Caring, Cooperation themes of new USU Interfaith Training

A program at Utah State University has the lofty goal of ushering in a new era of interfaith cooperation and caring campus.

Better Together Interfaith Ally Training is a three-hour program developed by Bonnie Glass-Coffin, a College of Humanities and Social Sciences professor of anthropology and religious studies. Several training sessions will be offered to students, faculty, staff and members of the public at no cost March 30-April 2.

Glass-Coffin is the faculty lead for USU’s Interfaith Initiative and is conducting the trainings with support from a USU Diversity Council Grant. The free program will cover the basics of religious literacy and also provide tools for building bridges across “faith-divides” on campus and in the community.

A year ago, Glass-Coffin and a team of undergraduate student researchers held round-table discussions and interviews with more than 100 USU students, faculty, administrators, professional staff and community faith leaders to gauge feelings about religious identities on campus and the unique challenges USU faces as a public university with a “single-faith majority.”

Researchers found that faith-commitments were an important part of identities and most wanted to be able to share this aspect of themselves with others. However, almost all study participants said they did not feel safe doing so. Both LDS and non-LDS said students felt obliged to just stay quiet about their faith-commitments although they also said doing so made them feel sad, lonely, isolated and unhappy.

 “I’m comfortable with me not being LDS,” said one student. “I am willing to tell [people], but it gets awkward if I just insert it in somewhere. There’s a lot of pressure for people who still desire the approval of LDS members.”

 Many of the LDS students interviewed said they also felt uncomfortable sharing the religious aspect of themselves. 

“I think because [the LDS faith] is a majority, it feels like it is okay to make fun of it, and it’s okay to make fun of the members and the traditions,” said one LDS student.

Better Together Interfaith Ally Training was developed to help members of the campus and Logan community better openly express religious and spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs.

“The training is based on the premise that sharing all of who we are and bringing our whole selves to the table of academic learning is both liberating and appropriate, even in a public university environment,” said Glass-Coffin.

The program is similar to other programs around the country, including NYU’s Faith Zone Training, Loyola University of Chicago’s Interfaith Ally Training and the Secular Student Alliance’s Secular Safe Zone Ally Training.

Better Together training promises to provide participants with “the tools to voice one’s ‘authentic self,’ and to engage respectfully and appreciatively with those of other traditions, and to act together in service to the common good,” said Glass-Coffin.

The research conducted by Glass-Coffin and her students indicates there is a both a desire and a need for the Better Together Interfaith Ally Training.

 “I think people really, really want to talk about these things and share,” said one research subject. “Pretending that we don’t have religions is kind of a pain actually and I don’t think that anyone wants that. I think [hiding] can increase feelings of loneliness.”

Better Together Interfaith Ally Training promises to help combat such feelings of loneliness, according to Glass-Coffin by “promoting connection, an atmosphere of caring and positive mental health on campus and in the community.”

Although there is no cost to attend a training session, registration is required. To register for any of the training sessions email Annette.grove@usu.edu before March 18. Spaces are reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. A meal will be provided to participants free of charge.

Contact: Bonnie Glass-Coffin, (435) 797-4064, bonnie.glasscoffin@usu.edu