Thread: FL-University Sets Aside Space for Meditation and Prayer

By Donna Winchester, Times Staff Writer

Published Thursday, September 4, 2008 12:23 AM


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TAMPA — Across the sprawling University of South Florida campus, lawn mowers drone and sledgehammers pound. But inside the Serenity Room, the only sound is an air conditioner's gentle whoosh.

Students enter the tiny, half-moon-shaped alcove stressed. They leave calm, unburdened.

USF officials say they incorporated the pale-green room into their design for the brand-new, 233,000-square-foot Marshall Student Center to give the university's 39,000 students an oasis in the desert, a harbor in the storm of hectic campus life.

They also wanted to provide a place for the campus' large Muslim population to pray.

"Students had been asking in a very general way for a place for reflective time," said Jennifer Meningall, head of student affairs. "We had a special request from Muslim students asking for a place to express their religious freedom without infringing on anyone else."

With the start of Ramadan on Monday, more Muslim students have been finding their way to the Serenity Room. Ala Elyaman, a junior majoring in education, visited twice on Tuesday with her three sisters.

"Before, we were praying in the library in the basement behind some bookshelves," said Elyaman, 18. "This kind of lets us know that they care we're around."

Diyanah Elyaman, 21, said she hopes the Serenity Room might help dispel some of the misunderstandings about Muslim students. When it comes to prayer and meditation, she said, Muslim students aren't so different from Jewish or Christian students in their desire to find a quiet place to worship.

USF doesn't keep track of students' religious affiliation, so officials don't know how many Muslim students are on campus. But Yasir Abunamous, treasurer of the Muslim Student Association, says they number in the thousands.

Abunamous, 18, was asked to consult with contractors last year on the design of a shower room adjacent to the Serenity Room where Muslim students can perform the obligatory cleansing of hands, arms, feet and face before prayer. "They wanted to make sure that everything was comfortable for us," he said.

After cleansing themselves, devout Muslims pray five times each day.

Garry Miller, president of the Campus Ministry Association, described the Serenity Room as a place where all students can come for quiet reflection and prayer, a space where they can "chill and have a moment."

"It's simple, it's quiet, it's away from all the busyness," Miller said. "It's just a come-as-you-are, no-reservations-necessary place."

Jennifer Hernandez, operations manager for the student center, expects that members of many of the university's religious-based student groups, from Christian to Baha'i, will make use of the room once they find out about it.

"It's a great place for the Muslim students, but we want all students to use it regardless of their religious beliefs," Hernandez said.

At least one student wandered into the Serenity Room this week simply looking for a quiet place.

Lauren Thurmond, a senior balancing a double major in English and geography, arrived just after lunch Tuesday grasping 20 handouts she'd just received from her American lit teacher.

"It's so loud out there," she said. "There's a lot of stuff going on all the time, which is a good thing, but not when you're trying to study."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...icle795520.ece

Garry Miller, president of the Campus Ministry Association, described the Serenity Room as a place where all students can come for quiet reflection and prayer, a space where they can "chill and have a moment."




Oh, dream on already

It was a facility asked for by Muslims.....who would have sued to get it.......built for Muslims and the only reason it's being touted as a place for ALL students is to avoid being sued by the non-Muslim.

With as rigid.....and unaccepting, even hateful.....standards of the Muslim community toward "infidels", are we seriously to believe that students of other faiths will be welcome there?

I just hope they don't start broadcasting the call to prayer, which happens about 3-5 a.m. in Cairo. Next thing you know someone will contribute to build a minaret, to make sure the prayer call is heard throughout the campus.
Hopefully, the room is obviously situated toward Mecca, or at least there is an arrow pointing the way the prayer rug should face.