By Giselle Lee | Staff Writer
Students gathered to celebrate Better Together’s last Neighbor Night of the semester with an Earth Month twist Tuesday evening in collaboration with the Indian Subcontinent Student Association and Delta Kappa Delta in the Bobo Spiritual Life Center.
The event celebrated Earth Month and featured tables for students to reflect on caring for the Earth, as well as a Jeopardy game that tested attendees’ knowledge of different religions and the Earth.
Better Together President and Houston junior Susan Ismail said the mission behind Neighbor Nights is to foster interfaith awareness and to cultivate “interfaith literacy and cooperation.” However, she added that including Earth Month was a key part of the evening’s success.
“We really wanted to do something that was more interfaith-based for this time, but we also thought of including the Earth in it and making it about sustainability as we’re eating dinner together,” Ismail said. “I really like the thought of Earth Day, and I like that we’re able to incorporate and create all of this because that is Better Together’s main thing.”
San Antonio graduate student Emilee Eldridge, graduate apprentice for the Office of Intercultural Engagement, said the goal of Neighbor Nights is to help people learn to love better, which she said comes from a better understanding.
“The goal is not to convert anybody to any other religion or any other faith, but to bring awareness to diversity and make sure that people can understand each other and respect each other even through differences,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge hoped that through direct engagement with people of different faiths, students would develop knowledge and understanding of others.
“We want to ensure that people of different faiths can get together and they can share their faith background as well as learn about other people’s faith backgrounds,” Eldridge said. “By doing so, not only will you be able to build relationships with people who are different from yourself, but also build empathy and respect.”
ISSA President and Dallas junior Abigail Thomas mentioned Jeopardy as the highlight of her evening, and said it was a unique way to bring the community together, despite participants coming from different cultures and faiths.
“We had a bunch of questions, and some of our answers differed by our faiths,” Thomas said. “It was really fun because it was good to see everyone get competitive and also learn a lot about different faith things we’re familiar with.”
Thomas said that incorporating Earth Month with Neighbor Night meant taking time to celebrate the Earth and how it fits into religion.
“I truly believe in God’s plan in that all this is made with intention, so Earth is just such a beautiful thing that we can appreciate,” Thomas said. “I think it’s cool to see how people can come together and how we’re all this small part of something much greater.”
