A place for prayer
By Shayma Musa
Young people are tech savvy, tolerant, flexible and obsessed with brunch.
Of the many things that people associate the younger generation with religion is not one of them. The image of a bible touting, Qur’an quoting, Torah following individual is almost never attributed to someone young. So one of the last things that public college campuses think of is accommodation for religious students.
And understandably so, because when most of your student base cares more being able to drink freely, than finding the perfect prayer spot on campus, accommodations for religion can easily fall to the way side.
But what about the students who want to be able to find a place on campus dedicated to prayer? What do public college campuses owe them? Do they owe them?
The dominant thought in the United States is that public university campuses, which are funded by the federal and state governments and taxpayer dollars, have the constitutional right not to endorse, advance, or aid a religion, according to USA Today.
However, many campuses’ do offer prayer spaces for students under the pretense that they are open for all and any student to come into and not specific to only one religion. And on campuses that do not offer prayer spaces students are still allowed to request prayer rooms/spaces if they show an inclination to allow all students to use the room for prayer.
But many students don’t know this. And on campuses with a small population of members of one faith group it can be hard to persuade campus officials to set aside a space that would not be used by many students.
As a first semester Muslim freshman, I was unaccustomed to having to find a spot to pray. All throughout high school I’d had the privilege of being able to notice the time, lay down a rug, and freely pray.
However, with my search for a prayer space unsuccessful, prayer became more something to plan with military precision.
If I prayed in the library I worried that someone would disrupt me, if I had class in a building with no quite rooms I worried that I would miss a prayer.
For the first time in my life finding a place to pray became a hassle.
When we think of college we often think of a place where the young and immature go to expand their boundaries, explore different ideas, and have conversations that will ultimately make them more world aware individuals. Why shouldn’t religious students be a part of that exchange of ideas?
The trend at most universities is to assign separate prayer rooms for individual faith groups, Christians over there, Jew here, and Muslims there. But at a university with a very minute population of individuals that practice a religion, getting a prayer space can be difficult.
An interfaith prayer space could solve those problems. Instead of dealing with separate requests universities could have one center location dedicated to prayer and reflection. Without labeling on room as religion specific universities can both eliminate the cost of setting aside lots of individual prayer spaces, while also making sure that their students feel welcomed on their campus.
Instead of viewing religion as an enemy to the separations of church and state, colleges can become a location for an important conversation about religion.
