Students and faculty will celebrate the official opening of Duke’s new Hindu and Buddhist prayer and meditation room tomorrow.
A dedication ceremony for the prayer space, which is located in the Bryan Center and has been in use since August, is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Gothic Reading Room in Perkins Library. Anju Bhargava, founder of Hindu American Seva Charities, will speak at the event.
“[Bhargava] is very active in charities, very eloquent and very knowledgeable about not only Hinduism but also other religions,” said Kishor Trivedi, Hudson Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who helped establish the Hindu Students Association 10 years ago and currently serves as its faculty advisor.
Zoila Airall, assistant vice president of student affairs for campus life, said using a common worship space allows for interaction between Hindu and Buddhist students that would otherwise be unavailable.
“Having students form different faith traditions coming together is education,” Airall said. “Sometimes in doing that it helps you understand more about your own particular faith and practice.”
Prior to the prayer room’s establishment, Hindu and Buddhist students did not have a designated place of worship on campus. The Hindu Students Association and Buddhist Community lobbied independently for accommodation until the location became available in the lower level of the Bryan Center in the summer of 2010. The two groups agreed to share the office and sanctuary space, located in the Religious Life offices, and began occupying it soon after.
“The space was given with the intention to... support the communities that already exist at Duke,” said Christy Lohr Sapp, associate dean for religious life.
The Hindu Students Association’s initiative for a permanent location began over a year and a half ago. Before the opening of the new space, the group met weekly at different locations within the Bryan Center.
“A lot of us have grown up going to temple regularly and would like to continue with these traditions in college as well,” senior Yamini Misra, former president of the Hindu Students Association wrote in an e-mail. “Although there are temples in the area, they are inaccessible without a car.”
Misra said she thinks it is important that the group have its own sanctuary on campus where it can practice its faith regularly, noting that many other major faiths already have their own places of worship.
Airall noted that the discussions regarding the religious space, which involved students and their advisors in Religious Life as well as Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, produced a “win-win” outcome.
“Space at the campus is at a premium right now; [the groups are] very happy,” she said.
Administrators are confident the room will provide a wide array of experiences, she noted, adding that the establishment of the prayer room was a step forward for the organizations involved.
“It brought us all together—students, Religious Life and administrators—to solve this problem about the religious groups not having space,” Airall said.
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