PATRICIA KARLIN-NEUMANN: “The question in my mind is whether that questioning leads to a falling off of commitment or a deepening of commitment. And my experience is that people who claim their religious traditions after having or in the process of being engaged with other people are far more inclined to see what they have as something precious.”

Tahera Ahmad is associate university chaplain at Northwestern University in Illinois. She says interfaith service projects and community discussions are bringing students together at schools all across the country.

TAHERA AHMAD: “What I’ve seen on college campuses is that the young students who are from various faith backgrounds are coming together and not necessarily leaving their faith at the door, but not also wearing their faith on their sleeve, so to say, but finding some kind of balance as to saying, ‘This is who I am. I am a Muslim, I am a Christian, I am a Jew. We’re all coming together towards making the world a better place.’”

These clergymen and women say college students are growing in their faith by meeting and learning from those of other religions.

Electoral College

FAITH LAPIDUS: Our question this week comes from Burma. Ko Maw Gyi wants to know about the Electoral College. This is the name of the system Americans use to elect a president.

The Electoral College is made up of representatives from all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Electors are appointed representatives who promise to vote as the people of the state guide them. Different states have different laws on the appointment of the electors. In some states, the names of the electors appear on the ballot, below the names of the candidates.