The University Academic Senate voted on Friday to support the creation of an interfaith space on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus. The space would be open to all students for uses such as meditation and prayer.

According to the 2010 Climate Study at GVSU, 67 percent of the respondents were affiliated with a Christian denomination, 21 percent said they had no spiritual affiliation and 10 percent identified with a non-Christian religion.

Last year, a Student Senate resolution prompted the idea for an interfaith space to accommodate the needs of all students. Currently, the Cook-Dewitt Center is available for Christian students and there is a small cubicle in the Kirkhof Center for students of other faiths.

“The current (interfaith) space is KC 2244, which is not even a room, though it has a room number,” said Karen Gipson, chair of the UAS and the Executive Committee of the Senate. “It’s kind of a corded off area on a balcony which is very noisy.”

Since the senate’s resolution, the group’s president Andrew Plague has partnered with Gipson to put a plan into action.

Plague said the idea for the new interfaith space is for it to be a 1,000 square-foot room located in the Kirkhof Center, due to the building’s late hours of operation which will help accommodate students’ various class and work schedules.

“The goal is for something to be developed this summer so that when students come back to campus in the fall the space is finalized and open for use,” Plague said. “This has been something that people have been pushing for for a long time and we’re really trying to make it happen together, and we want to make sure when it happens, it’s right.”

Plague said the interfaith space will not be used for group activities such as bible studies. Instead, it will be a place for students to come independently, or with small groups, to pray or meditate individually.

“It’s like a drop in space, a lot more personal,” he said. “Maybe friends would go there together, but it’s not going to be a group worship space.”

Plague also added that the room will not have spiritual objects or decorations inside.

“The room should take on the practice of the people in it,” he said. “We want it to not reflect any sort of leaning because it should be interfaith which includes nonfaiths too. If you’re agnostic or atheist and you’re meditating it’d be nice to not be surrounded by religious iconography.”

Gipson also said they are looking into installing foot washing stations on campus for Muslim students, faculty and staff.

The next step for Gipson and Plague is to gather feedback from the campus community about their needs for the interfaith space. Students with suggestions or comments should email Plague at [email protected]. Faculty and staff can email Gipson at [email protected].