The Office of Service Learning and the Office of Campus Ministry are teaming up to sponsor “We Are Better Together,” a day of interfaith recognition and celebration held at Sinclair Community College.
“The goal is to help people recognize we have more in common in our religious and spiritual backgrounds than what may divide us,” David Bodary, coordinator for the Office of Service Learning, said.
The Better Together event is celebrated internationally on over 145 college campuses. According to the movement’s website, the goal is for students to “organize their peers from different religious and non-religious backgrounds to take action on key social issues in their communities.”
This year’s event is concentrated around three goals, which, according to Interfaith Campus Minister Barbara Battin, are voicing, engagement and action.
“The voice will come through our celebration in unity. We’ll engage by awarding the True Blue Awards and the action will come through our service to the community,” she said.
The True Blue awards will be given during the event to students and faculty on campus who, according to Battin, “promote interfaith cooperation and unity on campus and in the community.”
The service aspect of the event will take place at the Dayton International Peace Museum, where students are encouraged to offer feedback on several new exhibits.
“It’s a great way for students to engage with the community,” Bodary said. “And the museum is excited to get that feedback from the wide variety of faiths and cultures represented by our school.”
Students are encouraged to wear blue for the event, “to demonstrate our unity in interfaith dialogue and cooperation,” Battin said.
The event will take place April 10, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Library Loggia. From noon to 1:30 p.m. informational videos and games will be in room L721 (under the library stairs). At 2 p.m. participants will meet at the Dayton International Peace Museum to preview several exhibits and offer feedback.
“We just want to bring attention to the idea that we are better together, that our different religious and spiritual traditions are better together,” Bodary said.
For more information on the event., contact David Bodary at david.bodary@sinclair.edu, or Barbara Battin at barbara.battin@sinclair.edu.