, including the Coming Together 7 conference at Yale University in Spring 2015, the New England Interfaith Student Summit at Northeastern University in Spring 2016, and the Boston Interfaith Leadership Initiative (BILI) Conference in Spring 2018. These conferences are opportunities for students to connect with interfaith leaders from other campuses and to share ideas about advancing this work at Tufts.
  • The  Language of Prayer: Exploring our Linguistic Connections to Faith (Spring 2018) with Professors Ely and Hatcher from the Religion Department and Rabbi Jeff Summit.
  • Spring 2018 #TuftsInterfaithMonth Photo Campaign. Photos here. 
  • Interfaith Awareness Month. The University Chaplaincy and the ISC worked with over 10 of Tufts’ religious and philosophical communities to intentionally open up one of their weekly gathering times so that other students could observe, participate, and ask questions. The month concluded with an Interfaith Brunch in order to build community and reflect on the experience.
  • Interfaith Sowing and Growing (Fall 2018) - An opportunity to enjoy conversation and meet people from different religious and philosophical backgrounds by planting seeds and reflecting on the upcoming year.

 

  • On-campus ISC Retreats (Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2017) - The University Chaplaincy has brought new ISC Representatives together early in fall semester to build community, learn about religious and philosophical diversity and pluralism, and set goals for the upcoming year to advance the mission of the ISC.
  • Interfaith Jeopardy (Fall 2017) - An evening of dinner and answering faith-based questions.