Pres. Cantwell's New 'Future Casting With Utah State' Episode Hosts Founder of Interfaith America

Episode 6 of the “Future Casting with Utah State” podcast is out now. In this new episode, USU President Cantwell talked with Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, the leading interfaith organization in the United States.

As a civic leader, Patel believes religious diversity is an essential dimension of American democracy. Under his presidency of Interfaith America, he has worked with governments, universities, private companies and civic organizations with the intention to bridge cooperation rather than create a divide.

Throughout the podcast episode, Patel and Cantwell discussed the need for continuing pluralism through academic programs and student affairs initiatives and Patel shared the five principles of pluralism:

1. Diversity is a treasure.
2. Identity is a source of pride.
3. Cooperation is better than division.
4. Faith is a bridge.
5. Everybody’s a contributor.

“You can think of that as kind of a word cloud, right?” Patel said. “But pluralism, for me, is respect for diverse identities, relationships between different communities, and cooperation on common projects for the common good.”

President Cantwell expressed the importance of continuing the work of pluralism at USU. They both addressed the challenges young people face in participating in diverse perspectives, and Cantwell shared the significance of creating inclusive environments for students and taking learned skills into real-world applications.

“We have an obligation to provide the platforms for diverse conversations,” Cantwell said.

For more information, listen to “Future Casting with Utah State” on UPR.org or visit the president’s communications webpage.