WHAT: Interfaith Leadership Summit 2025
WHERE: Chicago Marriott Downtown, Magnificent Mile 541 N Rush St., Chicago, Illinois
WHEN: August 8-10, 2025
DESCRIPTION: The Interfaith Leadership Summit is the largest gathering of college students and educators with a commitment to American civic pluralism. At the Summit, you get to connect with hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society as they learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of difference. In this divisive time, the Summit is a welcoming environment that offers new skills to participants along with sources of inspiration that can help bring your campus together. The Interfaith Leadership Summit convenes college students and educators from institutions across the country. You are welcome to attend with a group or on your own, and will learn alongside a cohort of peers with similar goals throughout the weekend. Any undergraduate student or educator at a U.S. undergraduate college or university is eligible to attend the Summit. Graduate students are also welcome and, when registering, should apply for an educator track.
The 2025 Interfaith Leadership Summit theme, Chords of Democracy, will explore the intersection of music and the diverse fabric of American democracy. This theme invites participants to share stories that celebrate the contributions of a religiously diverse society while fostering a shared vision of an interfaith America. Just as a song is composed of many distinct notes, our communities are made up of individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives. A single instrument is powerful on its own, but it is through the collaboration of many—each adding its unique sound—that a beautiful symphony is born. However, crafting this harmony requires skill, practice, and a commitment to working together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Eboo Patel writes, “A college campus is a mini national stage. It is the perfect environment for different groups to improve at their instruments, bring them to a common space, and learn to play harmoniously together.” Pluralism exemplifies this idea: it is about contributing to a larger, unified song, while maintaining the integrity and richness of one’s own worldview tradition.
SPONSORS: Interfaith America