Welcome to MIMIL!
On behalf of the whole planning committee that made this weekend possible, welcome to MIMIL!
Founded in 2016, the Made-in-Michigan Interfaith Leadership Lab is a statewide gathering that equips student leaders to engage difference with curiosity, care, and action. Hosted by the Kaufman Interfaith Institute in collaboration with our campus partners from around the Mitten, the Lab centers peer connection and student-led interfaith experiences - a chance to get your hands dirty and experiment with interfaith!
Interfaith work can be messy, uncomfortable, and sometimes scary. The lived experiences of others may directly contrast with your own. We ask that everyone enter into conversations with consent and with respect for the unique ideas, identities, and stories that we each bring to the table.
Interfaith can also be life-giving, exciting, and restorative! We invite you to share and listen deeply, and to be open to the possibility of being changed by what you hear while honoring the roots that ground you.
Friday, February 6
3:00-5:00pm - Registration // Meet-and-Mingle
CHS 290
5:00-6:00pm - Dinner // Dialogue // Welcome Remarks
DCIH 104
6:00-7:30pm - Opening Plenary ft. Sasa Aakil and Tina Grace, followed by Q&A
7:30pm - Break // Relocate for Social Hour
8:00-9:00pm - Optional Social Hour
(2 choices):
Option One: Paint N' Sip
On-Site - CHS 290
Enjoy a crafty, quieter evening with a mocktail and a chance to get to know your fellow MIMILers.
Option Two: Great Lakes Glow Golf
Off-Site - 3494 Plainfield Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Head out on the town for glow-in-the-dark mini golf!
(Don't worry, it's inside!)
(Breakfast on your own)
9:00-9:30am - Re-introductions // Warm-Ups
DCIH 104
9:35am-11:05am - Breakout Session #1:
Option One: Poetry Workshop with Sasa Aakil
DCIH 108
In this immersive poetry-writing workshop, we will weave together performance, generative writing, and guided group discussion. Led by one of our guest facilitators, Sasa.
Option Two: Through Another Lens - Interfaith Photovoice
DCIH 109
Come try out an arts-based approach to interfaith that combines photography with structured dialogue. Together, we will take photos and share stories about religion and spirituality in everyday life.
11:15-11:50 - Touchpoint Groups Meet-Up #1
Multiple Locations
12:00-1:00pm - Lunch
DCIH 104
During lunch, we encourage you to sit according to your college's affiliation as either a public or a private institution, and to engage with the table prompts about the specific challenges and opportunities possible on your similar campuses.
1:05-2:35pm - Breakout Session #2:
Option One: Bridging the Gap with Tina Grace
DCIH 108
Join our guest facilitator, Tina, as they lead an introductory workshop on Bridging the Gap. Practice skills of listening, story-telling, and engaging tension constructively.
Option Two: A Taste of Interfaith Foodies
DCIH 109
Hungry for a different way of making interfaith friendships? Our Interfaith Foodies workshop will give you a taste of what bonding over food, culture, and stories could look like on your campus.
2:45-3:30pm - Touchpoint Groups Meet-Up #2
Multiple Locations
3:35-5:05pm - Breakout Session #3:
Option One: Interfaith Beyond College
DCIH 108
How can we push back against the idea that connecting across difference is a ‘soft skill’? Learn from interfaith professionals about how to articulate the value of an interfaith toolkit in the workforce and beyond.
Option Two: Student-Led Workshop - Hosting an Interfaith Event
DCIH 109
Students from Kalamazoo College’s Interfaith Student Leaders cohort will guide this hands-on workshop getting down to the basics: what goes into a successful interfaith event? Where do we start?
5:10-6:30pm - Community Activity & Collective Debrief
CHS 290
6:30-8:00pm - Dinner // Send-Off
DCIH 104
Sasa Aakil (she/her)
Sasa is an interdisciplinary Artist and Writer working in Washington, DC. Sasa has been featured in the Bethesda Magazine for her work as Youth Poet Laureate.
She has shown sculptural and two-dimensional work at the American Poetry Museum and Black Rock Art Center. Sasa is the founder of If All the Trees Were Pens Open Mic and recently published her first chapbook, the culmination of all my despair and the music that saves me. She received her BFA from Howard University in 2024.
More information about Sasa’s work can be found on her website sasaaakil.com.
Tina Grace (they/them)
Tina is a program manager at Interfaith America and has spent the previous six years of their career implementing Bridging The Gap - a campus program designed to reduce the polarization in our country by teaching skills needed to find common ground across deep divides. Outside of Interfaith America, you will see Tina spending their free time traveling, watching various TV shows and documentaries, and, of course, being a bridge-builder in their personal life by spending time getting to know others with different beliefs.
Question for our speakers? Submit it here or wait for the microphone!
The guidelines below are intended to help facilitate respectful, honest, and accountable conversation. Please refer to them often, and help each other lean into them during our time together.
Speak from your own experience and avoid ‘fixing’
You are an expert in your own experience, as others are in theirs. Please speak your truth while also respecting the truths of others. Avoid the temptation to offer advice unless prompted.
Practice dialogue, not debate
Stand up for what you believe, but do so with the intent to learn and be understood and not simply to argue for argument’s sake. Assume others are here out of a desire to learn and grow.
Share the air, and leave room for silence
Notice you’re the only one speaking? Take a moment to make room for every voice. Haven’t contributed? Try to be brave and join in. And remember: silence can be just as valuable as speech in a conversation.
Meet disagreement with curiosity
When moments of tension arise, pause and reflect before responding. Consider asking open and honest questions like, “How did you come to feel so strongly about this topic?”
Own your impact
Mistakes happen, and accountability matters. Even with the best of intentions, our words can cause harm to others. Own up to the impact of your statements and make amends where possible.
Follow the (modified) Vegas Rule
What happens at the table, stays at the table. Refrain from sharing someone else’s story without their permission. BUT what we learn from each other’s stories can and should go with us from this space to foster change and action in our community.
The Multifaith Reflection Room
On the same floor as where we will be eating our meals, you can find a Multifaith Reflection Room for your use during the lab. CHS 166 is designated as a space any participants can use for prayer, meditation, reflection, or to generally enjoy some peace and quite in a safe and comfortable space.
Throughout the Lab...
The Kaufman Office (CHS 290) will be available as a place for passive gathering, creative pause, and general breaks throughout the weekend. Feel free to use it as you like! Make a friendship bracelet, decompress with coloring, have a snack!
About the Touchpoint Groups
In between our Breakout Sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to meet up with a Touchpoint Group. These are small groups led by student leaders from each of the various campuses that are meant to be a place to check-in and just be together. At registration, you’ll be assigned a group number with a specific location for where to meet. This optional (but highly encouraged!) meet-up is a great place to get real and make connections that will continue beyond this weekend.
Add Your MIMIL Memories
Throughout the Lab, we invite and encourage you all to upload photos and videos of your MIMIL Memories to our Photo Wall. Pictures will be on display as a part of our final dinner together Saturday evening. An upload link will be provided here starting on Friday, February 6.
Any photos and videos uploaded may be utilized by the Kaufman Interfaith Institute for promotional purposes on our website, social media, or printed materials. Please be sure to have consent from the individuals appearing in your photos before uploading them to the Wall. Thank you!