NIU will award an honorary doctoral degree Friday, May 13, to interfaith activist Eboo Patel, president of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core. Patel will earn his honorary doctorate during the NIU Graduate School commencement ceremony scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. A Rhodes Scholar who earned a doctorate in the sociology of...

“Allies in Interfaith” is the next Diversity Dialogues focus. To make NIU a more welcoming and inclusive environment, discussion about different belief systems is important, said said Vernese Edghill-Walden, NIU senior associate vice president for Academic Diversity and chief diversity officer. “Being a member of one belief system does not mean you can’t be an ally to...

NIU is part of national initiative that examines how undergraduate students engage with religious, non-religious and spiritual diversity while in college. IDEALS (Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey) makes it possible to compare the experiences of students from different institutional types-public and private, large and small, secular and religiously affiliated. NIU is one of...