Though Krystal Krueger is not Catholic, she did not feel apprehensive about attending a university that was.

"It really didn't matter," said the College of Business junior about choosing to come to Marquette. "They allow organizations from different religions on campus. They're very accepting."

Like Krueger, many students come to Marquette searching for ways to incorporate their individual faiths within the Catholic, Jesuit identity of the university. According to the Office of Student Development, religious organizations on campus represent many faiths, from Jewish to Lutheran to Muslim.

The Rev. Doug Leonhardt, interim director of University Ministry, emphasized the importance of representing the different religious beliefs of students on campus.

"We are invited as a Jesuit school to enter into inter-religious dialogue," he said. "Through that dialogue, we come into a greater understanding of who God is, which we all want to do."

Krueger plays a role in inter-religious dialogue at Marquette as the president of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Ministry. The organization holds weekly Bible studies on campus and is associated with campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she said.

WELS Ministry differs from Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran Campus Ministry because they are two different sects of Lutheranism, Krueger explained. Though WELS Ministry has only been at Marquette for a year, she said the organization is working to establish itself as a religious presence on campus.

"Right now we're still trying to make a name for ourselves," Krueger said. "We're getting together and trying to contribute to the university."

The Muslim Student Association is another organization making unique contributions to religious life at Marquette. Hammam Hasan, the organization's president and a College of Engineering senior, said the association's activities include weekly meetings and visits to the Milwaukee Islamic Center. He said the next project they will take on involves working with other religious groups at Marquette to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Last year, the Muslim Student Association won the Spirit of Marquette Award, an honor that Hasan contributes to the organization's aim to build bridges between other groups on campus. The MSA has worked with Catholic clubs on an event about Jesus and Islam, and with the African-American Student Association on an event about Malcom X, Hasan said.

Religious organizations at Marquette serve not only to build bridges between other religions on campus, but between different area schools as well.

Heather Zucker of the Jewish Student Union said while the organization meets at Marquette once a week, she also works at UWM. The Jewish Student Union offers educational and social programming for Jewish students, she said.

But even within organizations that include words like 'Lutheran' or 'Jewish' in their titles, there is often diversity in the religious makeup of members.

Brad Brown, pastor with ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministry, said students from a variety of Christian faiths attend some Lutheran ministry's activities, like Sunday night service and fellowship. Brown described Lutheran Campus Ministry within a Catholic university as a "great partnership."

"The Catholic Church is part of our tradition and our history," Brown said. "Lutheranism is always reforming. There's a unique spirit and identity we bring as a group of people within the larger church that we're proud of."

In understanding other religious traditions, be it Judaism or Islam or Catholicism, Leonhardt said people are better able to understand their own.

Hasan said understanding one another and building bridges between different faiths is an important thing he has absorbed during his time at Marquette.

"It's been a great experience," he said. "I learned a lot from it and it gave me an opportunity to meet new people and understand a different faith."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 8, 2005.