{"id":49029,"date":"2023-07-05T09:27:26","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T09:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/?p=49029"},"modified":"2024-06-25T18:48:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T18:48:16","slug":"paving-the-way-for-interfaith-peacebuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/2023\/07\/05\/paving-the-way-for-interfaith-peacebuilding\/","title":{"rendered":"Paving the way for Interfaith Peacebuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Najeeba<\/a>Najeeba Syeed joined Augsburg in August 2022 as the inaugural <\/span>El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director for the Interfaith Institute<\/span><\/a>. She recalled hearing about the national search for this position through a direct message on Twitter from an adjunct faculty member. \u201cOne day I received a message saying \u2018there\u2019s a position opening and it sounds like your life story written in the job description!\u2019\u201d Najeeba reflected amusingly. After learning more about the role, she realized how reflective it was of her life\u2019s work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although she hadn\u2019t spent much time in Minneapolis, Najeeba was familiar with Augsburg through her interfaith work and noticed the cultural and demographic changes that had taken place over the years. \u201cFor a lot of us who are Muslim American, it [Minneapolis] has become this dynamic place that is a center for culture and community, as well as political organizing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This observation was reinforced through Augsburg\u2019s demonstrated commitment to various communities on campus and its core mission support surrounding equity and inclusion. \u201cWhat makes Augsburg special is how its diversity connects students to the neighborhood and really the world.\u201d After a campus visit and lunch with students, Najeeba felt called to this opportunity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Najeeba brings her non-profit background and expertise in working with cross-cultural and interreligious groups to her role at Augsburg. \u201cUltimately, we all want similar things,\u201d she stated. \u201cSafety, a place of belonging\u2026 At the Institute we talk about the idea of pluralism. How do we bring different people together and find common purpose?\u201d This overarching inquiry is what Najeeba hopes to explore and find tangible solutions to. \u201cThe work is never done, but by harnessing the power of different viewpoints, faith traditions, and moral perspectives, many of our problems can be solved.\u201d Examining these complex topics and creating sustainable outcomes is a privilege that comes with an endowed position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Endowed positions strengthen Augsburg\u2019s financial resiliency, attract and retain talented faculty, and expand our capacity for leadership in specific areas. Since the inception of Augsburg\u2019s <\/span>Great Returns: We\u2019re All In<\/span><\/i> campaign, there have been five endowed positions established by incredible donors and seven endowed positions created overall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The importance of philanthropy remains at the forefront of Najeeba\u2019s mind as she envisions the future of Augsburg being a central leader for interfaith leadership, dialogue, and peacebuilding. \u201cI feel blessed in this role. The El-Hibris\u2019 [Fuad, Nancy, and Karim] vision for this chair to have a place both in academics and the campus life of students, faculty, and staff is exciting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Since beginning her role, Najeeba has found ways to engage in Interfaith discourse with students in class and through experiential opportunities including, guest lecturing in classes across campus, traveling around the country to educate on the importance of interreligious dialogue and leadership, and teaching the Interfaith Scholars course. \u201cOur students are so eager about the opportunities they have been given, there is so much energy and hunger to learn!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Augsburg\u2019s first Interfaith Symposium took place on March 2 where Najeeba served as the keynote speaker and addressed the topic of interfaith leadership and healing in times of crisis. \u201cMy hope is that this annual tradition will attract intellectual leaders from around the globe and bring their voices on campus,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve accomplished a lot already! The diversity of our student body coupled with a long-term investment in helping our students, faculty, and staff build intentional and caring communities will further amplify the work we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about Endowed Professorships<\/a> or <\/span>visit our website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Najeeba Syeed joined Augsburg in August 2022 as the inaugural El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director for the Interfaith Institute. She recalled hearing about the national search for this position through a direct message on Twitter from an adjunct faculty member. \u201cOne day I received a message saying \u2018there\u2019s a position opening and it sounds …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205,214],"tags":[223,54],"class_list":["post-49029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-augsburg-giving","category-great-returns-campaign","tag-endowed-professorship","tag-interfaith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49029"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49236,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49029\/revisions\/49236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}