Student faith summit sparks fresh paths toward healthy pluralism

Student faith summit sparks fresh paths toward healthy pluralism

Guest Column by Razan Ahmed | University of Idaho

As we climbed aboard the big yellow school bus, my inner child was bouncing with joy. I had never been on an American school bus before — it felt like I was in one of those coming-of-age Hollywood movies I would watch as a kid. I only moved here to the U.S. three years ago for college, to study at the University of Idaho. We did not have school buses in Pakistan. When I was in high school, I biked the 12 kilometers to school most days (I don’t know how many miles that is).

The bus was taking us from Provo to Brigham Young University’s Aspen Grove lodging facility for the annual Student Conference on Religion in the Public Sphere (SCRIPS). The conference’s central theme was encouraging and instilling in students the skills to be advocates of ‘religious pluralism,’ or ‘the condition under which many faiths can coexist and flourish.’ Some 60 undergraduates from universities around the country had been nominated by their respective schools to take part: I was one of them.

The lodgings were tucked below the gorgeous backdrop of Mount Timpanogos. Mount Timpanogos is the only mountain in the U.S. — and between Glacier Park and the Colorado Rockies, I have seen some — that reminded me of the mountains back home. 

Pakistan is a Muslim-majority country — 96% of it identifies with the religion. It is also a country that struggles with its identity. Whether it was meant to be a secular state or a religious republic is one of the most common topics of debate in its universities and in political discourse. And like virtually everywhere, it grapples with the concept of pluralism.

Moscow, Idaho, home to the University of Idaho, has been my temporary home for the past couple of years. It is a place filled with some of the kindest and most polite people I’ve ever met. One challenge that comes with that in Moscow is that it can sometimes create a barrier to engaging in politically or socially-charged discussions, such as those about pluralism.

Growing up in Pakistan, a country home to so many ethnic groups, I learned that a strong nation can only be built on creating space for different identities to be seen, valued and meaningfully integrated. It was not something a flag and anthem alone could achieve — or, in the case of a university, mascot pride and a shared slogan. So, I was curious to see what the speakers at SCRIPS would have to say and the things I could learn. I wanted to see if I could apply their insights in any way to home or to Moscow and get a better understanding of the best ways to talk about these fraught and complex subjects.

And it did not disappoint! Listening to the faculty speakers, interacting with a brilliant cohort of peers from various backgrounds, working intensely in a group to come up with and present our project for the prompt of the conference (essentially about coming up with a way to build pluralism and community trust), I learned a great deal about strategies to foster dialogue, build connections across differences and bring people together — desperately needed in this time of extreme polarization and social fragmentation.

The faculty, many of whom had worked around the world on issues related to pluralism in some way, shared their experiences over many years. Former president of the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy (ICRD), James Patton talked about his work in Pakistan with USAID (oh you bet we had such a long and interesting conversation about that), where he focused on mitigating sectarian tensions, as well as his post-conflict reconciliation efforts in Latin America.

Patton emphasized the risks of dialogue. How, if not done responsibly, dialogue could actually exacerbate hostilities. To be effective, it must include the right voices in the community and in the right setting, which can only happen if one has a sufficient understanding about the social fabric of the place. Involving both those who have influence and those who are often left out is paramount. In the case of Pakistan, it was the inclusion of local religious leaders in the program that made all the difference, while in Latin America it was the involvement of women in the peace talks.

Professor Andrew Reed, chair of Religious Understanding at BYU, discussed his experience in Eastern Europe where at one time areas were struggling with weak voter turnout. The unconventional nature of their solution to this made an excellent point about the importance of thinking creatively and with an intersectional mindset. The focus of his project was introducing values of civic engagement to schoolchildren through their curriculum and giving them the day off during elections. This produced a ripple effect. Students took conversations home, which inclined their parents to set a good example and ultimately increased voter turnout.

My group mates and I were able to connect these two lessons — of dialogue alone not being enough and of the importance of intersectionality — with my own experiences (I had mentioned them to my peers) to come up with the two main ideas that our project would stand on.

This semester in Moscow, I had the opportunity to start a local chapter of the Food Recovery Network, a national organization focused on reducing food waste. Our work involves collecting surplus food from local businesses at the end of the day and redistributing it to students facing food insecurity. Two ideas emerged from this experience that, upon further research, became central to our project proposal at SCRIPS.

If dialogue alone was not enough, would having it over a shared meal increase the likelihood of it being fruitful? Research agreed. And if the interaction were made to occur against the backdrop of something important to all groups in that society, a common cause transcending religious or political differences, such as organizing food drives or preparing meals to address food insecurity, perhaps it would not only be more conducive to dialogue that strengthens community, but also help attract those with genuine intentions rather than just folks who want to prove their points.

I felt both proud and humbled by the project proposal and presentation my group had come up with in the end. It was a true reflection of everyone’s hard work and creativity. But more than the final product, I’ll cherish the three days we spent in a room together, from morning till late into the evening, working with and learning from each other.

SCRIPS ended with a heartfelt panel where the faculty gathered to reflect both as teachers and also as fellow learners. In quiet gratitude, we listened intently as they shared fragments of their journeys, the stumbles and insights that shaped them, and the hopes they held for us.

The ride back to Provo was tragically not on the school bus. But sitting in the front seat of the car, I had a gorgeous view of the Wasatch Range — the perfect ribbon around my weekend.

After getting back to Moscow I shared our project with my team at the Food Recovery Network, and we brainstormed ways to collaborate with other student groups to implement its ideas in the upcoming academic year. At the same time, I drafted a resolution for Student Government titled “The One Campus, Many Traditions (Pluralism) Resolution.”

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It read as such: “A lack of pluralism and recognition of the multitude of beliefs and practices in the community leads to a diminished student experience; increases the potential for social isolation and misunderstandings about others’ beliefs; and leads to missed opportunities for dialogue and personal growth, which ultimately weaken the sense of community and belonging on campus. Thus, the Associated Students at the University of Idaho (ASUI) shall actively promote awareness of religious and cultural diversity by highlighting significant religious and cultural holidays on various platforms and help host interfaith and intercultural events, dialogues and celebrations whenever it is able to.”

It passed unanimously in a student senate that earlier in the semester entered a five-to-five-vote stalemate on a resolution congratulating President Donald Trump on his inauguration, i.e., a very polarized senate.

The first event we highlighted was Easter, and we immediately received a positive response. Several students in my student government constituency let me know how much it meant that a holiday so close to their hearts was getting officially recognized and celebrated.

I know how meaningful that recognition is. In Pakistan, as in every Muslim-majority place, Eid is the most anticipated celebration of the year. It is when we gather with friends, family, relatives and neighbors over shared meals; when the adults all give the children pocket-money (and they show it off to each other and it can get pretty toxic pretty fast, frankly); and the city is decorated and brim with excitement. Now, far from all of that, there is a quiet loneliness in celebrating Eid where it is unfamiliar to most.

As I wrap up my final semester at the University of Idaho, maybe even my final days in the U.S., I’m filled with hope knowing there are so many who will carry forward the work of building community and nurturing trust and pluralism. I don’t know where I’ll be next Eid, or whether I’ll ever ride another yellow school bus. I will, though, carry forward the lessons etched into those three days at SCRIPS and in the work we did in Moscow following it — not the least being that belonging is built not just in grand gestures, but in everyday acts of recognition: a holiday marked on a calendar, a meal shared across differences or even a view of mountains that whisper of home.

I am a graduating senior at the University of Idaho studying International Studies, Environmental Science and Climate Change. I grew up in Pakistan and have had the opportunity to study and live across three continents (with a fourth on the horizon). I love hiking and climbing trees, and I’m passionate about topics relating to climate change, human rights and community building. You can reach me at razanahmed360@gmail.com.