Eboo Patel receives Newsweek-Stubblefield Institute Civility Award

Interfaith America’s Indian American founder hailed as “a national leader in overcoming divides to better our communities, states, and nation”

By Arun Kumar

Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, has received the 2024 Newsweek-Stubblefield Institute Civility Award in the category of Community Leader for “demonstrated leadership in promoting civil discourse, bipartisan collaboration, and honest debate.”

Patel, an American Ismaili of Gujarati Indian heritage, has long championed interfaith cooperation through his organisation, Interfaith America, previously known as Interfaith Youth Core.

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“Eboo Patel is a national leader in overcoming divides to better our communities, states, and nation. He has worked to help schools, workplaces, and communities learn to use diversity of faith as a strength rather than a source of division,” saidr Ashley Horst, Stubblefield Institute executive director presenting the award to Patel at Newsweek headquarters in New York City on Dec 10, according to a media release.

“We are pleased to honor Mr. Patel with a Newsweek-Stubblefield Institute Civility Award and hope that his example inspires others to seek opportunities for collaboration across differences.”

Founded in 2002, Interfaith America focuses on uniting individuals of diverse faiths around service and dialogue. Under Patel’s leadership, the organization has partnered with colleges and universities to promote interfaith cooperation through initiatives such as the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, launched in collaboration with the White House in 2011. It also works with civic organizations and community leaders to build programs that encourage collaboration across religious and cultural lines.

In addition to his organizational work, Patel has been involved in interfaith projects in India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa and served on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.

Patel earned his undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He later obtained a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

The Bonnie and Bill Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications was founded at Shepherd University in 2019. To encourage productive political conversations across the nation, the Stubblefield Insitute first presented Civility Awards in September 2022. This year the Institute has partnered with Newsweek, to present the Newsweek-Stubblefield Institute Civility Awards.

Nominations were accepted from Newsweek readers and the public from Feb 6 to Mar 31 of this year. Nominations were judged based on demonstrated leadership in promoting civil discourse, bipartisan collaboration, and honest debate.

“Vigorous debate is a bedrock of democracy,” said Nancy Cooper, Newsweek global editor in chief when nominations opened. “In this era of fierce polarization, we at Newsweek believe the public is best served by a civil national discourse that reflects diverse perspectives. With that mission in mind, Newsweek is partnering with the Stubblefield Institute to celebrate the people and organizations who work to foster good-faith debate and bridge political and cultural divides.”