Pathways Response

Pathways Response to the Tufts Daily Op-Ed

In a recent Op-Ed piece in The Tufts Daily, disparaging remarks were made about Pathways and one of our guest speakers. Below is Pathways' official response to this Op-Ed.

The Pathways Initiative at Tufts University is part of a federally funded project whose aim is to create opportunities for dialogue on college campuses among students of different faith backgrounds in order to promote tolerance and inter-religious understanding. This five-campus initiative is funded by the Department of Homeland Security and includes Brandeis University, the University of Maryland at College Park, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wellesley College.

The Pathways Program at Tufts is dedicated to combating religious extremism and violence as well as promoting peaceful, productive dialogue among Muslim, Jewish and Christian students on campus and beyond. Its activities have included a pre-orientation program, seminars offered through Tufts’ Experimental College, and a student-led MultiFaith Council. More than 250 students representing over a dozen faith traditions as well as non-religious groups have participated in these and other activities.

A recent report about Pathways has focused on one of our guest speakers, Edina Lekovic. Ms. Lekovic, who is Communications Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, is a prominent American Muslim voice. At Tufts, Ms. Lekovic participated in a panel in which Muslim, Jewish and Christian women discussed the role of faith in their lives. Ms. Lekovic was invited because her message has been one of the importance of inter-faith dialogue, non-violence, and making Muslims “a positive, contributing part of the American fabric.” She and the MPAC have repeatedly condemned the actions of violent extremists and publicly stated their support of the use of non-violence in political disputes. The Muslim Public Affairs Council publicly advocates a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and condemns suicide bombings.

The accusations leveled at Lekovic have focused on her involvement with Al-Talib, a newspaper at UCLA that in an unsigned editorial in 1999 called Osama Bin-Laden a “freedom fighter”. When the Pathways Initiative invited Ms. Lekovic to speak, the organizers had no knowledge of her association with Al-Talib. Ms. Lekovic has publicly stated, “I abhor the sentiments expressed” in the article that praised Osama bin Laden.

The Pathways Initiative continues to advance interfaith dialogue. On March 2, 2008, the program is sponsoring a national conference at Tufts on “Religious Pluralism in a Time of Extremism: The Campus Responds.” The conference will highlight new and innovative inter-religious dialogue work taking place on college campuses, and how dialogue can serve as an effective response to inter-group tensions in a time of extremism and political conflict.

Shai Fuxman & Najiba Akbar
Pathways Co-facilitators