Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) President David Trimble says the Campus Faith Alliance will help students respect each other's human dignity and recognize the right of every individual to seek ultimate truth.
The new program, he says, is the result of "many months of reflection and prayer and searching for how we might be able to provide some level of assistance and response to the chaos and disruption that seems to have permeated college campuses across the United States."
Following the terror attacks against Israel last fall, antisemitic activity escalated on more than 100 college campuses, and since then, more than 3,000 students have been arrested.
Reflecting on the fact that a significant amount of RFI's work is education-related, the Campus Faith Alliance was formed.
"Living out one's faith, learning out how to live one's faith in the public square could provide a good model for students on how to even disagree and discuss the world's biggest issues, but do so with a respect for the human dignity of every individual," Trimble notes.
His team thinks that model could provide a context for addressing and helping restore some order and meaning for college students.
RFI is already working with a handful of colleges and universities on piloting this program this fall.
Some of those are close to the D.C. area, and others are a little more removed. Most are larger public universities with many different faith-based students groups that will be coming together and beginning to have conversations about religions freedom, human dignity, and how to address the threats against their faith traditions today.
Based on the feedback RFI is getting, Trimble expects this program will spread to other institutions of higher education in the future.
