SHU Creates Interfaith Campus Prayer Spaces

Welcoming environments are available to students, faculty and staff of varying beliefs

Sacred Heart University’s office of mission integration has created an interfaith prayer area and meditation room as well as Muslim prayer rooms to accommodate students, faculty and staff of varying religions and beliefs.

“These prayer rooms are the result of student and employee advocacy, and they align with inclusive excellence principles,” said Maurice Nelson, chief diversity & inclusion officer. “The Sacred Heart mission says we are open and welcoming, and our core values assert a commitment to excellence in all we do and a recognition of the dignity and worth of every human being. As such, creating prayer and meditation space for our community members whose faiths are not Christian-based puts action to the words in our mission, core values and other guiding principles.”

The interfaith prayer area and meditation room is at West Campus on the West Building’s second floor and is adorned with meditation cushions and plants to provide a calming environment for those who want to reflect or pray. SHU’s Indian Student Union and the Hindu Cultural Center of Stratford offered a blessing of a new Ganesha idol at the end of October to the new space. The idol symbolizes protection. It is permanently on display in the interfaith prayer area and meditation room for any member of the SHU community to visit.

The Rev. John Ograh, SHU’s Catholic priest, will perform Mass in the prayer and meditation room on Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Venerable Shim Bo, SHU’s Buddhist chaplain, or Tolga Kaya, a computer science and engineering professor trained in meditation, will lead group meditation in the space at other times.

There are two Muslim prayer rooms. One is on the second floor of the Frank and Marisa Martire Center for the Liberal Arts, across from the Michelle Loris ’70 Forum, and the other is on the second floor of the West Building at West Campus.

Students, faculty and staff are welcome to use the new spaces any time they need a moment to themselves, said Francis Origanti, senior vice president for mission & culture. “We want to make our entire community feel welcome,” he said. “We are a Catholic university, but we appreciate and acknowledge people of all faiths. Every faith, every religion, every person is valued here at SHU.”

Nelson and Origanti hope to create an increased sense of belonging among all those seeking spiritual fulfillment. “We cannot move forward on our journey to inclusive excellence without taking action to embrace our interfaith community,” Nelson said. “This is a small yet meaningful step in the right direction.”