S.P.I.R.I.T. club encouraging religious tolerance by providing information Angela Dobrzynski Senior Staff Reporter “Hopefully information will help get rid of a lot of prejudice,” said co-advisor Jeanne Saint-Amour of the S.P.I.R.I.T Club, Students Promoting Interfaith Religious Information and Tolerance. The S.P.I.R.I.T. Club at Glendale Community College has important goals to reach. The main goal is to encourage people to be tolerant of each other and to get information out on different religions. According to Saint-Amour, the club gets their information out in many ways. One way is with club meetings. They have been meeting every other Tuesday for discussion. Another way they get the information out is with speeches. The club is trying to get the speakers lined up and work with discussions in the meetings. “We sponsor the speakers,” said Saint-Amour. “It’s a fairly new club, so we’ll concentrate to get new things done and built.” An upcoming guest speaker is scheduled from the Buddhist Churches of America. “The gentleman coming in is the past president of the Arizona Buddhist Temple, Kai Umeda,” said Saint-Amour. “It’s their one-hundredth birthday.” He will speak in the GCC Student Union, at 11:30 a.m., on March 23. “He’s just an interesting person, and involved with the Japanese Internship,” said Saint-Amour. In addition, Saint-Amour said that S.P.I.R.I.T. is also at Arizona State University West. However, the club there is more more active than the club at GCC because it was able to get started earlier. “Another speaker is scheduled, [and] it will be an Islam speaker at ASU West,” Saint-Amour said. “Since these things are getting finalized, we’ll be getting some posters up on our doors and all over campus, so people can go to ASU West and hear the speakers.” Saint-Amour and Julie Waskow are both co-advisors of the club. Waskow has been working with the ASU West group. “She’s helping making the bridge to ASU West, and we’re both with GCC,” said Saint-Amour. For more information about the club, stop by either Saint-Amour’s or Waskow’s offices, in LA 115 or LA 116, around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons. “We can get information out to you,” said Saint-Amour. “We’re easier to get a hold of than the officers.” Saint-Amour also said that they’re always looking for speakers for both this semester and next fall as well. “We’ll continue trying to promote tolerance and we’ll do it with information,” said Saint-Amour. “We will be continuing to grow.”