Elon University’s student-led interfaith 2026 gathering is themed “A Recipe for Interfaith”
Founded a decade ago by a multifaith intern at the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, the Ripple Conference was created as a space where students could design their own interfaith learning experience while building skills to engage across difference. Ten years later, Ripple remains student-led and staff-supported, and continues to be a cornerstone of Elon’s commitment to multifaith engagement, education, and identity.
Ripple 2026 is co-directed by Lauren Bedell ’26 and Rocco Albano ’26, who see this anniversary year as both a celebration and an invitation. For the co-directors, this year’s theme frames interfaith engagement as a shared practice rather than a fixed formula, and provides genuine engagement opportunities in a potentially messy kitchen. Like cooking, interfaith it requires curiosity, patience, and a willingness to learn together.
“Interfaith engagement, like cooking, requires curiosity, patience and a readiness to experiment,” said Bedell, who is the student president of LEAF (Lutherans, Episcopalians and Friends). “Ripple is designed to serve everyone, and its cook time is lifelong.” She describes the conference as intentionally hands-on, combining experiential learning, breakout sessions and affinity-based reflection spaces. For Bedell, the conference’s guiding question, “Where will your ripples go?” underscores Ripple’s emphasis on long-term impact beyond the event itself for students at Elon and beyond.
Albano, a second-year multifaith intern at the Truitt Center, highlights Ripple’s role in cultivating both connection and competency.
“Ripple is a rare space created with the intention of fostering connections between students interested in interfaith work while also helping them develop meaningful interfaith skills,” he said. “This year’s theme allows us to zoom out and examine the ingredients that make interfaith engagement effective and how we bring them together in a shared kitchen.”
Programming for 2026 includes a keynote speaker and plenary panel, teaching services on Islam, Catholicism, and Judaism, student- and faculty-led breakout sessions, community and affinity group spaces, service and art projects, and the Sacred Sounds Coffeehouse, featuring music and spoken word. Together, these elements are designed to help participants practice dialogue and collaboration, and deepen their understanding of the diversity of religious, spiritual, and ethical identities and worldview.
Both co-directors emphasize flexibility as central to interfaith work. Albano focuses on collaboration and adaptability, noting that effective interfaith work depends as much on the people doing the work as the space to engage.
“The recipe for interfaith is to me as much about the flexibility of the chefs and the cooking skills as it is about the ingredients themselves,” said Albano.
Bedell points to a slightly different set of essential ingredients for interfaith: ”Interfaith work doesn’t come with a fixed recipe or a precise set of measurements; it’s more about learning how to cook together, even when everyone brings different ingredients to the kitchen. Within this dynamic and ever-changing practice, the key ingredients to interfaith for me include respect, open-mindedness, curiosity, active listening and a willingness to lean into discomfort. Interfaith can be messy, but it can also be generative by creating a space for growth, relationship-building and opportunity to explore shared interests and values.”
Student-Led Interfaith
Ripple is fully student-led, with advising support from Hillary Zaken, director of multifaith programming and engagement at Elon University. The conference serves as a model for student-driven interfaith leadership development within higher education.
“Ripple is a rare opportunity for student leaders,” said Zaken. “Students are trusted to shape the conference, make real decisions, and lead from start to finish. That level of ownership is what makes Ripple exceptional. It is genuinely student-led, which means it’s an authentic interfaith experience for everyone who attends.”
Bedell concurs: “How often do students from different universities have the chance to attend teaching sessions on various religious traditions? To participate in unique breakout sessions led by students and faculty? To collaborate on art and service projects that transcend religious boundaries?”
The Ripple Conference: A Recipe for Interfaith
Now in its 10th year, the Ripple Conference remains a cornerstone of the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life’s multifaith work. Ripple brings together college students and young adults from across the country to build community through active interfaith engagement.
Ripple is all about connection, curiosity and understanding. It’s a celebration of how individuals with diverse religious, spiritual, and ethical identities come together in pursuit of kindness, learning, and community.
This year’s theme, A Recipe for Interfaith, invites participants to explore the ingredients that make interfaith connections possible, both symbolically and tangibly. Together, participants will look at how food and shared meals create space for connection, and how sharing recipes, stories, and traditions can help us build understanding across religious, spiritual, and ethical identities and worldviews.
More about the Ripple Conference
Early Bird Registration is now open, with special discounts for early registrants. Elon students are eligible for special discounts – email rippleconference@elon.edu for details.
Registration information can be found at rippleconference.org.
Elon students, faculty, and staff are invited to reach out to conference adviser Hillary Zaken or co-directors Lauren Bedell or Rocco Albano with questions, and for codes for discounted participation for Elon students, faculty and staff.
On the conference website, you can register, apply to lead Breakout Sessions or Affinity Groups, perform at the Sacred Sounds Coffeehouse, and view other conference details as they become available.
For more information and updates about the Ripple Conference, follow Elon University’s Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life on Instagram and Facebook and visit the Truitt Center website or the Ripple Conference page.