We are looking for motivated, great students to take part in a new Truitt Center program at Elon University called Multi-Faith SAGES.

SAGES is for students who love religious diversity; who want to know more about their own religious and spiritual traditions, practices and beliefs and who want also to know how to interact respectfully with others. We are recruiting a cohort of SAGES now.

We offer weekly programs that build knowledge, skills and leadership for members of our community. The program is built around four trajectories phrased as questions.

  1. Who am I as I engage the world of religions?
  2. Why is multi-faith important in this culture and world?
  3. What do I need to know about religions to be successful?
  4. What skills do I need to practice to respectfully interact and be a leader?

Every training and cohort meeting will pertain to at least one of the trajectory questions. We promise fun, insightful, stimulating, increasingly deep and also reflective opportunities to be together, to learn and to grow in your chosen religious or spiritual tradition as well as in understanding of those that are different from us religiously, culturally and in the ways we orient ourselves in the world.

Most students will pick and choose their trainings at their own pace, such as in the LEAD program, over the course of several semesters as we build knowledge and skill sets. The concluding project for each SAGE will be determined in the final semester, in conjunction with the student’s guru, or mentor, and Jan Fuller, who directs the Multi-Faith SAGES program.

The first five training/meeting topics are at 5:30 p.m. Mondays:

  • Sept. 9: Who am I? Intersecting Identities
  • Sept. 14: Rosh Hashanah and New Beginnings
  • Sept. 21: Introduction to Judaism
  • Sept. 28: Food and Hospitality in Our Religious Traditions
  • Oct. 5: Laws, Regulations and Guidance in Our Religious Traditions

We meet in the McBride Gathering Space in the Numen Lumen Pavilion.

Indicate your interest in participating in the SAGES by completing the Google form on the front page of the Truitt Center’s website (www.elon.edu/rellife) or by emailing Jan Fuller at jfuller3@elon.edu.

We are thrilled to bring SAGES to students at Elon. All are welcome — the religious, the not-so-religious, the seekers, the secular and all those in between. We are all in this together, and need the voices and experiences of many perspectives to have a full experience of the diversity that is already present in our community.

We hope to hear from you about your interest in being a certified SAGE. Do it for your own sake. Do it for the betterment of our community and the world.

And in the meantime, don’t forget to take your IDEALS survey (link sent to your email).