By Gionna Bean, Opinion Editor
Items available in the Interfaith Prayer Room – Photo by Gionna Bean
The Interfaith Prayer Room was opened to Aquinas students as of the start of the 2026 school year on Monday, Aug. 17 as a collaboration between Campus Ministry and the Office of International Programs. The new room, located in the Academic Building, has elicited a strong response from many students on campus, and there’s one question that seems to be on the forefront of the debate: is it right to have a room that includes non-Catholic representation on a Catholic campus?
Some say yes, and that’s because, in part, of the room’s alignment with Aquinas College’s Mission Statement.
According to the college’s website, that statement defines Aquinas College as “an inclusive educational community rooted in the Catholic and Dominican tradition.”
“In the room visitors will find a number of signs outlining the expectations and purpose of this room,” Campus Ministry Director Michael Ingram said.
Along with the signs, the room is adorned with string lights and drapes, and comfortable seating is available to make students feel welcome. Various books, journals, a singing bowl, rosaries and candles are also available for use.
The interior of the Interfaith Prayer Room – Photo by Gionna Bean
“For the better portion of a decade, at least within my living memory, there have been students requesting, both formally and informally, an interfaith prayer room,” Ingram said. “It is in response to the genuine need and desire of our campus community, comprised of students, faculty and staff of a number of differing faith traditions that this room was created.”
That response, in the form of a room where students can feel free to practice their faiths, has been largely appreciated by those affected.
“I’m glad they did it,” an anonymous sophomore said. “I think it will give students another option to practice their faith which is good to include since we have many different cultures and religions on campus.”
While some students are comforted by the new addition to campus life, others view the decision to add a room for all faiths at a Catholic college as contradictory.
“It might look good on the campus to look inclusive, and that’s a wonderful thing” an anonymous senior said, “but it’s taking us away from our Catholic identity. That’s what we are, and that’s what people know we are when they sign up to come here.”
Aquinas College was founded as a Catholic college. In fact, the institution started in Traverse City in 1886 as The Novitiate Normal School, a training school for Dominican sister-teachers. The location was eventually moved to Grand Rapids and only in 1940 did the school transition to a four-year degree-granting institution and renamed Aquinas College.
Needless to say, the college has deep roots in the Catholic and Dominican tradition. Creating a room that has the potential to promote faiths other than the one the college was founded on makes some Catholic students uncomfortable.
“From the Catholic perspective, you’re promoting a room that is a space to practice worshipping false idols,” an anonymous senior said, “which, I mean, is paganism.”
For now, the Interfaith Prayer Room is here to stay, whether it makes some students uncomfortable or not. The room is sure to continue to be a subject of conversation, and the perspectives surrounding what this means for a Catholic college are thought-provoking.
The Saint 