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Muslim Students for
Dialogue brought guests from different religions and
cultures together in its 1st annual interfaith dinner, which
was themed as "The Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue", on
November 1st, at Upstairs Café. Guests and speakers talked
about the importance of being able to live together in peace
and harmony despite our differences in our backgrounds.
Love, tolerance and respect were among the most emphasized
topics of the dinner.
The dinner was attended by around 70 guests. The night of
tolerance and respect began with a welcome session and
continued with the meal which was followed by speeches of
the guest speakers. Speaker emphasized on the importance of
getting to know each other better and respecting, and being
tolerant to one another, to promote peace in communities
both nationally and internationally. They also pointed out
the many common values of different religions as well as the
fact that the differences should be celebrated instead of
being used as reasons to fall apart and stop interacting.
NEWS COVERAGE :
Daily Trojan News
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY:
Megan Reid, PhD.
Assistant Professor of Religion, USC and
Advisor of Muslim Students for Dialogue
Megan Reid graduated with a B.A.
from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1989 on Islamic Studies,
and received her first M.A. from UCLA in 1994 on Islamic
Studies and second M.A. from Princeton in 1998 on Religion.
She received her PhD. from Princeton in 2005 on Religion.
She teaches courses on Islamic Law, on Sufi Literature and
on Women and the Islamic Tradition.
Fr. Lawrence Seyer
Pastor for the USC Catholic Community, Director of Catholic
Student Association
Father Lawrence had been a priest since 1997. He received
his BA in Economics from the University of Oregon in 1983,
and attended St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California.
He served as associate pastor for four years at St. Barnabas
in Long Beach, and for another four years at St. Peter
Claver in Simi Vley.
Rabbi Jonathan Klein
Allen and Ruth Ziegler Rabbinic director
at USC Hillel Jewish Center
Jonathan Klein graduated with a B.A. from UCLA in 1992 on
History focusing on Latin America and early Christianity. He
received his M.A.H.L from Hebrew Union College – Jewish
Institute of Religion in 1994. He was ordained a Rabbi there
in 1997. Between 1997 and 2000, Rabbi Klein served as the
national director of the Reform Jewish Movement’s college
outreach program, KESHER and served annually as faculty at
Hillel’s Leader Assembly, the premiere Jewish conference. He
is married to Rabbi Zoë
Klein and has two children.
Rev. Frank Wulf
Pastor of the United University Church
The Rev. Frank Wulf has been the pastor of United University
Church since July 1, 2005 and he is United Methodist Campus
Minister at UCLA since July of 1997. He is an ordained
United Methodist minister with more than 20 years experience
in local churches and on campus. He received his Master of
Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena
and pusued graduate work in religious studies at Union
Theological Seminary and Columbia University in New York
City.
Mr. Ensar Demirkan
Businessman, President of Global Cultural
Connections
Ensar Demirkan
is a businessman active in interfaith area. He was born in
Turkey in 1972. He was graduated with a Mechanical
Engineering degree from Yildiz Technical University,
Istanbul, Turkey in 1994. He is the President of Global
Cultural Connections, a non-profit foundation focusing in
interfaith and intercultural activities. He is also a board
member of Valley Interfaith Council, again a non-profit
organization with 41 years of history. He is married and has
two children. | 
