The Closure and Revamping of the Interfaith & Meditation Space in the North Academic Center

Photography by Abel Lockhart

By Quinn Kinsella

During the first week of the 2025 fall semester, the Interfaith & Mediation Space closed its doors at the City College of New York. Located in the North Academic Center (NAC), the abrupt closure of the space came without warning or explanation. This led to student outrage, as many use this space for prayer multiple times a day. 

The Interfaith & Meditation Space sees a steady flow of foot traffic throughout the day. The Muslim student body uses this space daily, and the abrupt closure proved detrimental to their religious routine. Practitioners of Islam perform five prayers throughout the day. These prayers, known as Salat, happen at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night. For practicing Muslim students and staff on campus, the space offered a welcoming place to perform these prayers, numerous of which happen during school hours.

For several days, students were left puzzled as to the reason for the sudden closure. On August 29th, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) released a statement on their Instagram page. The following is an excerpt from that post: 

“[The Interfaith Space] creation represents years of advocacy, collaboration, and countless hours of work to build a respectful, inclusive space. To disregard this legacy without consultation or notice is unacceptable and a direct violation of the procedures and commitments that were promised to students.

USG stands firm:

✦ Restore the Interfaith Space to its original state

✦ Reinstate the Interfaith Council as its governing body.”

The USG’s statement and demands are echoed in the voices of those they represent, namely the undergraduate student body. The final demand listed is a call to reinstate the Interfaith Council to be in charge of this space, and as the next week would reflect, that was not to be the case.

An explanation as to the abrupt closure came in a statement from the assistant vice president of student affairs, Ramón De Los Santos: “Student Affairs was notified of a possible presence of bed bugs in the Interfaith & Meditation Space. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.” De Los Santos goes on to assure students that the presence of bed bugs was taken very seriously and an exterminator was called in during the last weekend of August. This offers an explanation as to the sudden shutdown, yet it also raises many questions about the future of the Interfaith & Meditation Space. 

CCNY Student Life recently announced the reopening of this multireligious site. Offering a myriad of resources and new leadership by the newly-appointed Student Chaplain, Mr. Medina, the space reopened on Tuesday, September 2nd. Regarding the new leadership, Student Life’s Instagram post declares: “Mr. Medina brings extensive experience in pastoral care, interfaith engagement, and community leadership. His role will ensure this space remains inclusive, safe, and supportive for our diverse campus community.” Clearly against the firm demands the USG had made on reinstating the Interfaith Council, CCNY has instead decided to go a different route, enlisting an adjunct professor for the space’s leadership. 

It should be noted that The Paper reached out to the USG, the Arab Students Association, and Student Life for comment, but received no reply. Not much is known about what this new leadership will entail, but the students who use this space have already noticed changes. The Paper will be conducting interviews with students in the coming week to understand the true nature of this change and the impact it will have on CCNY students going forward.

---

Quinn Kinsella is a film major in his senior year at The City College of New York. He is the Managing Editor at The Paper and covers pop culture and on-campus arts and culture. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, reading books, and writing poetry.