Loyola Student Dispatch

Eboo Patel, an expert on faith-based leadership, will deliver two lectures Friday on the Loyola University Chicago Lake Shore Campus.

Patel will first speak at 4 p.m. at the Freshman Convocation, followed by a 7 p.m. lecture at Mundelein Center Auditorium.

Patel, founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core and a member of President Obama’s advisory council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will discuss “Interfaith Leadership and Transformative Education,” according to a university news release.

Patel, who was named one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009 by U.S.News & World Report, is the award-winning author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation and a regular contributor to the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and CNN. He was named one of ten young Muslim visionaries shaping Islam in America by Islamica Magazine. He was also chosen by Harvard’s Kennedy School Review as one of five future policy leaders to watch. Patel holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.

Following his lecture, Patel will sign copies of Acts of Faith and This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women in the University’s Simpson Multipurpose Room. Both the public lecture and book signing are free to attend, but registration is required. To register, visit LUC.edu/patel.

 “As a home for all faiths, Loyola University Chicago is an ideal location for Eboo Patel to discuss the importance of interfaith leadership and how to get young people involved in the movement,”  Loyola Provost John Pelissero said in the news release. “He is a proven leader and his extensive work with the Interfaith Youth Core relates well to Loyola’s commitment to social justice, global awareness, values-based leadership, and a transformative education.”

 In addition to his public lecture, earlier in the day, Patel will participate in a reception with the University’s faculty members, and he will headline Loyola’s First-Year Student Convocation, where he and Loyola University Chicago president Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., will induct first-year students into their graduating class, officially kicking-off the students’ academic careers at Loyola, according to the release.

 Patel’s visit to Loyola University Chicago is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the School of Education, the Division of Public Affairs, and the Office of First-Year Experience. For more information on Patel and his Interfaith Youth Core, visit www.ifyc.org.

Patel’s visit has been met with some controversy by conservative groups and FOX News after the university earlier declined to sponsor an appearance by Republican advisor and commentator Karl Rove. The university stated that having Rove appear before the November midterm elections could jeopardize the school’s tax-exempt status. Conservatives complained that allowing Patel to speak, but not Rove, was a double standard. 

Breaking news by email. Subscribe free at: www.loyolastudentdispatch.wordpress.com