Students of different faiths fight for prayer room

Justin O’Connor and Louie Al-Hashimi practice different religions, but over the past nine months, they have worked together on a joint faith-based project to benefit all religious groups at the University of Pittsburgh.

O’Connor, a Catholic, and Al-Hashimi, a Muslim, noticed that the University lacked a permanent space for students of faith and have been working with administrators to fill this void.

O’Connor said that this project has enabled him and Al-Hashimi to “talk about beliefs with a capital ‘B’ and not have something to be scared of.”

At public universities, students are exposed to a broad range of races and cultures, which cultivates an open-minded and expressive environment. But in some cases, incorporating religion into classroom discussion and campus buildings is a challenging task when the topics are treated as taboo — as in the case of crossing the lines of church and state.

After months of pressure from religious student groups, Pitt said it will create a space called the “Mind, Body and Soul Floor” on the third floor of the William Pitt Union. The administration, in conjunction with leaders from the student groups, is working on the details to make the space as accommodating to all religions as possible.

While the Heinz Chapel provides a sacred space that would feel familiar to many Christians on campus, O’Connor said that he wouldn’t expect Muslims to worship there.

For him, the lack of a permanent space for Muslims is the “biggest unfilled student need to take into consideration.”

“Muslim students are meeting their religious needs in Chevron stairwells,” he said.

Observant Muslims are required to pray five times per day, and the University agreed to accommodate them with a reserved room on the third floor of the Union. The room is occupied by about 15 chairs, and a list of prayer times is posted on the room’s white board. As more students began to utilize the room, especially during Friday Islamic prayer, it gradually became too small to fit the growing number of attendees.

While the Muslim Student Association began reserving larger rooms in the Union or O’Hara Student Center for Friday prayer, Al-Hashimi still felt that a room designated for religious purposes was a “necessity.”

“For a lot of members of the MSA, there’s an urgent need on campus for a place where people can take care of all their needs,” said Al-Hashimi.

The Layout

The current plan is to use the space that used to house the Counseling Center before it relocated to Nordenberg Hall in August. The space is now under renovation.

According to Kathy Humphrey, dean of students, the floor will contain areas for physical fitness, including cardio equipment and space for classes, and a study lounge similar to the one on the ninth floor of the Union. Additionally, it will include a reflection room.

“We are not creating a ‘prayer room’ that is connected to any specific religion, but rather a quiet space that can be used by any student to reflect, meditate or pray,” Humphrey said in a statement.

An idea emerged during Martin Luther King Jr. week last spring semester. Al-Hashimi and leaders of other student organizations attended a panel on religion and student life, where they first requested a functional prayer space in front of Humphrey and other administrators.

Discussions progressed following the January event, and the students also took a field trip with Humphrey to Carnegie Mellon University to view its campus prayer room.

The multi-denominational prayer room, located in CMU’s University Center, features a padded carpet, the washing stations Muslims are required by faith to utilize, prayer rugs and no chairs. Ken Lawson, a CMU spokesperson, said the location was chosen because it is central and most accessible to students. The room holds about 50 to 60 people. 

“It’s always been a need on campus to have outlets for spiritual and religious exploration,” Lawson said. “We know that it’s important to people.”

CMU has had a non-denominational chapel for 20 years, but added the prayer room a decade ago.

“It’s proven that it’s something provided for students at other universities,” Al-Hashimi said.

He said that CMU’s non-denominational chapel “wasn’t serving Muslim students as well as it could have,” as it featured “Judeo-Christian” features such as stained glass windows and rows of chairs for prayer. Because Muslim and Buddhist students do not use chairs to pray, CMU added the prayer room to “meet the demand of students’ needs.”

He added that CMU, like Pitt, takes a “holistic” approach to student development that includes spirituality, athletics, clubs, interest groups and a “rounded education.” Lawson said that the schools have an important obligation to “support people’s faith.”

“Most people do have a faith, or participate in some type of spiritual exploration, especially during the college years. It’s a fundamental part of being human,” he said. “How all of that gets expressed on a college campus is up to the individual and how they work in that campus environment.”

“[Religion] has a place, and it exists, whether or not the university is providing good and healthy outlets for those things to flourish, so [students] don’t feel ostracized or isolated from the rest of the community,’ he said.

Mixing Academia and Religion

While almost any other topic is up for discussion on a college campus, the topic of religion remains taboo.

O’Connor, a history and English literature major, feels uncomfortable bringing up religion in the classroom even though it defines his daily life. He said that faith is reduced to a “bad joke” or a “friend’s embarrassing way of dressing.”

“Religion is supposed to be private,” he said, adding that talking about faith is equivalent to being “over-obsessed with your pet.”

Mohammad Mozumder, a graduate student at Pitt who teaches sociology of religion, said that secularism, or indifference toward religion, results from rapid modernity.

Technological and scientific advancements inhibit religion as an “informal taboo.”

“The more you become modern and scientific, the more religion should be more privatized and not expressed in public life,” he said.

While the students initially planned to include the word “prayer” in the room’s title, the administration omitted the word in favor of “reflection.” 

O’Connor hopes that the University will keep the students’ religious goals in mind, so the project does not “teeter on the edge of a second Stress Free Zone.”

The Stress Free Zone is located on the ground floor of the Union and provides services such as yoga and meditation to students.

“I’m not too concerned about where it’s located, but calling it a ‘Mind, Body and Soul Floor’ … At least make it clear that we’re talking about spiritual stuff here,” O’Connor said. 

O’Connor is worried that the University’s plans may only help Pitt’s marketing, rather than create a modest space for group prayer.

“Is the University taking this legitimate student effort to fill a need in the student body for religious practices and making it into some floor that will look really great on letters sent to donors and prospective students?” he asked.

Ken Service, vice chancellor for communications, said the University will call the room a meditation room to “be respectful and inclusive of all of our students.”

“The room is not being designated a ‘prayer’ room because it will also be available for quiet reflection for students who do not identify with any particular faith,” he said.

“The contention that the room is being redesigned to attract alumni donations is completely without validity,” Service added.

Lawson said that CMU includes the word “prayer” in the room’s title because it is specifically designed for worship.

Religion has become a more prominent part of the fabric of campus life elsewhere, as well.

According to a report in The New York Times last month, Troy University in Alabama and Texas A&M University are offering new faith-themed dorms to students.

The projects raise questions about the institutional vote of religion at public universities.

A tolerant culture

The hope among students involved in the project at Pitt is that a collective on-campus space will integrate religious and non-religious students in a central location.

Al-Hashimi hopes the room, which is now under construction, will create more opportunities for dialogue, fostering a “more tolerant campus culture.”

O’Connor said that students who practice their religion are often confined to their own groups. He wants to see a common space that will be an outlet for a public display of faith, interfaith socialization and events. 

“Misunderstandings and stereotypes happen when people don’t know people as people,” O’Connor said. “This room will remind people that there are students of faith at Pitt. They’re not weirdos on the fringes, but actually involved in other stuff,” he said.