Kaufman Interfaith Institute spotlighted in study

Grand Valley State University and the Kaufman Interfaith Institute are key subjects of a newly released study by The Aspen Institute’s Justice & Society Program. The study explores a brief history and analysis of interfaith engagement in West Michigan since the 1980s, focusing primarily on Grand Rapids and Muskegon.

“Interfaith Engagement in West Michigan: A Brief History and Analysis” highlights many of Grand Valley’s successes expanding interfaith understanding and acceptance in West Michigan since 1980, including:

• The 2012 Year of Interfaith Understanding, a yearlong effort to cultivate community interest and engagement of all faith traditions in West Michigan;
• West Michigan interfaith community leaders Lillian Sigal, Marchiene Rienstra and Ghazala Munir founding the Interfaith Dialogue Association (IDA) in 1989;
• Grand Valley hosting the first IDA conference in 1990 with the support of President Emeritus Arend D. Lubbers.
• Sylvia Kaufman founding the Jewish Christian Dialogue in Muskegon in the 1980s and the annual West Michigan Academic Consortium in 2001, which aims to expand the inter-institutional dialogue between various West Michigan schools and the broader community;
• The establishment of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute in 2007 with a significant gift from the Kaufman family;
• Douglas Kindschi named the Kaufman Interfaith Institute’s founding director in January 2010.

To further discuss the findings of the study, Kindschi will participate in a special webinar, “Strategies for Expanding a Local Interfaith Movement: Lessons from West Michigan,” Tuesday, May 12, at noon.

To register for the webinar, visit the Religions for Peace USA website.

The full study can be downloaded at http://gvsu.edu/s/Tf.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues.

For more information about the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, visit www.gvsu.edu/interfaith.