Columbia University’s Bahá’í Club builds a spiritual community

By: Layli Miron 

Students at an Ivy League school face the same spiritual tests as many youth across our nation, but in an environment where personal ambition and competition are vaunted. Striving to find a higher purpose can feel like a lonely journey—unless students can connect with like-minded peers.

Ajay Mallya, a senior at Columbia University, identified as agnostic when he entered college. His family is Hindu, but Mallya did not grow up deeply immersed in Hinduism. As a teen, he attended Catholic school and found Catholicism to be intriguing. Nevertheless, Mallya felt ambivalent about religion overall. 

“I’m an applied math major who enjoys science and math. I always thought there was a huge clash between science and religion,” Mallya explains. Still, he wondered: how could his life contribute to society? 

A Bahá’í family friend encouraged him to connect with the Columbia Bahá’í Club. In 2023, he approached their booth at a student organization fair, where his classmate Hooper Markert was distributing information.

“One of the Bahá’í Club flyers was a rainbow of different prophets—progressive revelation. I was amazed to see a religion advocating for other prophets!” Mallya says.

Mallya, who says he commits to “radical open-mindedness,” appreciated the Bahá’ís’ unifying belief that all major religions emanate from the same Divine Source. “The first Bahá’í Club devotional I went to was on science and religion, their coexistence—that was also amazing to me.”

Mallya investigated the Bahá’í Faith, meanwhile growing his friendship with classmate Markert, and declared his faith in 2024. The two became roommates. Mallya credits the Bahá’í teachings with enabling him to live a more coherent life. In fact, he recently published an essay in Columbia’s Sundial magazine about how the Faith has helped him overcome careerism.

“In my own independent investigation of the faith and my career, I have begun to critically examine pre-professionalism, college life, and career choices. In stark contrast to my underclassman self, I now have confidence that God will provide a fulfilling life as long as I allow a sense of service towards humanity to guide my career,” writes Mallya in his essay, “Unlearning Careerism Through Religion.”

Mallya and Markert are now roommates.

For years, Bahá’í students at Columbia have embraced incoming community members, forming bonds of friendship along the way. Markert, now a senior, recalls that when he arrived, older Bahá’í students warmly welcomed him: “We got coffee together in my first week, and they invited me to co-animate their junior youth group—starting in two days!” These older youth accompanied Markert from the start of his time at Columbia, presenting an example of how service can remain central to the lives of college students.

For several years, the Columbia Bahá’í Club hosted a regular event called Soul Café, inviting students through email and social media to come to a nearby café, where participants would discuss religious and philosophical quotations on a theme. Attendance was low, and the few who came didn’t appear moved to further investigate Bahá’í teachings.

“We decided to try something else, a devotional where we [Bahá’í students] would show up every week and invite our friends,” says Markert. The personal invitations bore fruit: participants became curious about Bahá’í teachings, asking questions, which led the group to start studying the first book of the Ruhi Institute, “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit.”

Markert, who served as the tutor, recounts, “We had a core group of six or seven friends of the Faith showing up regularly. We really focused on being flexible, less worried about writing down every answer and more discussion oriented. We tried to be more firm about the practice components, like reading the Writings every day and hosting a devotional at the end.” The group continued on to the second book, “Arising to Serve,” and some of the friends of the Faith plan to tutor the first book.

Markert attributes the success of the study circles to several factors. Rather than relying on email and social media blasts, club members used word-of-mouth outreach to their networks. They began hosting the devotional and study circle in their homes, fostering intimacy that cultivated budding friendships. At a time during which students were grappling with heightened global suffering and campus turmoil, many were seeking a haven. 

The group centered this haven around reflection on the Bahá’í Writings. “Before every [Ruhi] Book 1, we’d say prayers together,” Markert explains. “Having the Book 1 quotes, as people had questions, we could reference things we had all collectively agreed on so everyone had a common understanding…those were especially helpful in ensuring unity.”

One of the participants is Lisa Yao, a graduate student from China who practices Buddhism. Yao says she was intrigued to learn of the Bahá’í Faith at a Chinese New Year celebration. She connected with the Bahá’í Club, and participated in Book 1 and Book 2 study circles. Yao plans to eventually tutor a Book 1 study. Through the study circles, she observed many parallels between Buddhist and Bahá’í teachings on principles such as service and love.

Yao explains, “We cook and eat together first, then study. It’s very supportive, we care for each other, and you can feel the pure energy in everyone. You just want to always study together, always improve together.”