Fatima Rodriguez Johnson (foreground), assistant dean of student for multicultural programs and services, visits with students during the 2017 GISP event "Celebration of Love."
Geneseo’s Interfaith Service Project (GISP) kicked off the semester with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Leadership and Service and continues with a lineup of events in February.
Launched in 2011, GISP was developed in response to the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, a national initiative organized by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (OFBNP), which called on college presidents to make an institutional commitment to interfaith service work. SUNY Geneseo was one of the first SUNY colleges to answer the call to advance interfaith service and engagement on campus.
GISP draws from over 500 members from the campus and local community and engages people from different religious and non-religious backgrounds in tackling community challenges and in planning numerous interfaith activities.
This theme for this year’s GISP activities is “Discovering Sacrifice: Givers, Takers, Survivors and Thrivers.” All GISP events are open to the public.
5:30–7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6: GISP Community Dinner and Dialogue, at the Geneseo Interfaith Center, 11 Franklin St., Geneseo.
The seventh annual dinner will feature three speakers: MaryAnn Pitcher, a caregiver for an aging loved one; Jim DeCamp, a Vietnam veteran, and Efrain Vazquez Perez, a migrant worker.
Attendees will enjoy a free meal, courtesy of the Philanthropic Chefs, the Center for Community and the Geneseo Interfaith Center
Students can register on the GOLD program site. Members of the community can sign-up online or by calling the center at (585) 243-1460.
2:30–4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13: Celebration of Love, to be held in the MacVittie College Union lobby.
How does your culture interpret love? The “celebration” is intended to spark dialogue about the varying interpretations of love by religions and cultural groups. Attendees from cultural and faith-based organizations are welcome to attend. The GISP Labyrinth Path of Peace will be open, beginning at 10 a.m. through 7 p.m., in the MacVittie ballroom.
“Geneseo Goes to Town,” partners students with local churches to help with projects. More details for the Saturday, April 14 event to follow.
Questions? Contact Tom Matthews, associate dean of leadership and service, via email or call (585) 245-5857.