When Rachel Tjornehoj first joined the Interfaith Student Council, she thought it would be an interesting opportunity to meet new people and participate in larger service activities. But she had no idea just how large the organization’s contribution would be.

On Sunday, Interfaith, a student-run group dedicated to promoting fellowship, conversation and community engagement among people of all faiths and no faith, helped raise money for charity during the Juice Jam concert — a collaborative effort with University Union.

As a joint effort, UU and Interfaith raised approximately $30,000, said UU President Rob Dekker.

‘It’s gotten to be even bigger than I ever thought it would be,’ Tjornehoj said, who joined the council in the spring.

Interfaith worked with UU to collect canned goods for food banks and donated a portion of the profits from ticket sales to the Horn of Africa for famine relief through the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

While Interfaith did not achieve its goal of collecting 8,000 cans, Tjornehoj and the other student leaders are more than pleased with their first charity effort.

‘A lot of students didn’t necessarily understand the impact that they were having, but the reality is that over 6,000 kids did help the Horn of Africa with famine relief,’ said Azhar Ali, another student leader.

Ali, a junior health and exercise science major, said the goal is to do as much as they can to combat hunger locally and globally. Interfaith is planning to participate in the CROP Walk for Hunger in October, Ali said.

Interfaith existed at Syracuse University in the past year but dissolved due to a lack of student interest, said Tiffany Steinwert, dean of Hendricks Chapel. The organization was renewed last spring and has three student leaders, Steinwert said.

The council was recreated, in part, as a response to President Barack Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, an initiative that encouraged universities across the nation to commit to a year of interfaith and community service work, Steinwert said.

Steinwert, who acts as a facilitator for Interfaith, said she and the students hadn’t planned to launch the campaign until October, but when they realized Juice Jam fell on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the group wanted to make the event a fundraiser.

Steinwert said the council acts as a medium for students to educate each other about their ethnic and religious differences. She said that religious conflict is one of the most pressing social problems that face people in America and across the globe.

‘Some of the most devastating conflicts and tensions being played out on the global stage have to do fundamentally with religious misunderstanding and conflict,’ she said. ‘An Interfaith Student Council is our way to shape and form a new generation of global leaders — because that’s what we believe SU students will be.’

Ismail Pathan, a junior finance and marketing major and one of the council members, said when students from all faiths and backgrounds work together toward one goal, they can achieve almost anything. Juice Jam proves that, he said.

‘This is the sort of organization that can break those man-made divides and get kids to work together,’ Pathan said. ‘I’m not here to make you believe what I believe; it’s more of making you understand your own values.’

Interfaith officials said they hope to expand the council to about 15 members this year. Steinwert said she thinks that size will be large enough to do campus-wide activities, but small enough to have relationships. Steinwert said she hopes this number will also allow members to reflect the different traditions in the Hendricks chaplaincies.

Membership in the Interfaith Council is available through application and is open to all traditions, Steinwert said. Applications can be accessed on the Hendricks website.

egsawyer@syr.edu

Published on September 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Liz: egsawyer@syr.edu | @3sawyer