Last month, 20 student leaders from 15 campuses across the nation joined together in Salt Lake City to initiate Interfaith America’s 2025 Building Relationships Across Interfaith Differences (BRAID) Fellowship.
This convening was the first in-person gathering of the BRAID Fellowship program, which supports undergraduate students from across the nation by offering a shared community for students to explore and demonstrate the principles of pluralism, including respect for various religious and cultural identities, relationship building and cooperation across difference.
The three-day retreat, which took place at the University of Utah, created space for fellows to form friendships with peers, learn valuable listening and bridgebuilding skills from IA staff, and collaborate with interfaith mentors to ideate on forthcoming bridgebuilding projects on their respective campuses.
“Diversity brought us to the table, but pluralism is what kept the conversation alive”
“Diversity brought us to the table, but pluralism is what kept the conversation alive,” wrote Livingstone College sophomore, Joel Omanye Thompson, reflecting on his experience at the retreat. “And now, it’s on us to take what we’ve learned and apply it — not just in interfaith spaces, but in every aspect of life.”
Read more from Joel and other BRAID Fellows in Five Students Share What Inspires Them as Bridgebuilders
Throughout the course of the fellowship, which runs through August and culminates with attendance at the 2025 Interfaith Leadership Summit, fellows will continue to receive guidance and support from interfaith mentors with diverse worldviews and campus affiliations.
“Our time together has been so enriching, and we’ve had a lot of lively discussions,” shared mentor Marja Humphrey, who is an assistant professor and program coordinator in the School Counseling program at Bowie State University. “I’ve been really impressed with the fellows. Hearing their different perspectives and how they’ve come to this interfaith work and what they bring to it, from both their personal and professional experiences thus far, has been really exciting.”
The 2025 BRAID Fellowship Cohort Includes:
- Alin Geevarghese Anil, Abilene Christian University
- Ali Mohsin Bozdar, Springfield College
- Theo Coval, Augsburg University
- Kobe Deener-Agus, Washington University in St. Louis
- Perla Delahoz, Stony Brook University
- Mahnoor Iftikhar, Pacific Lutheran University
- Deexa Kacchia, Harvard University
- Aneesah Lawrence, Howard University
- Maya Lindsley, University of Michigan
- Aleena Malik, University of Michigan
- Manoj Nath Yogi, Howard University
- Robert Osei Bonsu, Livingstone College
- Naomi Peters, University of St. Thomas
- Joseph Pool, Rollins College
- Lily Rybka, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Sabeen Safi, Muhlenberg College
- Nepor Sowa, Augsburg University
- Eliza Stewart, University of Utah
- Joel Omanye Thompson, Livingstone College
- Avery Usher, Hastings College
2025 BRAID Mentors include:
- Marja Humphrey, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator in the School Counseling program, Bowie State University
- Ethan Bair, Campus Rabbi, Syracuse University Hillel
- Anthony Cruz Pantojas, Humanist Chaplain and Coordinator of Africana Spirituality, Tufts University
- Paul Lambert, Religion Initiative Director at Wheatley Institute, Brigham Young University
- Andre Baesa, Lead Coordinator of Intercultural Engagement and Student Life Initiatives, Baylor University
- Najeeba Syeed, Inaugural El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director of the Interfaith Institute, Augsburg University
- J.T. Snipes, Associate Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- Sable Manson Assistant Director for Student Leadership and Development at the Joint Education Project, University of Southern California
- Sara Shady, Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Academic Inclusive Excellence, Bethel University
- seigen johnson, Program Coordinator, Center for Interfaith Dialogue, University of Wisconsin-Madison
