University Religious Conference will welcome other student groups in open house
By Francesca de la Fuente
Nov. 9, 2009 9:00 p.m.
There is an organization located right off campus dedicated to providing room just for your spiritual and community growth, and they would like you to come learn more.
The University Religious Conference is hosting an open house tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at 900 Hilgard Ave., with an open invitation for all students to come see their renovations and learn about their services and role in the local community.
“The point of the open house is to increase visibility. It’s trying to work closer with student organizations in terms of student events,” said Sofia Campos, a third-year political science and global studies student and intern at the URC.
The URC recently underwent first-floor renovations that included a brand-new auditorium, but the focus of the open house will be the URC’s services for UCLA students.
It offers free rental space for any type of interfaith activity, as well as meditation spaces, storage and rooms at a reduced rent for any student group.
Since the URC’s founding in 1928 as an organization dedicated to fostering harmony between Protestant, Catholic and Jewish students, it has expanded to encompass a wide variety of religions and has shifted its attention toward community-service oriented student groups.
“Its goal is to help the community on issues that can really unite everybody in different things,” said Sara Jamshidi, director of the URC. “The emphasis is to be welcoming to everyone.”
The URC has scheduled dancing and spoken-word performances by Grupo Folklorico and students from Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success and Critical Asian and Pacific Islander Students for Action.
Meals on Wheels, which is housed in the URC building, and Unicamp, a program that the URC started in the 1970s, are tabling at the event. There will be other student organizations represented, like the University Buddhist Association and Conciencia Libre.
The event also features speaker Janina Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs, who has been working closely with the URC in the past few weeks to let them know the needs of the student community, Jamshidi said. The URC wants to help student groups grow on a campus where space is otherwise limited.
“We’re very interested in community service groups in general. We want to bridge the gap between the surrounding community and the UCLA campus,” Campos said.
One joint project in particular is the Housing Opportunities for a Meaningful Education project, or HOME. This program provides housing at a reduced rate in exchange for community service hours.
Currently, only four students are in the program, but the URC aims to expand it. The URC is also collecting toys for the children of student parents and providing funding for student interfaith events, like Diwali most recently.
“The URC is a whole other network that students can benefit from on campus,” Campos said. “It’s definitely a resource people haven’t tapped into yet.”
