The Interfaith Center at Cal State Long Beach will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during finals week, offering water bottles and power bars for students to relax and catch up on studying.
“The place can have multiple purposes,” said Tamara Casanova Suzuki, an intern for the Interfaith Center. “You can hang out, talk to people, do homework, [or participate in] general religious or spiritual matters of different faiths.”
The center moved from the University Student Union, Room 103 after it received water damage in January. Its new location is in the first floor of Brotman Hall, Room 174.
“The move has been difficult,” Suzuki said. “The USU was more centrally located, but at least we’re still here.”
Junior German and film double major Harrison Teeter first heard about the center during his freshman year, and has been attending regularly since.
“It’s not that I prefer [the new location at Brotman Hall], but it defeats the purpose of what the center is about,” he said.
Teeter is loosely affiliated with the Catholic club in the center.
He said he understands the center should have a location where it can be readily available to students, but he doesn’t want to lose his “couch space” in the center.
The center has been active at CSULB for many years, according to Adele Langworthy, part of the center’s cooperative Protestant campus ministry.
“It’s always been here in one form or another,” she said. “There hasn’t always been an office, but we’ve been around.”
The center has a group of couches and chairs, fit with a coffee table and rugs to make the place feel welcoming and cozy. Students may also grab free lunch, typically consisting of peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches, or the occasional lunch meats and condiments.
However, most students use the center to seek spiritual guidance. Most of the denominations in the center are Jewish and Christian denominations, but the center is looking to expand to include more religions.
The different denominations do activities together, such as the Jewish group, which took a retreat this semester with around 20 to 30 students.
Also, on Dec. 9, the center is holding a free lunch for students as good luck before finals.
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