as'salaamu alaykum,
I hope all of you are doing well inshallah and having a restful weekend. I'm writing to you all this evening to let you know that I'll be transitioning out of my role at the Islamic Center by the end of this Summer inshallah. The last 20 years have been a great blessing alhamdulillah, but after some months of deliberation, istikhara and istishara, everything indicates that now is a good time to move on from NYU.
I am working with Jason Pina, Senior Vice President for University Life at NYU, and his staff along with members of the Islamic Center's staff to ensure a seamless transition. I'll continue to be involved in things at the IC until the end of August of this year inshallah.
Many of the things that I'll be doing are things that I've done for many years, but a lot of them will eventually become the last time I do them here on campus. I gave my first khutbah at the IC when I was 18 years old and started working here in 2005 when I was 22, about a year and half after I had completed my undergrad at NYU and started seminary studies. We had started a project to institutionalize the Islamic Center at NYU when my senior year of college began in 2003. I don't think any of us thought then that it would grow into what it has today and I'm confident that in the coming years it will continue to grow that much more inshallah.
A big part of what informs my decision is my desire to build as much as I can while I still have the time to do so. Every day we see the challenges that Muslims face and the need for stronger institutions and services. We've been able to meet a lot of our goals and objectives in ensuring the long-term stability of what we do on campus and my hope is to take what I've learned in my time here and apply it to other projects and initiatives for our community's growth inshallah.
Allah has blessed me with a lot in my life alhamdulillah and one of the blessings I've been most grateful for is the opportunity to serve a community like this one. I love each of you more than you know and am excited and committed to continue to build for us for as long as Allah allows me to do so. All I ask is for your prayers in helping to achieve that.
Barakallahu feekum - may Allah bless you and your loved ones always and continue to bless our Islamic Center at NYU. Ameen.
- Khalid
Imam Khalid Latif
University Chaplain | Global Spiritual Life at NYU
Executive Director | The Islamic Center at NYU
Senior Fellow & Co-Founder | Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership
Adjunct Associate Professor | NYU Wagner
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