The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series presents Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core, and author of 'Acts of Faith' April 25
The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series presents Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core, and author of “Acts of Faith,” “Sacred Ground” and “Interfaith Leadership: A Primer,” on Tuesday, April 25, at 7 p.m., in Evans Hall, Cummings Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Patel founded Interfaith Youth Core on the idea that religion should be a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division. He is inspired to build this bridge by his identity as an American Muslim navigating a religiously diverse social landscape. For more than 15 years, he has worked with governments, social sector organizations, and college and university campuses to help make interfaith cooperation a social norm. In 2009, he was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders; he also served on President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council.
Patel earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.
The President's Distinguished Lecture Series, founded in 2016 by Connecticut College President Katherine Bergeron, brings notable speakers to campus each year for a public presentation and informal meetings with students, faculty and staff. During his visit to campus, Patel will be joined by Noah Silverman, a 2004 graduate of Connecticut College and senior director of faculty initiatives at Interfaith Youth Core.
The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series inaugural speaker in 2016 was Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” a memoir that questions the inequities of the U.S. justice system and the morality of capital punishment. Stevenson’s visit was organized in collaboration with the One Book One Region program of Eastern Connecticut, which is designed to stimulate new kinds of dialogue among the many different communities in this region.
April 12, 2017
