Source: Los Angeles Times
On April 3, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the first Interfaith Youth Conference was held at Chapman University in California on Sunday, April 2nd. Hundreds of teenagers from Orange County representing 15 different faiths attended the many lectures, workshops, and activities sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice. Participants were able to choose two workshops from a list of 10, with topics such as, "You're a What? Is It Contagious?", which dealt with non-Western religious traditions, "Eat It, Wear It, Light It," during which clothing, symbols, food, and culture from various religions were shared and discussed, and "After Death: What Happens in Your Religion?". Among the most popular sessions were a discussion on how religions are portrayed in the movies and a talk given by a Holocaust survivor. The conference was planned by a group of about 25 teenagers. Afreen Malim, a senior at Garden Grove High School who helped to organize the event, stated: "There's a lot of misconceptions about faith and culture that people carry with them just because of biases or misinformation or whatever." Todd Kirschen, also an organizer who attends Troy High School in Fullerton, CA, stated: "The thing about teens is, you can't make them feel like they're being lectured to all day long...The whole day was meant for them."