Eboo Patel – Todd
Wake Forest University announced Eboo Patel, head of the Interfaith Cooperation and founder of Interfaith Youth Core, will deliver the 2016 Commencement Speech.
In an email to the Wake Forest senior class, WFU President Nathan O’Hatch stated “Patel is recognized around the world for bridging divisions among people of different faiths. At a time when so much global conflict is rooted in religious difference and the need for interfaith cooperation is so great, I am pleased he will be Wake Forest’s commencement speaker.”
Patel was a member of President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships, a part of the Executive Branch that seeks “to expand the role of this office as it relates to policy issues where religious and local leaders can be effective.”
Patel founded the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) nonprofit in 2002. According to the IFYC website, the nonprofit aims to bring people from different faiths together through activities. Through exposure with other faiths, the goal is that students will learn to be comfortable with different beliefs and cooperate towards a “common good”.
Patel is recognized for his books “Act of Faith” and “Sacred Ground”. Patel blogs for the Washington Post, The Huffington Post, USA Today, and many others. In 2011 he was ranked in The Nonprofit Times’ list “Top 50 Power and Influence”.
Patel earned a doctorate in sociology of religion from Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar.
Patel was not available for questioning about his speech.
The last two Wake Forest commencement speakers were The Daily Show’s host, Stephen Colbert (2015) and former executive editor for The New York Times, Jill Abramson (2014).
Senior Alana McCarthy commented, “I am excited for Eboo Patel to be our commencement speaker because he is such an accomplished individual and will surely deliver a strong message.” She went on to say, “That being said, I was initially a little bit let down when I heard it was him, simply because I had never heard of him, and my expectations were so high after Stephen Colbert.”
WFU announced Eboo Patel as the commencement speaker on April 15th, much later compared to years prior. The 2014 announcement came on March 20th and the 2015 announcement came on March 2nd.
Eboo Patel will deliver his speech in front of Wait Chapel on May 16th.
https://www.ifyc.org/about-us/eboo-patel
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