Tuesday, April 14 marked Better Together Day at Grand Valley State University – a day dedicated to creating a dialogue between students from different religious and non-religious backgrounds on campus.

Better Together Day is an event recognized by hundreds of universities around the country. GVSU helped celebrate the day with a ball pit activity and a Kids’ Food Basket event.

At the ball pit activity, located next to the Cook Carillon Tower, students were encouraged to jump in the pit with another stranger and ask the big questions about the other person’s background.

“We spend so much of our time either on our phones or with friends we met from freshmen year that there isn’t really an opportunity to go beyond that and meet different people,” said Shelby Bruseloff, vice president of Better Together at GVSU. “So I feel that having this ball pit is creating a space for dialogue that is really necessary on our campus, and I hope this is a great start to further those spaces for dialogue.”

To get the conversation started, certain balls inside the pit were marked with different questions such as “What are three things on your bucket list?” and “Who inspires you the most?”

Katie Gordon, program manager for the Kaufman Interfaith Institute at GVSU, said students were also given the opportunity to sign the Better Together Day Pledge.

“The pledge is the student, staff or faculty at GVSU saying that they were a part of Better Together Day,” Gordon said. “The campus with the most pledges is going to get recognition or awards from the national movement, so we are trying to make GVSU as much a part of that national map of interfaith cooperation as possible.”

That night, students also had the chance to decorate lunch bags for the Kids’ Food Basket sack supper program while also getting to know new people on campus.

The event, which was put on by the Catholic Student Association, was originally created by GVSU junior Bradley Mueller.

Similar to the ball pit activity, Mueller created a number of questions that were inclusive to all backgrounds in order prompt a conversation. Mueller said the event was a great place to discover both the similarities and differences between people from different backgrounds.

“It’s important that people break down those barriers because faith is not often something people normally talk about on a whim,” Mueller said. “It’s also important to break down stereotypes and misconceptions of faith backgrounds who may not be the same as you.”

Gordon added that it was crucial the event was not exclusive to just people with religious backgrounds.

“We want to include non-religious, atheistic or agnostic students in the conversation as well because they also have a great deal to contribute to the idea of coming together,” she said. “As much as we want to bridge understanding between people of different faiths, we also want to bridge understanding between people of religious and non-religious traditions.”

To sign the Better Together Day Pledge, head over to ifyc.org/bettertogetherday.

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