Crossroads Community Center, The University of Alabama

Interfaith Initiatives

One aspect of intercultural understanding is respect for religious freedom. The UA campus is home to people of many spiritual traditions and religious beliefs. In order to strengthen our campus community, we assist in the sensitive conversation that builds respect and peace among us.

Work at Crossroads is shaped by our commitment to the principles of the Capstone Creed: fairness, honesty, and respect. Crossroads contributes to interfaith understanding at the University of Alabama by placing our talents at the service of many campus programs about spiritual and cultural issues. We also co-sponsor events with organizations and individuals who seek to promote interfaith respect in our community, often serving as facilitators or discussion leaders.

At its summer retreat, the Intercultural Student Council hosted as its keynote speaker, Dr. Beverly Hawk, who has since become our assistant director. The central example of her workshop on feasible interfaith initiatives to create community was the Birmingham Interfaith Greeting Project. Through this project, 8,000 individuals of different world faiths signed greetings to one another's congregations on the occasion of their main festivals. These examples of feasible projects that strengthen interfaith understanding were practical encouragement to UA student leaders.

Recent Crossroads efforts include several Interfaith Panels, forums on Understanding Islam, a program on Buddhist Philosophy, and a discussion of the Jewish Cultural Experience in Alabama. In spring 2007, we offered a discussion series about Service and Faith that brought together Christians, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Unitarians, and Muslims to share their ideas about the role of community service in each faith. We have led employee workshops on religious and cultural diversity that include presentations by individuals of various world faiths and offer informative discussion opportunities for participants. The Crossroads newsletter, Intersections, addresses spiritual issues of the world's cultures in an effort to create a better understanding of the wealth of wisdom our students, faculty, staff, and community members bring to the University of Alabama.