Samantha Nichols

Senior, Religious Studies Department

As she nears graduation, Samantha is a great example of how students are living the public affairs mission while at Missouri State.  Inspiration to create Linked, a newly formed student interfaith service organization, came from attending Interfaith Youth Core’s (IFYC) Interfaith Leadership Institute in Chicago, the summer before her junior year.

Linked brings together young people of different religious and moral traditions for cooperative service and dialogue around shared values.  Student members take part in various volunteer activities in the community as well as campus projects such as working with Myer Library to create monthly displays that will boost interfaith literacy on campus. Samantha says, “It’s been awesome to see our mission come alive on campus as we work to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. We don’t gloss over differences, we explore and celebrate them while also discovering shared values.”

Samantha has been selected as a member of the IFYC National Leadership Team and coaches and mentors other interfaith leaders to help shape and model the interfaith cooperation campaign.  We are proud to recognize Samantha Nichols as April’s Public Affairs Student Spotlight for her cultural competence and community engagement to create a sustainable impact on campus and in the community.