Students express individuality with religious groups

Some express identity by means of fashion, political ideologies or the playlists on their iPods.

Freshman Luke Thompson, a minister’s son, said religion is an expression of his individuality.

“It’s like being asked about having six little brothers and sisters. It’s part of who I am,” Thompson said of his involvement in Bible studies.

Thompson regularly attended a Bible study in the fall.

This semester, he said, his schedule has prevented frequent attendance.

“I regret not being able to attend this semester,” he said. “I enjoyed the social aspect of it. We studied and talked about our lives.”

There are several religious organizations and clubs around campus spanning many belief systems.

Campus Crusade for Christ, is a non-denominational religious group founded at the University of California Los Angeles by Bill Bright in 1951 and has more than 1,000 college chapters in the U.S. as well as 191 countries.

The Helene G. Simon Hillel Center offers religious services, as well as a place to hang out, for Jewish students.

The IU Muslim Student Association is an organization that provides religious and social services for Muslim students.

The organization participates in community outreach and interfaith dialogue.
Currently the MSA is having a series of open houses at the Islamic Center of Bloomington sponsored by Muslims of different nationalities as a way to showcase diversity and clear up misconceptions about Islam.

“We want to maintain a sense of community within our community so that it feels like a big family,” said graduate student Beenish Chaudry, president of the Women’s Executive Committee of the Muslim Student Association. “We have potluck dinners every month.”

Chaudry said the MSA has been having iftars, or communal meals held after sunset during the observance of Ramadan, with the Unitarian Universalist Church for five years.  

Chaudry said there is a group that studies the Hadith, or the sayings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, and are considered important for understanding the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Jeremy Gotwals, a Bloomington native, is the student coordinator for the Tibetan Cultural Center.

Gotwals said he will be directing events around the Dalai Lama’s campus visit in May.
Gotwals said he has been volunteering at the Tibetan Cultural Center since he was 11 years old and has been a practicing Buddhist since he was 15.

He runs a campus meditation group that frequently meets in Dunn Meadow.
Interfaith outreach and finding common ground are some of the most important parts of the meditation group.

“You can practice Buddhism and be practicing another faith or not practice any religion,” he said. “You can come from any walk of life and practice. I’ve known Atheist Buddhists, Jewish Buddhists and Christian Buddhists.”