As the saying goes, great minds think alike. They function comparably to one another and feed off similar ideas and motives to achieve their goals, and if they work together, they can accomplish practically any objective.

That’s the thinking behind the merger of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and the Division of Inclusion and Equity at Grand Valley State University.

As of the beginning of the winter 2017 semester, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and the Division of Inclusion and Equity have joined forces with the common goal of bringing a better understanding of other religions, secular beliefs and nonreligious ideas to campus, as well as exploring ways in which those different groups can work together.

“The Kaufman Interfaith (Institute’s way of) engaging religious diversity through interfaith engagement made sense and was a good fit for the Division,” said Katie Gordon, the program manager of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and the coordinator of Campus Interfaith Resources.

The merger comes after roughly a year of working toward a smooth transition between the two entities. This transition then slowly gained momentum until its completion in early January. Representatives from the two organizations saw this merger as a positive step toward helping each other achieve their related goals.

As it stands, both organizations will continue to do the work they were doing prior to the merger, as well as help coordinate new programs and campaigns to promote interfaith cooperation and understanding.

“The Kaufman Institute will continue doing a lot of community work and will continue sort of the community symposiums that they do in partnership with other universities and community partners,” said Jesse Bernal, the vice president of inclusion and equity at GVSU. “Then, we have this new unit that will be closely aligned with the Kaufman Institute within the Division that will do on-campus interfaith efforts with our students, faculty and staff.”

The merger of the two organizations is seen as a step toward forming a more welcoming atmosphere on campus for people of all religious, secular and non-religious beliefs and opening up new avenues for people of different religious backgrounds to come together for common purposes. Some ways in which members of these organizations hope to accomplish this are through interfaith dialogue, service projects and bringing light to minority beliefs that don’t get the same attention that more ‘mainstream’ beliefs do, Gordon said.

As well as working with religious beliefs, the groups plans on adopting a social justice-like approach to interfaith understanding that includes understanding of race, gender and sexuality. This framework has been used by the Division of Inclusion and Equity with successful outcomes.

Both groups are excited to be working together and are eager to help promote better understanding of different belief systems across campus because, as Bernal put it, an individual’s religion is an integral part of who they are.

“You don’t leave your faith at the door or you don’t leave your race at the door,” Bernal said. “You actually bring all of those identities into a classroom, into your office, into your meeting. You bring all of those identities and experiences with you when you enter a space at Grand Valley.”