Division of Student Affairs officials hired a chaplain and director to lead the Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life, according to a University release Wednesday.
Officials recruited Kristen Glass Perez to serve as University chaplain, who will work to build a “multifaith chaplaincy program” using University and D.C. resources, per the release. The release states officials also appointed Simran Kaur-Colbert as the center’s inaugural director, who will oversee the center’s day-to-day operations, programming, communications and outreach.
Glass Perez joins the center after serving as the university chaplain and executive director of religious and spiritual life at Northwestern University since October 2024, according to her LinkedIn. Kaur-Colbert worked at Earlham College as the director of student engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion from July 2022 to June 2023, according to her LinkedIn.
Officials first listed the roles and salary ranges on their job posting website in July, which they have since taken down. The University listed the hiring range for the Director of Interfaith as between $105,000 and $198,000, and the University Chaplain between $139,000 and $262,000.
Officials in June slated the center’s opening for the fall semester, though Wednesday’s release claims the space will open “sometime” during the academic year. Officials’ implementation of the Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life — which will be located in the University Student Center — is a part of the University’s “Strengthening Our Community in Challenging Times” plan, which officials released in January to review campus free speech policies and religious programming in response to campus tensions over the war in Gaza.
“The center is part of a University-wide initiative to enhance supportive campus environments and interfaith engagement through religious, secular, spiritual identity development guided by the foundational principles of free inquiry, intellectual rigor, open dialogue, honest debate and mutual respect,” the release reads.
The center aims to expand interfaith and spiritual efforts at GW by promoting and supporting spiritual development, theological reflections, religious expression, social justice and social awareness, according to the release.
The center’s creation comes after the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement hosted GW’s annual Interfaith Week in April, after canceling the MSSC’s initial January programming. The April programming collaborated with student religious organizations like GW Hillel and GW Catholics, but some students reported an absence of programming centered on Islam and other faiths.
The release says that officials will now focus on hiring an “affiliate-based council of chaplains” who will serve as spiritual mentors and “offer guidance on religious and spiritual matters.” There are no current listings on GW’s hiring website for any positions in the center.
University President Ellen Granberg said in the release that it is “a pleasure” to welcome Glass Perez and Kaur-Colbert to the University, and she looks forward to seeing the “positive impact” they will have on the community.
“As the new Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life begins to take shape, the hiring of our university chaplain and director of interfaith and spiritual life marks important progress toward fulfilling our commitment to fostering a more supportive and inclusive campus environment,” Granberg said in the release.
