The Global Interfaith Leadership Project at Hendricks Chapel of Syracuse University seeks to prepare engaged citizens, scholars and leaders for participation in a changing global society through religious and spiritual life. Through a distinctive approach that utilizes religious and spiritual formation for sustained global impact, we seek to form learners for leadership in service to our common good.
The 2026 inaugural GILP cohort has been working diligently throughout the semester. You can learn more about them and their assignments on their 2026 cohort page. All students of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF are invited to apply for the 2027 cohort. Applications will open again in Fall 2026.
Why the Global Interfaith Leadership Project?
In an increasingly interconnected yet deeply conflicted world, students are seeking meaningful opportunities to make a positive and profound impact. Furthermore, an increasing number of students at Syracuse University are engaged in religious and spiritual programs and services, as Hendricks Chapel has reported a 150% increase in student participation over the past eight years.
The proposed Global Interfaith Leadership Project of Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University seeks to embrace recent student trends and provide a distinctive approach that utilizes religious and spiritual formation for sustained global impact, for the purpose of forming learners for leadership in service to our common good. This project moves beyond traditional interfaith dialogue toward the cultivation of religious and spiritual leaders who are prepared to heal divides, imagine new possibilities, and empower others in service to the common good.
How does the Global Interfaith Leadership Project work?
Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University applies a distinctive approach to religious and spiritual life, known as “Roots, Reach, and Results”. This approach – which is modeled after a metaphorical vision of a tree – allows students of Syracuse University to deepen their roots, expand their reach, and produce meaningful results. A summary is as follows:
- Roots (inward depth): Dignity, Community, and Purpose
- Reach (outward growth): Excellence, Empathy, and Collaboration
- Results (real-world impact): Reconciliation, Transformation, and Empowerment
The “Roots, Reach, and Results” approach to religious and spiritual life moves beyond traditional forms of dialogue or advocacy, for its combines intellectual rigor, religious and spiritual depth, and global engagement. The core elements of the project are as follows:
- Weekly interactive sessions at Hendricks Chapel of Syracuse University
- Civic engagement and collaborative group projects
- Site visits to local and regional faith communities
- An international travel experience*
- Participation at the Interfaith America Leadership Summit*
If you’d like more information about the program, visit our page for prospective student participants.
Imam Amir Durić
Assistant Dean for Religious & Spiritual Life
Hendricks Chapel
315.718.5781
aduric@syr.edu | LinkedIn | Schedule a Meeting
120 Sims Drive, 207E, Syracuse, NY 13244
syracuse.edu | chapel.syracuse.edu
Imam Amir Durić has served Syracuse University since 2017, first as Muslim chaplain and executive director of Muslim Student Life and now as assistant dean for religious and spiritual life at Hendricks Chapel and an adjunct professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Durić’s scholarship and community work center on multiracial religious communities, religious and nonprofit leadership, interfaith cooperation, and the intersection of faith and public life. He co-founded the Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Fellowship and was named a 2024–2025 Interfaith America Innovation Fellow. Durić serves on the board of directors of Interfaith Works of Central New York and leads the Global Interfaith Leadership Project, an initiative that seeks to prepare engaged citizens, scholars and leaders for participation in a changing global society through religious and spiritual life and to form learners for leadership in service to our common good.
