Stony Brook Opens New Prayer Room for Dharmic Faith Students

The Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room in Staller 3003A, softly lit with string lights, tealights, prayer mats, flowers, and religious items.

After years of student advocacy, two Stony Brook students helped turn a long-awaited dream into reality: a private space for students of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism to practice their respective faiths.

The Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room, located in Staller 3003A, officially opened its doors to students on March 12. In collaboration with the Office of Student Life and Associate Dean of Students Gareth "Shui" Shumack, the room was founded through the efforts of former Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senator Aman Mistry and current Chief of Staff Shriram "Shri" Hegde.

USG Chief of Staff Shriram "Shri" Hegde (left) and former USG Senator Aman Mistry (right) at the opening celebration for the Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room.

"This initiative has been tried over the past 20 years by a lot of groups," Mistry said. According to him, the idea for a Dharmic prayer room had been discussed by former USG leaders, including former President Nishtha Boghra and Aryan Sharma, former vice president for clubs and organizations. Hegde picked up the project and Mistry joined him, and while consulting national organizations about the idea, the two learned that students had reached out to these groups over the last two decades, all trying to make such a space a reality.

Mistry joined the project because he understood the need personally. "I'm a Hindu student, and during my first year on campus as a student, there was no space for me to pray," he said. "Although the issue wasn't directly relevant to me now since I commute and I have a mandir at my house, I understood the sentiment."

Hegde expressed similar feelings himself. "When we came to campus, there really wasn't this space for us to do these activities," Hegde said. "We would often be stuck in our dorms trying to manage a different roommate alongside us, our different course schedules, and time of day as well, so we really didn't have a space to pray."

After the two students spoke with different national organizations, including the Hindu Students Council and the North American Hindu Chaplains Association, they contacted Vice President for Student Affairs Rick Gatteau, who connected them with Shumack to assist. "There was a student need, and students advocated for that need," Shumack spoke of the two students' efforts. "As a result of that advocacy, there was a positive change." The associate dean worked with Mistry and Hegde for months to help secure a space on campus that could be repurposed for the need present.

University stakeholders, students and campus leaders gather inside the Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room during its opening ceremony.

Once the space was secured with the help of campus partners and stakeholders, USG and Student Life got to work preparing it for use. Student Life worked with other campus partners - such as Campus Planning, Design, and Construction (CPDC) and Access Control - to renovate the room by repainting the walls, cleaning the floors and adding an ID access panel for students who request use of the space. Between USG and Student Life, funds were allocated to purchase religious and decorative items, including a privacy divider, shoe rack, bell, idols, mandirs and other necessary materials.

Inside the room, students will also find prayer mats and respective religious texts for Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. However, accessibility was also considered in the room's design, so benches were added for students who may not be able to sit on the floor to pray. "We want to make sure everyone has a place to pray," Mistry said.

When the Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room officially opened its doors, an opening ceremony was held by USG and Student Life, bringing together students, faculty, staff and campus leaders who helped support the initiative. According to Mistry, the event began with a small gathering inside the prayer room, where attendees participated in a quick prayer and learned about the significance of the space. The celebration then moved to the Union Ballroom, where students enjoyed catered food from Curry Club, learned more about the space, and had the opportunity to sign up for ID access.

Students celebrate the new prayer room in the Union Ballroom with catered food.

Following the celebration, the prayer room has been regularly used by students. "It seems like the room's been in use from just word of mouth," Hegde said. "My friends have been using it, their friends have been using it, so I think it was a really huge success."

Hegde also hopes the space will help students build relationships that last throughout their time at Stony Brook. "Apart from it just being a place of worship, it can also serve as a place where me and my friend can go together," he said. "You can build connections that start from freshman year and move on for four years or however long you're here."

For students who wish to use the Dharmic Prayer and Meditation Room for their religious practices, they can request ID access to the room through the Prayer Room Access Request Form. A QR code is present on the prayer room's door for students to access this request form as well. Please note that the room capacity is limited to 14 students at a time, but the room is available for use 24 hours a day.

Hegde and Mistry also encourage any students who have feedback regarding the room to please reach out to them. "If there's anything else that Aman and I, Shui, or whoever it is in the future to take care of this space can improve upon, we're open to hearing it," Hegde said. "We'd really love to integrate different perspectives into building the space further, because that's something that Aman and I did throughout our project to get here."

- Shanell Rollon and Sean Gribbin