St. Edward's University was selected as one of 250 universities to participate in President Obama's Interfaith and Community Service Challenge during the 2011-2012 academic year. The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge is an initiative inviting institutions of higher education to commit to a year of interfaith cooperation and community service programming on campus.

The Interfaith Challenge at St. Edward's University will work to bridge curricular, co-curricular and community partners to foster a campus philosophy of interfaith and inter-cultural cooperation. The theme Displacement, Migration, and Refugees was selected in an effort to understand the movement and displacement of people as the result of natural disasters, conflict, and economic disparity along lines of nationality, ethnicity, religion or culture.

What does this mean for you as a member of the St. Edward's University community? Dr. George Martin has accepted this challenge on behalf of St. Edward's University so all members of our campus community have an opportunity to join in this year-long effort. As the institution moves ahead with the Strategic Plan 2015, the Interfaith Challenge offers a great opportunity for your office or program to promote events that lend themselves to the theme of Displacement, Migration, and Refugees as part of the Interfaith Challenge.

How to get involved: To submit a Program/Event for inclusion in the President's Interfaith Challenge, please fill out the following form: Event/Program Submission Form.

Check out the President’s Challenge on tumblr.

The Refugee-A Graphic Novel
Read the story of "Roble," a Sudanese refugee from the conflict in his home country. While his story is fictional, it is based upon a blending of real life stories of serveral refugees from the Sudan who have found themselves in Austin.

If you have a course, program, or event that you feel could be repurposed for the Interfaith Challenge and would like more information, please contact Dr. James Puglisi, PIC Campus Coordinator at jamesjp@stedwards.edu or at 233-1693.