DePaul has two on campus sacred spaces  to gather, celebrate and collaborate — but students faith leaders say it’s underused.

There are two interfaith sacred spaces on campus: One on the first floor of the Lincoln Park Student Center and the other on the 11th floor of the Loop DePaul Center. These spaces provide space for reflective and meditative worship for all faiths. The Lincoln Park interfaith sacred space has different religious texts and chairs or mats for prayer.

DePaul also has non-Catholic sacred spaces such as the Jewish Life Center and several Muslim prayer rooms on campus and the Chicago Downtown Islamic Center in the Loop.

The spaces are just open rooms available for interfaith programming, with no designated staff member, unlike other cultural centers on campus.

DePaul Hillel Vice President Hannah Kinsella said the pandemic and previous leadership has influenced the lack of collaboration.

“But [the previous staff member] organized events with Missions and Ministry,” Kinsella said. “We did a lot more interfaith things.”

Muhammad Farrag, a junior and a Muslim interfaith scholar, said DePaul’s United Muslims Moving Ahead (UMMA) organization have been able to host events, such as weekly prayer, at the interfaith Loop campus. He added how he wants to see more co-sponsored religious events.

“I do think multiple religious organizations cosponsoring an event is a principally good idea and a general net-positive all around,” Farrag said. “I think the interfaith spaces could be utilized more or at least publicized more.”

Hillel used to host interfaith Shabbat and Seder on campus, but events like these have come to halt.

Kinsella added that the lack of events means many students don’t know the interfaith spaces even exist.

DePaul does not release specific religious demographics but also advertises religious diversity. Forty-one percent of the 2020 freshman class who reported a religious preference said they were Catholic, according to DePaul’s 2020 Enrollment Summary.

Abdul-Malik Ryan, assistant director of religious diversity and pastoral care said the Division of Mission and Ministry has a broad view of what interfaith spaces resemble.

“Many people may think of interfaith spaces as only spaces where people talk about religion or where each person represents a specific religion or other such things,” he said. “We bring together people from different backgrounds, from different parts of the world. People have different perspectives.”

Farrag said he has personally used on campus interfaith spaces.

“One of the most important [reasons for interfaith sacred spaces]is to have a peaceful place to meditate, pray and reflect,” he said. “Particularly for those who don’t have spaces dedicated to their faith tradition or those who are still unsure of exactly where their spiritual journey is taking them. It can provide a calm, pressure free environment.”

Hillel has not used the interfaith spaces this year but has encouraged interfaith events outside of these spaces, according to Kinsella.

DePaul President Hillel Priya Fink thinks there’s a lot of potential for interfaith spaces to foster religious equity at DePaul.

“As a catholic university, DePaul does a pretty good job of including other religions, but I think there could be more of a push for inclusion and more collaboration,” Fink said. “I think that space could be a really good way of doing that. And not just doing more, but making sure that people know about things that are going on in this space.”

Outside of the student life, DePaul offers Jewish Law and Judiac Studies courses and events in the College of Law and an undergraduate degree in Catholic Studies. In the required religious dimension for students, there are several options for specific faith based classes.

Fink believes engaged dialogue could occur from a more active interfaith space aside from class.

“There’s a certain structure and expectations in academic spaces,” she said. “People might feel more open discussing them elsewhere. So having an interfaith space gives them that option.”

“It’s one thing to learn about other religions as an academic subject, and it is another entirely to interact with the experiences of those who practice,” Farrag added. “By learning through social avenues rather than exclusively academic ones, interfaith feels more like a part of our lives and something we can carry with us and apply to our everyday interactions with people.”

Ryan said aAn interfaith space can resemble how diverse the world is. In Chicago, Catholic and Christain make up a majority of religious adults but includes Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist representation as well, according to the Pew Research Center.

“DePaul is seeking to prepare people not only to live in but to contribute to a diverse and multifaith world in which true appreciation for the different stories and experiences of people of all faiths and none is vital to engaging with others in ways that are life giving and honoring rather than predatory or essentialist,” he said.

These designated spaces could also hinder non-affiliated students from participating in religious practice.

“It’s kind of scary to go into a space that you’ve never been in before,” Fink said. “Or a space that is for a group that you’re not a part of. Having the interfaith space, it’s like a designated space for everyone. So it’s a little bit more comfortable.”

Collaboration can occur more organically in social spaces rather than the academic setting.

“By learning through social avenues rather than exclusively academic ones, interfaith feels more like a part of our lives and something we can carry with us and apply to our everyday interactions with people,”Farrag said.

Interfaith events have occurred at DePaul this year but not in these spaces. Forty-one percent of the 2020 freshman class who reported a religious preference said they were Catholic, according to DePaul’s 2020 Enrollment Summary.

“We would love to see more interfaith collaboration,” Fink said. “It’s something that we care a lot about. And I think an interfaith space can be really helpful with that, but it doesn’t have to be the only thing.”

Several significant holidays are approaching such as Purim, Holi and Good Friday throughout March and more in April, according to the DePaul Religious Observances calendar.

“The real changes are going to be made when students and students just kind of organically formed these relationships,” Kinsella said. “That would be kind of my dream to see at DePaul, is these organic relationships between all of these different faiths so that we can have a strong community of interfaith people.”