The Interfaith Student Council (IFSC) engages in interfaith leadership by facilitating conversations and organizing events for students from a variety of worldview (religious, spiritual, and/or secular) perspectives. The council is comprised of select students who collaborate with clubs and organizations across campus and in the community to increase religious literacy, grow respect for every individual worldview, build understanding relationships, and work in cooperation with different worldview communities. Our goal on our campus is to achieve religious pluralism as Dr. Diana Eck talks about; a world where people of differing religions and worldviews can live and work together in peace while maintaining their distinctiveness. Pluralism is the positive engagement of worldview diversity toward a positive end. We achieve this on campus by building:
Tayler Fearn is studying bioinformatics at UVU. In addition to her passion for biology, she has a passion for inclusion and interfaith. She considers herself an agnostic animist. Her passion for interfaith came from growing up in the diverse city of Vancouver, Canada. Growing up, Tayler was surrounded by individuals from a variety of worldviews, ethnicities, and cultures. She had friends who were Sikh, Atheist, Non-Denominational Christian, and Muslim. She learned that they had a lot of common values and felt inspired by their faith. This is the perspective she has brought with her to Utah. Tayler agrees with Saint Francis when he said, “All that we do is a preparation for love.” For her, there isn’t anything more meaningful than the relationships with her loved ones. This preparation to truly love others involves connecting over common values and learning to peaceably acknowledge the differences. This connecting and acknowledging is something Tayler learned while growing up in Vancouver. She hopes to help others learn this and learn how others do that here in Utah.
Hannah Briceño is a Junior at UVU majoring in Digital Marketing with an emphasis in Data Analysis. She grew up in Orem and loves UVU. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served a church mission in Spain. Outside of interfaith, she participates in the Presidential Internship with the Marketing and Communications department at UVU.
Hannah has always had a passion for Interfaith work. It really started when she made multiple friends with different faiths and/or having different secular beliefs. She believes that a group of people who disagree and still care for each other is the highest form of love. She joined interfaith so she could help create and foster a space on campus where people can feel safe to “agree to disagree” and still be friends. Off campus you can find Hannah binging reality tv shows, taking film photos or listening to music.
Aaron Stanger was born and raised in West Point, Utah. He was baptized into and identifies as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served a 2-year mission in the Philippines from 2017-2019. He is a senior studying Psychology and has always been interested in dialogue about differences of all kinds. In his free time, he loves to play any sport, hike, run, read, and listen to podcasts. His interfaith interests stemmed from a class he took from Professor Brian Birch in the Fall 2021 semester which led to him attending the SCRIPPS 2022 conference where he was involved in the development of different small interfaith initiatives. It opened his eyes to the impact interfaith work can have.
Maren grew up in a family that was mixed in many ways: biological and step, religious, agnostic, and atheist, miracle whip and mayonnaise. There was a lot to disagree on, but her family learned how to have conversations that celebrated differences while embracing commonalities. Although this was sometimes inconvenient (like making room for both miracle whip and mayo in the fridge), in Maren's experience it has always been worth it. Maren currently identifies as progressive LDS and is excited to be a part of the interfaith council and to utilize these conversations to discover more peace with her sometimes conflicting identities. She believes in compassionate relationality and has been trained in Systems Thinking. She hopes to pursue a career as a Social Impact Consultant, applying these principles as well as her academic pursuits in Social Work and Peace and Justice Studies. Maren believes that from condiments to critical questions, we must all learn to see in others "the part of [ourselves] we do not yet know", and engage in respect and curiosity toward ourselves and those we may perceive as different from us.
Sara Groesbeck is a senior at Utah Valley University studying Strategic Comm and Public Relations. She has had the opportunity to be involved in many organizations on campus including UVUSA, Clubs and now the Interfaith Student Council. She loves UVU and getting to know the student body. Sara identifies as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and considers her faith to be a driving force in her life. She decided to join interfaith because she believes we can all can learn more from one another. She is excited to get to know more about other world views and help create safe spaces for these conversations to happen.
Asmaa Alsharif is a data science major and a tutor at the writing center. Her faith and worldview is Islam. Asmaa was born in the Muslim-majority country of Libya. When she moved to America at the age of 5 years old, she suddenly found herself in the minority. She was often asked questions about her hijab and her religion by her peers. Asmaa loves interfaith because it bridges the gap between people and cultivates goodwill and friendship. She has many friends from various religious backgrounds, and she has always found it interesting to hear them share their worldview. It's important to Asmaa that we find a way to relate through our similarities, but also recognize and respect our differences. In her leisure time, she enjoys hitting the gym, eating Ben and Jerry's chunky monkey flavored ice cream, and playing Gartic Phone.
Simone Anderson is a dual major in elementary education and philosophy. They hope to utilize this unique combination in their careers as an elementary teacher to facilitate and build a classroom culture of thoughtful and respectful discussion. With this eventual goal of career, they are excited to be placed in an environment of interfaith dialogue, where these goals of respectful and thoughtful discussions are mainstays.
Although Simone identifies under the banner of secularism, their worldview can be greater defined with a sympathy to twentieth century existentialism and a strong belief in the innate good intent of humanity. These beliefs help inform their action and focus on community building and political projects with the secular student alliance and the progressive student alliance.
Lizzy Jensen is a junior in UVU's Theatre Arts BFA program with an emphasis in Musical Theatre and a minor in Religious Studies. She was raised in Gilbert, Arizona as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Lizzy served an eighteen-month mission in Detroit, Michigan and is profoundly grateful for her time there. She believes that those experiences awakened her passion for religious studies and taught her the depth of human goodness. Since coming home from Detroit, Lizzy has moved away from traditional LDS orthodoxy and likes to define herself as "Mormon-ish," hoping that will express her fondness for the LDS community and the greater umbrella of Mormon theology while still honoring her personal schisms from traditional beliefs held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her faith transition ignited her passion for interfaith work, and she hopes to be a force for good in her religious community, encouraging more widespread love, respect, and acceptance of religious diversity.
Lizzy is also a Foundations Ambassador and the Vice President for the resident "drama club" on campus, the Theatre Arts Guild (come play with us!). Lizzy loves UVU and credits her participation in the Honors program for enabling her passion for religious studies and interfaith work. When she isn't singing, acting, or reading about Mormon history, Lizzy enjoys tweeting, running, watching sitcoms, and spending quality time with her friends.
Miranda is a senior working on a degree in English with an emphasis in Literary Studies. Her love for literature is evident as she works at UVU’s Fulton Library, publishes her poetry and essays in UVU’s literary and academic journals, and acts as the 2022-2023 Editor-in-Chief for the Honors Program’s mulitmedia journal: Untold. Miranda’s interest in interfaith work was sparked in the conversations she had with people of varying faiths as an LDS missionary in Oregon. In the years since, she has found joy and excitement in exploring religious and ethical views. Still on a journey of creating and understanding her own world view, Miranda turns to literature, nature, and the people around her as she expands her beliefs. Regarding the importance of differences in Interfaith work, Miranda thinks Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel, The Left Hand of Darkness states her experiences perfectly: “It was from the difference between us, not from the affinities and likenesses, but from the difference, that love came: and it was itself the bridge, the only bridge, across what divided us.”
The best way to get your foot in the door for a spot on the council is to serve on a planning committee to help us organize our events and activities. Every year the council recruits 3-5 people per committee to help them accomplish the mission of the IFSC. The folks who volunteer on those committees are prioritized during application reviews. Qualifications to be on the council are:
Applications are open for Spring Semester 2023.
The Interfaith Student Council will organize and participate in the following activities during the school-year:
