Religious and Spiritual Life at Swarthmore

The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, part of the Interfaith Center, oversees religious advisors as well as student religious and spiritual life groups. These include the Interfaith Advisors Team, who work closely with one another and with all aspects of religious and spiritual life on campus. They serve as ex officio members of the Dean’s Office staff and as confidential resources to the campus community.

Affiliate advisors do not have offices in Sproul Hall but are on campus at various times to work with students from a particular religious group. They meet quarterly with the Interfaith Team and sign the College’s religious advisors policies and agreements.

Representatives of other religious or spiritual organizations who are not members of the staff or student body are not permitted to work with students on the Swarthmore campus.

Student Groups

What is the difference between the study and practice of religion?

We encourage both! Some people are raised in a faith tradition and continue to find deep meaning in the beliefs and practices of that tradition. Some people do not grow up with any religious tradition but are interested in learning more about different religions. And many others find themselves somewhere in between, or moving along a spectrum at different points in their lives.

Interfaith programs at Swarthmore welcome everyone: those who have a faith tradition, those interested in learning about religious faith, those who would like to dialogue with others from different traditions. We also encourage ALL students to explore the study of religion more deeply with an intellectual lens by enrolling in classes in the Religion Department. The academic study of Religion can bring new insights into the understanding of one's own faith tradition and those of others. It can build literacy and sensitivity to the diverse facets of belief and practice of all religions. And it can build tools for dialogue and understanding in our increasingly inter-dependent world. View religion department courses.

Student Group Leaders

• Chabad (Jewish):  Rabbi Eli Gurevitz (rabbielig@gmail.com)

• Friends and friends of Friends: Student Quaker Community: Greg Boatman (gboatma1@swarthmore.edu)

• Kehilah (Jewish): Quinn Basewitz (qbasewi1@swarthmore.edu) and Zoe Myers-Bochner (zmyersb1@swarthmore.edu)

• Muslim Student Association: Tolga Atabas (tatabas1@swarthmore.edu), and Zeynep Emanet (hemanet1@swarthmore.edu)

• Newman Catholic Ministry: Reverend John Ames (rev.johna@gmail.com)

• Swarthmore Sangha (Buddhist): George Schoettle '23 (gschoet1@swarthmore.edu)

• Swarthmore Christian Fellowship: Andrew Olsen (eolsen2@swarthmore.edu) and Sam Ortiz-Clark (sortizc1@swarthmore.edu)

• Kairos Progressive Christian Fellowship: Pastor Sabrina LaBelle (slabell1@swarthmore.edu)

Interfaith Interns

• Alicia Liu ' 24 (aliu5@swarthmore.edu)

• Fiona Stewart (fstewar1@swarthmore.edu)

• Praise Idika (pidika1@swarthmore.edu)