Intersections — of faiths, of studies, and of communities — have shaped Em Irlmeier’s undergraduate experience.
A senior at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, Irlmeier is an interfaith intern in the Religious Life Community (RLC), a student-led group that supports undergraduates in their journeys of faith and spirituality. Her introduction to interfaith work came from adopting religion as a second major after finding inspiration from a women’s and gender studies lecture as a freshman.
Irlmeier’s interest in bridgebuilding grew, and she eventually attended an Interfaith Leadership Summit in 2025. Hearing other students present on their involvement with the Building Relationships Across Interfaith Difference (BRAID) Fellowship and with encouragement from her professor, she decided to apply.
“I was really nervous, but I’m super grateful to [former professor of Buddhist studies at Simpson, Jed Forman] for pushing me,” she said .
Part of Interfaith America’s BRAID fellowship is implementing a bridgebuilding project on campus. With the support of her RLC community, her advisor, Professor Maeve Callan, and Simpson’s Chaplain the Rev. Mara Bailey, Irlmeier carried the spirit of intersectionality into the creation of an “outdoor meditative garden and labyrinth.”
This previously underutilized space, which sits between the chapel and Simpson’s music building — where Irlmeier participates in band and orchestra as a clarinetist — is a contemplative walkway and reflection space, comprised of steppingstones and native plants.
“The labyrinth is such an ancient and flexible multi-faith symbol,” she said. “A lot of people can use it in a variety of different ways, whether it’s walking meditation or deep personal reflection, or just wanting to spend time outside and be in nature. I felt like it was a really good way to reflect our college’s values of coming together … and also being entrenched in the Methodist tradition.”
The project was interdisciplinary not only in its potential use for students of any faith or none, but in its creation. Irlmeier enlisted the help of a spring semester biology class to test the area’s soil and identify native prairie species that could serve as a pollinator garden.
Students of diverse backgrounds pitched in to build the space on Simpson’s Campus Day — a yearly spring service tradition.
Irlmeier also worked to organize the garden’s grand opening event, hosting the resident monk of a local Buddhist monastery, the Venerable Pamok Kha, who led a walking meditation.
“It was really cool to see people meet somebody new who practiced a tradition that they might have never interacted with before,” she said.
Despite certain challenges she faced when implementing her project — including gaining administrative approval and working on quick timelines — Irlmeier is proud that the project has been well-received by the community.
She is encouraged by the ways faculty, students, a campus-sponsored youth program, and a local yoga collective have all utilized the labyrinth since its creation and hopes it can grow and evolve to serve the campus for years to come.
“It is becoming a community space,” she said. “I like that this is something that can be there for the long term, so people can use it on their own time and can continue to learn about it in the future.”
As Irlmeier enters her final year as an undergraduate at Simpson, she’s grateful for and inspired by the classmates, faculty, community members, and family that have supported her along the way.
“In an era of anti-intellectualism and rampant generative AI, I believe we are rediscovering what it means to be human, in all of its glory and imperfections,” she said, referencing how the campus community feels more connected now than she’s witnessed since before the pandemic. “We are relearning what it means to be neighbors and effective citizens. We are choosing to push back against political and social turmoil by holding on to one other.”
Rachel Crowe
Rachel Crowe, Staff Writer for IA Today, tells compelling stories about interfaith cooperation across diverse communities and supports our narrative programming. She is a graduate of Gettysburg College where she earned a BA in English with a Writing Concentration and a German Studies minor.
