On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, the Interfaith Roundtable drew together the Collins Center Leadership Cohort members, devoted to fellowship across religious lines. Held in partnership with Grand Valley State University’s Kaufman Interfaith Institute, the forum featured Brandeis professor Dr. Aaron Spevack, Rabbi Marcelo Bater, and Archbishop Felix Machado of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vasai in India. Participants explored how sustained relationships among Muslims, Jews, and Christians can help communities navigate social tension and find shared ground.
The program opened with a welcome from Acton and Kaufman staff who framed the roundtable as a practical sequel to earlier programming on religious liberty and campus speech. While those conversations centered on policy, this meeting turned the spotlight to the habits of friendship that make cooperation possible. Archbishop Machado shared insights from his role at the Vatican’s interfaith office, while Dr. Spevack and Rabbi Bater gave their perspectives as long-time participants in interfaith dialogue from a pastoral perspective. The roundtable concluded on the values of friendship, mutual understanding, and meaningful action based on shared values as central pillars of productive interfaith work.
