Joseph Chavez
Staff Writer
Interfaith fellows Isela Chavez, sophomore sociology major; Olivia Magby, senior sociology major; Aisha Adelotan, junior biology major; and Zandra Wagoner, university chaplain, held an interfaith dialogue dinner Tuesday in the Campus Center Ballroom.
There were roughly 25 participants, who showed up and ate Mediterranean food while they discussed various topics of faith via some discussion prompts.
As interfaith fellows, Chavez explained: “We practice interfaith between the La Verne community and have people of different religious or philosophical beliefs come together and get to know each other more.”
Questions shown on a projected PowerPoint were designed to prompt conversation and help the participants fully understand each other’s beliefs.
Another part of the event had participants engage in one-on-one conversations with each other with questions on the board guiding our dialogue. The questions asked participants to speak about why they hold their beliefs, why it is important to them, and some of the struggles that come along with this.
Throughout the event, participants sat with others and discussed their own religious beliefs and talked about the differences and similarities among their beliefs.
Wagoner, who participated in the event as well, explained how pairing up with other participants was her favorite part of the event.
“I learned a lot because it was making connections, relationships, getting to stand with people who truly are sitting in different places with their world views,” Wagoner said.
Magby emphasized the importance of conversing with people who hold different beliefs.
“It’s okay to have conversations with people you would not normally talk to whether it is regarding religion, spirituality, philosophy or people with no beliefs,” Magby said.
Wagoner said that conversing with others is not always easy.
“There were a couple people whose views were not only vastly different but some beliefs even rubbed up against some of my old ways of being,” Wagoner said.
She added that she was able to keep an open mind throughout the conversations.
“I recognized and noted the differences and used that energy to direct towards curiosity, so it was always in a spirit of understanding,” Wagoner said.
Magby added that understanding where one-another is coming from is important when in diverse settings.
“University of La Verne is very diverse and these spaces allow people to get different perspectives that you wouldn’t normally have and it provides great insight into others lives and experiences,” Magby said.
Chavez said that she hopes events like this help build relationships and challenge people to expand friendships.
“It’s a space for them to be more open and to get to know others in the community better,” Chavez said. “(For participants) not to only stick to that one friend group that makes them comfortable and to be more open to a diverse environment.”
Magby explained that these events help facilitate growth.
“These spaces provide conversations to grow because for me around a year ago I was not as open minded as I am now and I’m still growing, but I’m definitely better than what I was and these spaces helped,” Magby said.
“It was very enlightening seeing and hearing people’s way of life and being open minded to others beliefs,” said Cherie Atalor, sophomore computer science major.
Joseph Chavez can be reached at joseph.chavez2@laverne.edu.
Joseph Chavez, a sophomore public relations major, is a staff writer for the Campus Times.
