Religious Emphasis Week a Time for Reflection and Increased Awareness

Release date: February 6, 2013

FRANKLIN, Ind. - Franklin College will host Religious Emphasis Week from Monday, March 4 through Friday, March 8. The events are free and open to the public.

David Weatherspoon, campus minister, and the Religious Life Team, a student organization, organize the annual week of events. "The purpose of Religious Emphasis Week is to increase awareness among the campus community of religious activities and opportunities available on campus and in the community and to increase the usage of these faith resources," Weatherspoon said.

There will be a fashion show at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5 in the Richardson Chapel featuring clothing from Tibet and Mongolian. Franklin College students will participate as models, as will members of Bloomington's Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. A reception with Tibetan cookies and tea will immediately follow.

Akbar Ahmed, ambassador of Pakistan, will present "Ten Years After The Need for a Dialogue, Not a Clash of Civilizations," on Thursday, March 7 at 7 p.m. in the Branigin Room of the Napolitan Student Center. The lecture is part of the college's 2012-13 Convocation Lecture Series. Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is currently the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington D.C. and the first distinguished chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Religious Emphasis Week will also include service projects and labyrinth workshops throughout the week.

For more information, contact the Franklin College Office of Marketing and Communications at(317) 738-8185.

Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. The college prepares men and women for challenging careers and fulfilling lives through the liberal arts, offering its approximately 1,000 students 28 majors, 36 minors and eight pre-professional programs. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA. For more information, visit www.franklincollege.edu