Despite America being known as a “melting pot” of various cultures, ethnicities and religions, a 2014 Pew study ranked the United States as “moderate” for religious diversity. 

In relation to the rest of the world, the U.S. is within the lower half of the index, which labels countries’ religious diversity as very high, high, moderate or low. The study was based off how eight major religions balance within each country. Religions in the study included Buddhism, Christianity, folk/traditional, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, other organized religion and those unaffiliated. China and areas of Sub-Saharan Africa were among the most religiously diverse.

The University’s Admissions website states it is one of the more diverse institutions in the Big Ten and won a national award for Higher Education Excellence in Diversity in 2014. However, religious diversity is often overlooked when addressing diversity and tolerance, said Farah Chalisa, member of the Illinois Student Senate’s Cultural International and Minority Student Affairs committee and junior in LAS. The student senate passed a resolution on March 4 sponsored by Chalisa to create a PSA for Better Together Day on April 14. The purpose of the national event is to promote religious tolerance.

“With a lot of the current events going on, it’s fostered a lot of intolerance toward religion. Events to do with ISIS…” said Chalisa. “I know a lot of Muslim students have faced a backlash from that, not just specifically on our campus, but on other campuses too.”

Better Together Day, which strives to promote religious tolerance nationally, is sponsored by the Interfaith Youth Core organization and its University chapter, Interfaith in Action. The organization is partnering with the student senate to put out a PSA featuring students and members of religious Registered Student Organizations to speak on positive and negative experiences with religious diversity for Better Together Day. 

Jonathan Davis, Interfaith’s vice president and junior in LAS, said the PSA will be circulated throughout campus via the student senate’s YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter.

Davis said the purpose of Interfaith is to raise awareness of religious pluralism and to “serve as a central liaison that is able to reach out to different faith organizations and then bring them together for programming, for service work, for discussions and dialogue that focus around other interfaith issues.” 

The student senate allocated $1,500 toward the PSA at its March 4 meeting. 

Chalisa says she hopes to reach minorities and people who have felt discriminated against on campus with the PSA.

“I’m hoping that they feel like this is an inclusive campus, that they feel like there are other students out there who will support them,” said Chalisa. 

As a Christian within the religious majority, Katie Holm, senior in LAS, said she believes there is likely some extent of religious discrimination on campus, and that she’d be interested in hearing what members of minority religions have to say. Holm also said she believes “larger campus events to raise awareness about different religions” practiced at the University could help promote religious tolerance.

Chalisa said the goal of the PSA is to achieve a level of tolerance that goes beyond just coexisting in a community where many religions are practiced.

“This isn’t even just about tolerance,” said Chalisa. “We don’t just want people to tolerate each other, we want people to accept each other, we want people to respect each other, we want people to feel comfortable on campus regardless of religious background.”

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Editor’s note: In a previous version of this story, it was written that Farah Chalisa was the chair of the Illinois Student Senate’s Cultural International and Minority Student Affairs committee. She is a member in the committee. It was also written that the PSA would appear in a mass mail, whereas it will not. The Daily Illini regrets the errors.