The University of Wisconsin is implementing a national pluralism grant this year to support staff and faculty in addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus, according to an emailed statement from UW Student Affairs.
The grant will provide support for a project titled “Pluralism Cohort Initiative for Senior Leadership in Student Affairs” over the course of the 2025-2026 school year, using the work of a cohort of 20 senior administrators at UW, according to SA’s statement.
The “From Prejudice to Pluralism Grant” is from Interfaith America, and supports higher education institutions across the country in addressing religious prejudice, according to SA’s statement.
UW is one of 11 universities selected to receive this grant. The project for the grant is led by Miller Center director Rabbi Or Rose and Homayra Ziad, director of the Hassan Institute for Interfaith Encounter at the American Islamic College, according to Hebrew College.
The university’s pluralism cohort will meet monthly throughout the year starting this week to learn and discuss new ways to encourage open conversation and make campus welcoming to all religions.
In seeking support for this initiative, SA reached out to UW Hillel and The Islamic Center of Madison to conduct site visits and hear directly from community leaders about the traditions and experiences of their community members, senior advisor for faculty and community relations in SA Ulrich Rosenhagen said in an emailed statement.
As part of these site visits, SA will go to Hillel in early December for Shabbat services and dinner, according to SA’s statement.
The Islamic Center of Madison is also an active participant in the advisory process, according to its president Ibrahim Saeed.
“I’m happy that the university is doing this, and I share that with our community,” Saeed said. “It’s a great opportunity for our students to have a better environment than many years before.”
Saeed was a student at UW and worked there for 29 years. He said that he did not see efforts like this at the time.
Saeed recalled a moment he experienced as a student where final exams made it difficult for him to fast during Ramadan, and he felt as though people didn’t understand the practice of fasting.
“They don’t understand that and hopefully this initiative will give the professors, staff and everybody involved with the students an understanding of where these people are coming from and this Islamic obligation for them.”
The project is still in its early stages, but it will help staff cultivate a shared understanding of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus and learn strategies to address these issues, said Rosenhagen in an email.
Also, SA aims to reach actionable recommendations for addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia, Rosenhagen said in an email.
To successfully incorporate pluralism into this project, SA will provide an immersive, dialogue-based learning experience, Rosenhagen said in an email. This includes engaging the 2025-2026 Center for Interfaith Dialogue Fellows in addition to collaboration with local religious communities.
Throughout the initiative, the fellows will provide student input in select sessions that will acknowledge participants’ diverse religious identities, Rosenhagen said in an email.
Despite being only one of 11 universities selected, UW-Madison was one of many universities that applied to receive the Interfaith America grant, motivated by a need to respond to global and national challenges caused by antisemitism and Islamophobia, Rosenhagen said in an email.
In August, Interfaith America co-sponsored a panel of academics, student leaders and clergy at American University to discuss this initiative, according to Hebrew College.
The panel explored modern expressions of hate and bias toward different religions and panelists shared how they have navigated these challenges and how their different backgrounds have shaped their ideas of belonging, according to Hebrew College.
Similarly, UW recently had a meeting where panelists discussed what pluralism meant to them as people of faith, Saeed said.
“It was really informative,” Saeed said. “They were bringing us together so that we can at least give them a hint of what to expect of being a Muslim or a Jewish student, and what are the things that affect them that the staff can maybe alleviate.”
At UW, the work stemming from the “From Prejudice to Pluralism” grant is only one step toward supporting students holistically and broadening understanding of different religious beliefs and practices, Rosenhagen said in an email.
Open conversations are important to foster a culture that is informed to create more inclusive and effective policies to support Jewish and Muslim communities at UW, Rosenhagen said in an email.
“We hope for participants to cultivate a deep and nuanced understanding of both Judaism and Islam, as well as to enhance their overall religious literacy of these two communities, which are at the center of national discourse across higher education,” Rosenhagen said in an email. “In an era when disagreement often means disconnection or division, UW–Madison is focused on encouraging ongoing engagement and fostering the robust exchange of ideas.”
