Groups
Spiritual, Religious and Personal Wellbeing (SRPW) Groups
SRPW offers a number of opportunities for students to balance their academic pursuits with religious and spiritual activities. In addition to religious services, Allegheny students can engage in groups that provide personal and social connections, outreach to the community, and programming. Along with the clubs listed below, the South Asian Student Society provides a home for many Hindu students, and some Buddhists belong to the Meditation Club. All students are welcome to become involved in MOSAIC. A number of small groups and Bible studies are available each semester, including Women’s Bible Study, Dudes Bible Study, and occasional book groups.
MOSAIC (Interfaith)
MOSAIC stands for Meaningful Open Spiritual And Inter-religious Collaborative. The image captures the gathering of students with different backgrounds in a way that allows these differences to shine, instead of melding together as they would in a melting pot. In MOSAIC, students learn about religious beliefs and culture, discover ways to negotiate real life issues that arise from interfaith engagement, and explore issues of common concern.
MOSAIC does not have regularly scheduled meetings, but offers periodic discussions and social events. Discussions have addressed religious views of death and afterlife, religion and sexuality, accommodating religious diversity in public schools, and interfaith/ecumenical marriage. Annual social events include a Fall Crawl to the different religious houses on campus for socializing over food, and a Religious Life Mixer in the spring.
SRL Week
MOSAIC coordinates the annual SRL Week, which offers programs, performances, discussions, and fellowship events to the campus community. Weekly themes are chosen to support the College’s annual theme and have included “Women in Religion,” “Connections,” and “Faith and Community.”
Contact
mosaic@allegheny.edu
Advisor: TBD
814-332-2800
Hillel: A Home Away from Home
Hillel is a student-led organization that supports and encourages the exploration of Jewish life and culture through religious, educational, and social programs. Students in Hillel work to provide a community that helps Jewish students celebrate, learn, and explore Jewish heritage.
Activities include:
- Weekly Shabbat Services and/or Dinners
- High Holiday Services
- Gift of Life Drive
- Decorating and Eating in the Sukkah
- Latke Fest
- Purim Party
- Passover Seders
- Experiential Learning and Service Trips
- Bagel Brunches
- Holocaust Remembrance Events
- Birthright Israel
For more information, you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. And if you have any questions or want more information, send us an email (hillel@allegheny.edu)!
Allegheny Hillel Food Policy
At Allegheny Hillel, we want all of our meals to be inclusive and community centered. Because many members of our community adhere to kosher-style, vegetarian, and vegan diets, we mainly serve vegetarian meals with vegan options when possible. We decided as a community in fall 2016 to commit to higher welfare eggs as part of the Hazon and JIFA higher welfare eggs initiative and have served only high welfare eggs since then.
Allegheny Hillel is part of the Hazon Seal of Sustainability
Hazon is a national organization that is the Jewish lab for sustainability and we are excited to partner with them to make our meals at Hillel a more sustainable food experience.
Contact
hillel@allegheny.edu
Advisor: Sami Alkyam
814-332-4356
Facebook
Hillel on Instagram
Allegheny Christian Outreach (ACO)
ACO is a large-group fellowship that helps students to know and follow Jesus. We meet at Ford Chapel at 8:30 pm every Tuesday. Students help each other deepen and live out their Christian faith by digging into Scripture, engaging speakers and discussing topics, playing games and worshiping together. We also offer a Fall Retreat, service opportunities, mentoring relationships, and leadership development. The ACO community is a great mix of backgrounds, interests, and gifts, and all are welcome.
“For me, ACO has been a safe, nonjudgmental, and loving community that is both authentic and filled with grace—you most certainly do not need to be anywhere near perfect to come check it out! When I was first checking out ACO, I was immediately approached by a leader. She made an effort to genuinely get to know me and find out how my transition into college had been going. This connection made me feel both welcome and at ease!”
—Emma Donley, ’20
Contact
A number of small groups and Bible studies are available each semester – Women’s Bible Study, Dudes Bible Study, and others. Come to ACO to find out more!
“ACO has been a huge blessing to me my freshman year. I made wonderful friendships in which we support each other in fellowship. The guidance and wisdom I have received is priceless when continuing a relationship with Jesus.”
—Gabriela Grachen, ’22
For over 40 years, ACO has gone to the Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh to talk, learn, think, and dream about the public implications of their personal transformation. Jubilee is a conference like you’ve never experienced before. Whether you’re interested in engineering and science or art and music, law and politics or medicine and mission, justice and families or college life and the years to come, Jubilee will have someone speaking about what it means to be involved in those places faithfully. It’s a gathering of thousands of college students learning how to worship God with their whole lives.
“Being a part of ACO has shown me that Christians come in all forms with different talents and stories that brought them to Christ. ACO forced me out of my comfort zone in order for me to grow closer to the people around me and God, especially being on the leadership team.”
—Essence Suggs, ’20
There are also summer opportunities that will take you out of your comfort zone and around the world! Your faith will grow as you use your gifts and discover new loves in the wilderness or in the cities. Consider working at camp, participating in the CCO’s Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP), Leadership and Discipleship in the Wilderness (LDW), Experience Peru.
Interested in helping with worship? We are always looking for gifted new musicians!
“ACO has had a major impact on my life as a believer. In ACO I have been able to have a clearer view of what the gospel is and what it means in my life and the lives of those I interact with. It is a place where I have felt welcomed, safe, and challenged as I grow in my relationship with God and with my brothers and sisters in Christ.”
—Will Crosby, ’21
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes meets once a week and provides a safe and welcoming place for all students who are interested in exploring, discussing, and sharing their Christian faith. The group comprises athletes and non-athletes and uses the tool of sports to facilitate and fuel conversations and explore the world around us.
“FCA has allowed me to grow deeper in my faith while being surrounded by a community of believers.”
—Becca Winton ’23
At a Thursday night FCA meeting, you will find a group of highly enthusiastic, friendly, active students, who are participating in a mix of games, devotion, conversation, and a sharing of their faith. The diversity and mixture of students who gather make the group a unique and fantastic community to become a part of.
Follow us on Instagram to learn more!
“Going to FCA every week gives me an escape from the fast college life where I can sit back and take a breather. It’s something that is a true eye opener, providing me with many learning experiences and bringing me closer to God. I’m very appreciative of FCA and glad I can be a part of it.”
—Cam Schadl ’21
Contact
Islamic Cultural Association (ICA)
Islamic Cultural Association (ICA) is a student-led organization that supports Muslim students and cultivates mutual respect between Muslims and other communities by creating a space for students of different cultural backgrounds and experiences to celebrate diversity and challenge stereotypes.
“As a non-Muslim student, ICA has allowed me to go beyond my self and develop even more respect for Islam and the individuals that practice it. This organization has proved to act as an inviting space, and also as a family on campus for me. I’ve always been excited to go to our club meetings and events, so I look forward to what we have in store for the future.”
—Sky Clark, ’20
“Being a Muslim is not a race, it’s a lifestyle, from what we do to what we eat.”
—Abdi Lugundi, ’21
Contact
ica@allegheny.edu
Advisor: Sami Alkyam
814-332-2838
ICA on Instagram
- Encourage religious respect on campus and confront stereotypes and Islamophobia.
- Support community members in practicing their religion.
- Promote a hospitable relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Allegheny community.
- Strengthen the unity of Muslim and non-Muslim students.
To achieve these goals, ICA hosts movie nights, discussions about Muslim life, and campus-wide celebrations of Islamic holy days. The group also makes an annual trip to Islamic centers in other cities, such as Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.
ICA has been awarded funds from Allegheny’s Diversity Innovation Fund to bring speakers to campus who confront Islamophobia through their work. In March 2017, they hosted Hind Makki, who delivered a public talk on “Life at the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Religion,” visited with classes and other groups, and led a lunchtime discussion on religious pluralism. In October 2017, artist Helen Zughaib visited campus for a talk and the opening of an exhibit of her works in the Art Gallery. Muslim Chaplain and diversity educator Bilal Ansari has made two visits to campus, most recently in November 2018.
Our Prayer and Meditation Retreat includes a Muslim prayer room, and faculty and students meet there for lunch and Jum’ah prayers on Friday, when classes are in session.
Halal meals can be arranged on an individual basis.
To make arrangements or for additional information, students should contact Office of Spiritual and Religious Life at srl@allegheny.edu or 814-332-2800.
Newman Catholic Campus Ministry
The Newman Association provides faith and fellowship events for Alleghenians who are interested in the Catholic Christian faith. The group provides opportunities to practice and learn about Catholic Christianity, to build fellowship with others of the faith, and to share the Catholic Christian faith and culture with the Allegheny community.
Newman helps students grow in faith through:
- Weekly Mass
- Dinner with the Bishop
- Stations of the Cross
- Tenebrae
- Retreats
- January Mission Trip
Fellowship activities include:
- French Creek Watershed Cleanup
- Family Weekend Brunch
- Corn Maze Outing
- Confessions and Coldstone
- Easter Egg Hunt
Other events include dinner with Homebound Parishioners, an event for SRL Week, and “Mass on the Grass” the final week of the year, weather permitting.
Contact
Newman Advisor: Rev. Fr. Jeff Lucas
Assisting New Advisor: Deacon Ed Horneman
814-332-2800 or 814-282-9859
Newman on Instagram
Sojourners
Sojourners is an interfaith spirituality group open to anyone and everyone on campus. It is a space to pause and reflect on your own experiences while learning about those of your peers. Students engage both heart and mind in lively discussions about how their faith informs the many issues and changes that mark their college years. Sojourners’ weekly dinner meetings are usually student-led. Sharing joys and concerns and group prayer binds students together in love for each other and the concerns of the world.
Sojourners organizes meditations, fellowship opportunities to learn about religious holidays and their histories, and open conversational meetings for students to discuss what is on their minds. Sojourners discusses real-life questions that cut across the diversity of the SRL Clubs.
Contact
SRPW Major Events
BACCALAUREATE 2024
IN THE TWO HUNDRED AND NINTH YEAR OF
ALLEGHENY COLLEGE
IN THE FORD CHAPEL
FRIDAY, MAY 10TH, 2024 4:30 pm
Baccalaureate
Related to the Latin word “baccalaureus” which refers to the granting of a bachelor’s degree, Baccalaureate service has its roots in our nation’s colonial period. Beginning with the founding of Harvard College in 1636, American higher education was predominantly private and religious in character, a characteristic that continued until the establishment of the first public Land Grant colleges in the mid-nineteenth century.
In such a context, it was natural that religious expression would be integral to official observance. Thus began a uniquely American graduation custom: Baccalaureate service. Allegheny College celebrates with a service and content that reflect the multi-faith nature of our community and seek to address the spiritual aspect of this milestone for all of our graduates, regardless of their religious or spiritual commitment.
For More Info:
Spiritual, Religious and Personal Wellbeing
Campus Center 311C
deanofstudents@allegheny.edu or 814-332-4356
