A top White House adviser on faith issues will speak Nov. 11 at the University of Indianapolis.
Interfaith activist Eboo Patel, recently named among “America’s Best Leaders 2009” by U.S. News & World Report, will deliver a 4:30 p.m. lecture and lead a 6 p.m. dinner discussion as part of the University Series and the Indianapolis Spirit & Place Festival.
Patel is founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization that promotes interfaith understanding by engaging youth of various religious traditions in community service. The group’s work with college students is based on the concept that religious pluralism is the best antidote to the violent extremism that fuels many of the world’s conflicts.
Appointed this year to the Advisory Council for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Patel also writes a Washington Post blog, “The Faith Divide,” and is the author of “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation.” In preparation for his visit, UIndy President Beverley Pitts has been leading lunch discussions of the book for the campus community.
Born in India and raised in Chicago, the 33-year-old holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.
The 4:30 p.m. lecture and Q&A session, “Beyond the Boundaries of Parish and Ghetto: Explorations Across the Faith Line in the 21st Century,” will take place in UIndy’s Ransburg Auditorium, 1400 E. Hanna Ave. The talk is the latest installment of the university’s Blanche E. Penrod lecture series. Admission is free.
The dinner event, “A Conversation with Eboo Patel: Learning from the Work of the Interfaith Youth Core,” will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in Schwitzer Student Center’s UIndy Hall. Patel will lead a discussion about the formation of an Interfaith Youth Core chapter in the Indianapolis area. Admission is $15, and seating is limited. Reservations may be made at (317) 788-2106.
AT A GLANCE
Speaker: Eboo Patel, White House adviser and founder of Interfaith Youth Core
When: Nov. 11, 2009
Where: University of Indianapolis, 1400 E. Hanna Ave.
Lecture: 4:30 p.m., Ransburg Auditorium; free
Dinner: 6 p.m., Schwitzer Student Center; $15
Information and reservations: (317) 788-2106
