McGill Interfaith Student Council (MISC) is ready for its second year of action. Our first year as a newly formed Council last academic year was a huge success. The Council saw about 10 to 15 representatives from several different religious group on and off campus, including representatives from Muslim Student Association (MSA), Newman Catholic Student Society (NCSS), Hillel, Sikh Students Association (SSA), McGill Christian Fellowship (MCF), Ghetto Shul, Youth with a Mission (YWAM), IF?, and Thaqalayn Muslim Association (TMA) and more. At the very beginning of the year, the council discussed our purpose and came up with our mandate which we have nicknamed the “3 Cs:”
- Promote collaboration and networking between religious student groups at McGill. We identify the need for students to connect with each other, facilitate collaboration and organize interfaith projects.
- Find a common ground by celebrating diversity with unity. We realize that we are not the same, that we have differences, but that we can work with both our similarities and our differences.
- Be a collective voice for religious student groups on campus.
Following this mandate, we organized two big events throughout the year; the first, a debate on religious freedom in the context of the Charter of Values, and the second, a conference exhibiting how students express their faith on campus. The council will be having its first meeting towards the end of September to discuss the direction of the council for the upcoming academic year! It will be another great year!
By: Thibault Vincent
Editor’s note: Newman students have been actively involved in MISC since its founding last year. You can talk to our VP Outreach Katie Hayman, or to Thibault, if you are interested in learning more about Newman’s interfaith collaborations.
