WHITE HOUSE: Celebrating Interfaith Collaboration with the Rumi Forum
18-11-2011
The Rumi Forum honored their 2011 RUMI Peace and Dialogue Award honorees last evening at the National Press Club Ballroom in Washington DC. The 2011 RUMI Awards gala honored extraordinary individuals and organizations who have greatly contributed their time, energy, leadership and dedication to the cause of dialogue, peace, community service and understanding.
Launched in 1999, the Rumi Forum has consistently worked to foster interreligious and intercultural understanding at a pivotal time in our human history. Recently, we were honored to attend the 2011 Rumi Peace and Dialogue Awards, the Turkish American organization’s annual celebration of leadership towards global harmony.
The Director of our Office, Joshua DuBois, received the “Extraordinary Commitment to Public Service Award” for his work as Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Also recognized by the Rumi Forum were Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. Alan G. Merten, Diane Rehm, and Rev. John Bryson Chane. Each was commended for his or her work to promote peace and dialogue through service in government, church, higher education, or media.
Joshua DuBois reflected on President Obama’s formative experience working across religious lines on the South Side of Chicago. Today, this commitment to interfaith collaboration is reflected in the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, in which more than 250 colleges, universities, and theological schools are participating in the first year. The Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group, recently launched by the State Department and our Partnerships Office, engages the expertise of diverse religious and civil society leaders to explore the role of religious understanding and engagement in US foreign policy.