A new faith and life center is expected to debut in the 2023-2024 school year.  

The goal of this center is to provide co-curricular opportunities for students to learn more about world religions and engage in interfaith activities said Ellen Posman, chair of the religion department.  

“I fundamentally believe, and the administration agrees with me, that knowing more about our multitude of religions that exist in the United States is an important thing for any local, national and global citizen to know and any college student to know,” Posman said.   

Posman said that part of the faith and life center’s goal is to make outside connections.   

“We hope to reach out to community partners from multiple religions in the Cleveland area and find ways to work with them to advocate for justice and solve problems facing marginalized people in our community,” Posman said.   

Part of working with others in the community includes service projects, advocacy and panels on issues of justice such as the environment, homelessness and racial justice.  

President Bob Helmer approached Posman with the idea of the center.   

“BW has an important role to play in bringing people together of different lives and viewpoints. I think so much of our society breaks us apart these days,” Helmer said. “This interfaith center is an opportunity to build bridges among members of our BW community and the Greater Cleveland area.”   

A belief shared by both Posman and Helmer is that all are welcome. Posman said that interfaith is another word for worldview and does not just cover the typical religions but also atheists, Wiccans, agnostics and humanists.   

“One of the main ways that has been shown to reduce prejudice and discrimination is by knowing people of another group,” Posman said.   

Hannah Budic, administrative assistant to the chair of faith and life, said they are looking for a student advisory board for the center that would be comprised of members of campus faith organizations and representatives of other worldviews that do not have campus organizations, possibly including staff and faculty. An external board of members with varying religious beliefs is also in consideration.  

Posman also said that the center could include paid research positions. These student research assistants would work on profiles and the history of religious groups in the Greater Cleveland area. Posman said that the information might be presented through a blog, podcast, coffee table book, or website.  

Possible activities offered by the center would include film screenings, guest speakers from the community, interfaith panels and classes. “The Good Life,” a course offered in Spring 2023, is an example of what the center is hoping to provide to the community, Posman said.  

Posman said that the projected launch will be an interfaith banquet where people from the community and students are arranged at tables to discuss interfaith topics.   

In the meantime, the office of faith and life is searching for a name for this interfaith center with a naming contest that is currently in the works.