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Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge

President Obama has issued an Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge to colleges and universities around the nation. Even more exciting than the challenge is Georgia State's seventh president Dr. Mark Becker has accepted the challenge and asked the Office of Civic Engagement to convene students, faculty, staff and community representatives to work together in addressing critical issues in the Atlanta community. While we know the university cannot address every issue in the community, we can come together to impact the Atlanta community in a significant way.  The White House administration has defined Interfaith Service in this way: 

“Interfaith service involves people from different religious and non-religious backgrounds tackling community challenges together -- for example, Protestants and Catholics, Hindus and Jews, and Muslims and non-believers -- building a Habitat for Humanity house together. Interfaith service impacts specific community challenges, from homelessness to mentoring to the environment, while building social capital and civility.”

This summer a group of students, faculty, staff and community representatives convened and identified three issues the university will address as part of the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge: education, sex trafficking and weatherization. These projects were selected as a result of students and faculty willingness to take the lead in addressing these issues.

The weatherization project will focus on weatherizing six seniors’/low-income homes to help them reduce their carbon foot-print and save money on their utility bills.  The project will be coordinated by the student organization Sustainable Energy Tribe and Dr. Michael Black. The sex trafficking project will focus on advocacy and awareness. By providing a common voice and serving as a leader in the community, the university is uniquely positioned to equip, enable and champion others to the cause. The sex trafficking project will be coordinated by our Street Grace chartered student organization, the Interfaith Council and Rev. Chris Hannum. Our third project will be education. The focus of the education initiative will be getting students to commit to being mentors and tutors in the Atlanta Public Schools and after-school programs. Taking the lead in this project will be the College of Education and the Office of Civic Engagement recruiting and referring students to various schools and programs.

Another component of the Interfaith and Community Service and Campus Challenge will be to bring together believers and non-believers to dialogue about how their faith and/or beliefs influence their decision to be involved in the community and/or the Interfaith Service Initiative.  Georgia State is one of more than 300 colleges and universities who have accepted President Obama’s challenge.

We invite you to join the Interfaith Service Challenge by stopping by our office in Suite 320 of the Student Center or by emailing us at GSUserve@gmail.com. 

Primary Contacts

Find email addresses for the primary contacts for each focus of the Interfaith Initiative.