Augsburg University’s Interfaith Institute was recently awarded a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Funding will be used to create a Muslim-led cohort of students from colleges throughout the Midwest; these students will offer interfaith leadership opportunities for their campuses. Cohort members will receive skill-building around topics like best practices for interfaith engagement in higher education and how to address campus conflicts involving religion. 

“We are excited for this opportunity to share Augsburg’s interfaith learnings with other campus communities,” says Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg. “These students will become interfaith leaders who are equipped to facilitate dialogue and build bridges within their communities and throughout their professional lives.”  

The project aims to build capacity on college campuses for Muslim students to lead interfaith engagement among their peers. Located in the culturally diverse Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, Augsburg is uniquely equipped to carry out this work, with 66% of undergraduate students identifying as Black, Indigenous, or as People of Color, and over 12% as Muslim. Interfaith engagement is a core aspect of Augsburg’s academic mission and strategic plan. The university launched the Interfaith Institute in 2018 and appointed Najeeba Syeed as the inaugural El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director in 2022. 

The $189,630 grant will be distributed between August 2024 and July 2026. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations’ Interfaith Leadership and Religious Literacy program area supports organizations that invest in courageous multi-faith conversations and collaborations.