Call to Action for Sikh College Students - your help

Calling Sikh American College Students!

What we do in the 100 days after the tragedy in Oak Creek can define the future of our community and country for the next 20 years. Together, we can combat hate.

Let's Organize. Join the Call on Sept. 6th 6:30pm EST / 3:30pm PST

In response to the tragedy in Oak Creek, a new generation of Sikh Americans has stepped up for their community and country. You have organized vigils, produced art, raised awareness about your faith, and called for an end to hate against all people.

Starting this fall, Sikh American students have an opportunity to continue that leadership on college campuses. Do you want to bring Sikh films and speakers to your campus? Would you like to help lead interfaith "seva" or service projects? Do you want to become a liaison between you gurdwara and campus? Or do you have a bright bold idea of your own?

We want you to take a leadership role in President Obama's Interfaith Campus Challenge and the Interfaith Youth Core's Better Together Campaign.

The Interfaith Youth Core, in partnership with Groundswell, will be hosting a special conference call for Sikh American college students on September 6, 2012 at 6:30pm EST / 5:30pm CST / 3:30pm PST.

Register for the call.

We'll send you details.

Spread the word.

The President’s Interfaith and Community Service
Campus Challenge

Interfaith service involves people from different religious and non-religious backgrounds tackling community challenges together – for example, Protestants and Catholics, Hindus and Jews, and Muslims and non-believers -- building a Habitat for Humanity house together. Interfaith service impacts specific community challenges, from homelessness to mentoring to the environment, while building social capital and civility.

American colleges, community colleges, and universities have often been at the forefront of solving our nation’s greatest challenges. In response to the first year of the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, this year over 250 institutions of higher education are making the vision for interfaith cooperation and community service a reality on campuses across the country.

The White House invites all institutions of higher education to join this powerful movement for the coming year.

For regular updates on this program including program deadlines, information on our Summer Convening July 9th-10th, a list of participating institutions, and documents for participants please visit the Department of Education’s initiative page: www.ed.gov/EdPartners

This initiative is led by the White House and is supported by the Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).

For questions and more information, please contact: [email protected]

Read more at our blog.

1. Host a Film Screening and Dialogue on Your Campus

Storytelling is the most powerful way to generate empathy, dialogue and introspection. Host one of these films on your campus. Organize a panel of Sikh American students on your campus or invite a speaker to lead a Q&A with the audience after the screening. Pass out brochures on the Sikh faith to your audience. (You can request these brochures, in any quantity and free of charge here: [email protected]).
 

AMERICAN MADE (25 min narrative film): Stranded in the middle of the desert on their way to the Grand Canyon, a Sikh American family has only one hope – the remote highway and the occasional car that drives by. The father Anant, clad in his traditional turban, sticks out his thumb as a car approaches, hoping someone will stop and help. When car after car fails to stop, Ranjit, the teenage son, says no one will help them because his father looks like a terrorist, forcing the family to deal with issues of tradition, faith, conformity and sacrifice. Click here to purchase a DVD of the film. You can also request a DVD to screen free of charge: [email protected]. For teachers, lesson plans for this film are available for grades 6-12.

DIVIDED WE FALL (90 min documentary film): The first award-winning feature film chronicling hate crimes against Sikh Americans after 9/11, told through the story of a young Sikh woman who drives across the country, camera in hand. From the still-shocked streets of Ground Zero to the desert towns of the American west, Groundswell Director Valarie Kaur's epic journey confronts the forces unleashed in a time of national crisis – racism and religion, fear and forgiveness – until she finds the heart of America… halfway around the world. Colleges and congregations have used the film as a powerful dialogue tool in 200 U.S. cities in the last few years. You can buy the DVD of the film and download the dialogue program here. You can also request a DVD to screen free of charge: [email protected]. You can also find Divided We Fall short films and clips here.

A DREAM IN DOUBT (60 min documentary film): An immigrant story in a world in which patriotism has morphed into murder. When Rana Singh Sodhi’s brother is killed in America’s first post-9/11 revenge murder, he begins a journey to reclaim his American dream and fight the hate that continues to threaten his community. This intimate, hour-long documentary of one man’s odyssey from persecution in India to embracing America as his homeland proves that courage and hope have the power to overcome hate. Click here for the film and dialogue program. You can purchase a DVD of the film here. You can download PBS's dialogue guide here.

We also encourage you to check out Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity, a short documentary film available for free on the web. Peruse our archive for more films, reports, dialogue guides and sample programs, and links to organizations with resources designed to combat hate and build community.
 

2. Start a Seva (Service) Project With Your Sikh Community

Invite Sikh American students on campus into a leadership role and ask them to steward a relationship between a local Sikh gurdwara (houses of worship) and your campus. Reach out to your local Sikh community and invite them to join you in a year-long seva (service) project. The Sikh community holds seva - or selfless service - as a central practice. For example, every Sikh gurdwara (house of worship) serves langar, or an open and free community meal. Brainstorm your seva project together. Here are some ideas!

• Organize an Open House at the local Sikh gurdwara, inviting students to attend a service and engage in an interfaith conversation over langar. Click here for guidelines to share with gurdwaras on how to host an open house. You can project this presentation on Sikh Americans on a loop throughout the event.
• Take Langar into the Community. Invite students to cook meals together with Sikh families in the gurdwara and serve these meals at homeless shelters or events open to the whole community. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for a one-time event. For example, New York University hosts a langar event on campus every year. Check out how Sikhcess works with local Sikh communities across the U.S. to prepare meals for the homeless.
• Serve the Community Together. Invite Sikh congregants to practice seva with college students in traditional programs such as Habitat for Humanity or benefit walks/runs. Volunteering with Sikh families out in the community in new and visible ways helps form close bonds and explore new meanings of seva.

You can organize a film screening and dialogue, followed by a year-long service project, as part of President Obama's Interfaith Campus Challenge or Interfaith Youth Core's Better Together Campaign. If you need help connecting with these initiatives, or if you have questions or ideas, please contact us at [email protected].