Speed-faithing event builds bridges of understanding between students

On Oct. 19 in the TSC Ballroom, the Interfaith Student Association held a speed-faithing event for students interested in others’ personal belief systems. This isn’t the first speed faithing event to be held at Utah State University, but it was the biggest the IFSA has done so far.    

Students gathered together around tables to share their own personal experiences and to gain a greater understanding of faiths around the world. 

August Groesbeck, an IFSA officer, has been a member of the club since 2019.  

“It’s not our belief tradition that we came from,” Groesbeck said.  “It’s not an overall thing. It’s very personally based, and then just try to create understanding.”  

Speed faithing isn’t about sharing the deep doctrine about a belief system. It’s about how the individual is able to grow and accept who they are, and how faith helped the individual reach this deeper understanding of self.  

 After participating in IFSA last year, Andrew Hunting was asked by the former president to take over her position. 

“There is a lot of prejudice in the world,” Hunting said.  “There’s a lot of misconceptions, and we want to give the students at USU as part of their education an opportunity to be able to really cut past the prejudice and actually see people for who they are and what they actually believe.”  

Speed faithing isn’t the only activity IFSA does, but it is the way the club  reaches out for new members or people just beginning their interfaith journey. The club  is very active with service projects, and are constantly working towards their goal to promote personal belief and discovery. 

“​​You know, we want to build bridges, cut paths, prejudice and help people live their full religious selves without feeling afraid or are shy about it to be open about it,” Hunting said.  

Speed faithing is one example of how the club is able to help students breach their shells to discover the culturally rich community a college campus provides.     

“I guess the reason why we’ve been focusing on personal thing is due to what we were talking about earlier, when we are introducing the activity, is something called the I statements, and that is mainly due to not like taking the thing of pushing a belief or anything to an entire group of people because they can be very personalized,” Groesbeck said.  

IFSA isn’t exclusive to people that are not a part of an organized religion. They welcome anybody regardless of their situation.   

“I’d say that you don’t have to be religious,” Groesbeck said. “You can pick up anywhere in your interfaith journey, whether it’s just beginning or very much surveillance practice. It’s a place for anybody to come.” 

The club is able to continue reaching towards their goal of increasing understanding, inclusion and self discovery by meeting every other week.  

“We meet every other Thursday at seven o’clock in the MSS, the multicultural student space,” Hunting said. 

USU is a place to learn and gain experience for the outside world. IFSA adds to this by helping its members discover themselves.  

“You’re on campus to grow,” Hunting said. “You’re on campus to become a better person and if you want to do that, this is a place to do it. This is a place to experience the world a little bit.”