Westminster College is one of over 270 campuses participating in President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge that submitted mid-year reports celebrating a half-way point in the year’s programming.  TO KNOW AND BE KNOWN is the campus campaign for on-campus interfaith dialogue and community outreach about the Westminster Global Community.  Weekly presentations in collaboration with the Fulton Public School District have given Middle School and High School Students the opportunity to armchair travel to other countries. An upcoming LOCK IN will engage 6th graders – 60 year olds in a refugee simulation activity thereby learning empathy and learning about the challenges refugees face in the Global Community.

In March 2011, President Obama extended an invitation to college and university presidents across the country to take up an initiative to bring together diverse religious groups on campus for a year of interfaith cooperation and community service programming. The program challenges students and administrators to serve together on projects that strengthen their communities and unite people of diverse religious backgrounds together.

Recently Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, “We are truly encouraged by the response to the challenge. Students across the United States of America are demonstrating a real commitment to serve their communities in ways that will have a lasting impact.”

Representatives from community colleges, colleges, universities and theological schools, including Westminster College, submitted plans to participate in the President’s Challenge, representing the great diversity of the broader higher education landscape.  Approximately 35% of participating institutions are public schools, while just under 50% are of diverse religious affiliations, including Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Quaker, and Buddhist.  There are 25 Historically Black institutions, 11 Hispanic-serving institutions, and 11 community colleges participating. 

Campuses are focusing on a variety of service initiatives from the Kennedy Serve America Act, with 61% focusing on domestic poverty, 31% focusing on education, and 23% focusing on health services.  Campuses also selected particular interfaith engagement issues to advance institutional commitment to interfaith cooperation.  To implement these plans with the greatest impact, campuses have formed ambitious campus/community partnerships, with the average institution partnering with two external community organizations.

At the end of the year, campuses will be invited to Washington, DC to be recognized by the White House for their commitment.