January 18, 2005
I. Jeff opened the meeting with a few minutes of silent reflection for those lost in the tsunami tragedy in Indonesia and Africa.
II. Minutes were unanimously approved after a spell-check by Kathleen.
III. Jeff opened a discussion about donations to the tsunami relief effort. Apparently, there is a Sri Lankan student at Berry who has a connection to the effort and is accepting donations. It is still unclear who the checks should be made out to or what organization the money is going to.
IV. Events for Spring 2005
There will be an IFC Open House on January 25th from 5:30 to 7:00 instead of 6-7:30 in order to accommodate those who are in SGA. Food from India Grill along with music by Jeff and Megan will be provided after the “Meet the IFC” panel. Steve is in charge of bringing the panel together.
Ellen announced a new addition to each month’s events. Dance for Universal Peace will be held on January 30th and once a month for the rest of this semester. She stressed its importance as a participatory activity and not a show. Chants and songs from multiple religions will be used, and it will be a lot of fun!
Kathleen volunteered to work with Dale on the Religious Intolerance panel on February 16th.
“Meet the Muslims” will be on February 22nd
Anne is in charge of the speaker for March 1st
Steve announced a 3-day Interfaith Conference being held at Berry, March 19th and 20th. As part of the Conference, Joseph Chilton Pearce would be teaching on The Biology of Transcendence. Emory, Shorter, and Berry would all be participating.
David M. pointed out that the conference is over Spring Break and therefore many people would not be here.
Jeff asked if there was another time that Joseph could come since the Conference was not open to everyone.
Steve and Jeff agreed to look into the event further.
V. Publicity Committee?
Jeff and Kathleen were happy to take care of publicity.
Dale said that there is a person in the Chaplain’s office who does publicity for all religious events, including those of the IFC.
The Council agreed to use the Chaplain’s Office as one of the outlets for publicity matters.
Brent and David M. agreed to be part of the programming committee.
Upon Ellen’s request, dance dates will be added to the events calendar.
VI. Jeff encouraged fellow faculty members to teach classes at the Interfaith Center.
VII. Decoration Update
Steve suggested looking into the Hermann Hall attic along with Oak Hill for paintings that have been stored and not used.
David M. added that the art contest would provide artwork as well
Brent agreed to become chair of the art contest and will have more details at the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on February 15, 2005.