While more than 20 religious groups were invited to a meeting to discuss the new Multi-Faith Centre opening on campus, only two showed up.
The Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) and Power to Change, a Christian student group, attended the meeting Oct. 8, a week before the centre is stated to officially open.
“We talked about the history of the Multi-Faith Centre at Carleton, where it is right now, where we want it to end up in the future,” said Reda Zarrug, vice-president (student services) for the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
“The different clubs also weighed in on what they would like to see going forward,” he said.
Zarrug, who invited the groups to the meeting, said it was “a little sad to see” that only two showed up, but said he hopes to get in contact with the rest before the centre opens up.
Questions ranging from the booking schedule to keeping the space clean and hygienic were brought up during the meeting, according to Zarrug.
He said groups also suggested putting some benches in the room and a shoe rack outside.
Unicentre 226C, with its sandy-coloured new carpet, will house the new centre. The space used to hold Ziggy’s, formerly an on-campus hair salon.
Zarrug said all the religious clubs he has met with are more than willing to accommodate each other’s needs.
“I don’t foresee any issues, especially with the student groups we saw today. They all seem ready to take hits here and there to accommodate the other person or the other group,” he said.
MSA president Mohamed Abdallah said the coexistence necessary to make the space work is a key Islamic teaching.
“One principle in Islam is coexistence and we want to coexist with everyone,” he said. “It’s an investment not for just the Muslim students but for the Carleton community in general. Anything that’s a benefit for students, we’re in for it.”
Abdallah said the MSA plans to use the space to host their five-times-daily prayer schedule. Their other space, the Muslim Prayer Room, despite renovations is being found too small for Carleton’s Muslim community.
Dylan Fox-Altherr, a student leader with Power to Change, said the group also has a space issue, with no formal room to hold their prayer meetings.
As such, he said the group usually uses the lobby of the Tory Building, which is often crowded and noisy.
“A place like this would be perfect for a smaller prayer meeting like that,” he said.
He said his group attended the meeting to make sure the space would remain multi-faith and that one particular group wouldn’t use the space almost exclusively.
“If one club is using it all the time, then it just turns into their space, rather than a multi-faith centre,” Fox-Altherr said.
Both groups said they are looking forward to the official opening and thanked CUSA for following through on their campaign promise.
