Oglethorpe to Host Campus Dialogue to Commemorate Tenth Anniversary of September 11

will host a Community Interfaith Dialogue and Roundtable Discussion on Sunday, Sept. 11 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Emerson Student Center on the Oglethorpe University campus. The event will include community and faith leaders from throughout the metro Atlanta area in a discussion about the challenges posed by the events of the Sept. 11 attacks.  

The panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, will include moderator and Oglethorpe alumnus Dr. G. Gil Watson ’68, Senior Pastor at Northside United Methodist Church; Reverend Mr. Bill Garrett, Deacon at All Saints Catholic Church; Rabbi Chiam Neiditch, National Conference of Synagogue Youth, Atlanta; Mr. Gogi Basi, President of the Sikh Study Circle, Inc.; Reverend Marthame Sanders, ; and Soumaya Khalifa, Founder and Executive Director of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta.

Oglethorpe will host this event, as well as several service projects on Sept. 11, in honor of National Day of Service.

The dialogue is part of Oglethorpe University’s participation in President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which involves more than 200 schools across the country. The Challenge emphasizes interfaith cooperation and community service as an important way to build understanding between different communities and contribute to the common good.

The National Day of Service events will include the following service projects:

• An American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held in the Emerson Student Center from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
• Attendees of the blood drive will be encouraged to donate non-perishable food items for the Suthers Center for Christian Outreach Food Pantry in Chamblee, Ga. 
• Participants also will have an opportunity to write letters to U.S. soldiers and veterans.

 The events are planned by COEXIST Oglethorpe, a newly-formed campus-wide organization of students, staff and faculty that supports interfaith initiatives, and Oglethorpe University’s Center for Civic Engagement. The Center for Civic Engagement promotes and coordinates volunteer opportunities, builds partnerships within the community and prepares students to be engaged citizens.

For more information about President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge visit the website.