On Saturday, a group of students gathered before a meeting of the Board of Trustees. An interfaith space on campus was the motivation behind the gathering, and the students were looking for the best way to express their desires.

“We felt that the interfaith issue had been talked about for a number of years … it’s kind of been something that’s been passively-aggressively pushed back. [Our presence at the meeting] was just a desire to be heard,” Senior Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and Religion Major Elizabeth Coco said, who helped organize the meeting.

Before the students approached the board with their propositions, however, they found the ally they had been hoping for in Dean of Students JoNes VanHecke. She approached the students and requested a list of demands she could work with.

“She was there to meet our needs. She continued to assert the fact that if we didn’t feel our voices were being heard, that we could go ahead with the protest and that she wasn’t going to stop us. She genuinely cared about our need and our desire for this space,” Junior English Major Julia Tindell said, who was also present at the meeting.

The students and VanHecke came up with a list of exactly what they required for the interfaith space, culminating in a printed list of demands.

“The students are knowledgeable about where they want to go. I felt like we had a really great discussion and we came to some good conclusions. We’re on the same page that we must move forward as efficiently and effectively as possible. All students at Gustavus deserve to have a place where they feel comfortable worshiping,” VanHecke said.

VanHecke signed the list of demands and has a meeting scheduled on Friday during which representatives of the student group and President Jack Ohle will meet with VanHecke and discuss the issue.

As for what the space will look like, the list of demands include a room that can fit at least fifty, is in a central, accessible location and embodies religious neutrality where people of all faiths can feel welcome. The students also request a full-time staff member similar to the chaplain for their space. They demand a temporary space by Nov. 15 of this year and a permanent space by Sept. 1, 2012.

The students also see the space as a place where interfaith dialogue can happen.

“We’re a liberal arts college. We’re all about learning as many things as we possibly can and all about being open to new ideas. I see this as a place of improvement. Part of being able to say that you believe what you believe is being able to say that you do not believe other things or that you might also believe this but you can reaffirm what you believe based off of learning other things,” Senior Scandinavian Studies and Theatre Major Ethan Bjelland said

Another function it will serve will be a place of spiritual reflection, whether the person is religious or not.

“When you’re not actively seeking out a religious figure to pray to but you still need that time to be spiritual, sometimes being alone in a dorm room doesn’t cut it,” Erica Fernstrom, a sophomore undeclared major said.

The student group Mosaic, an interfaith group started in 2010, is another resource for those interested in an interfaith space on campus. If students have suggestions or concerns about this issue, they should bring them to Mosaic, urged Bjelland.

With the collaboration and support of administration, faculty and students, the hope is that this space will become a gathering place for nontraditional worshipers that offers services similar to those that the chapel and various groups offer Christian students.