The Department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion has recently opened the door to its newly developed Interfaith Prayer and Mediation room. The newly renovated room is located in Cooper Hall on the second floor in room M9. The room became open for students, staff and faculty to use on October 2, 2025.
The room was designed to be inclusive for everyone, no matter their background or faith and traditions they practice.
SUNY Brockport chief diversity officer Damita Davis was an important member of overseeing the development and creation of this new space on campus.
“There were two main catalysts for the new Interfaith Prayer and Meditation room, the first being that a larger space was needed to accommodate the growing needs of the University’s growing faith and spiritual organizations,” Davis said. “The existing space in Seymour Union was too small to meet those needs. The second catalyst was SUNY announcing a process for institutions to establish a new or renovate an existing interfaith prayer and meditation space. SUNY Brockport was one of several institutions awarded funding. In addition to establishing the new physical space, we also re-established an interfaith council comprised of students, faculty, and staff.”
After one year of preparation and planning for the new space to open, there were several key pieces that had to fall into place during that span of time.
“The new space had to be in a building that had available space, near the Seymour Union and accessible to all users,” Davis said. “We wanted to ensure the Interfaith Prayer and Meditation room was in a location that students would gravitate to. The room also needed to be large enough to accommodate at least 20 people at one time and did not require a lot of work to renovate. Cooper Hall fit these requirements perfectly. Finally, we had to stay within budget. We were able to make budget because all the work done, patching and painting walls and installing new carpets, was completed by members of facilities. We couldn’t have done this without them.”
The Interfaith Prayer and Meditation room is open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information is available on SUNY Brockport’s website here and here.
