THE BAHÁ'Í STUDENT HANDBOOK, Second Edition, 1997
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Introduction
This handbook is for Bahá'ís interested in developing and improving Bahá'í activities in universities. The experience of many Bahá'í students has demonstrated that the key to success in the university environment is a persistent, systematic and intelligent approach to presenting the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. We hope that the resource materials collected here will inspire, stimulate and encourage Bahá'ís to effectively undertake such an endeavour. This handbook attempts to lay out some ideas in order to answer the questions: Why should we have Bahá'í Society activities? What is it that we wish to achieve? Who can help? and, How can we go about organising Bahá'í Society activities? The last section is concerned with some practical aspects of Bahá'í activities in universities, which would be organised in most cases by a Bahá'í Society or College Club. It also contains some resource materials about Bahá'í scholarship, since the university environment is a forum in which the relationship between teaching and scholarship flourishes. In order to present the Bahá'í teachings in ways which students will understand and welcome, scholarship is necessary: one which correlates Bahá'í beliefs with the contemporary challenges facing humanity.

We are aware that university environments differ greatly from country to country making it difficult to generalise. The term "Bahá'í Society" is used in this handbook to refer to anything from a group of Bahá'í students studying at the same university who wish to undertake some joint activities, to an organised club which is part of the Student Union or university. Most of the material here has come from the experience of Bahá'í Societies in the United Kingdom where Bahá'í Societies have been functioning for many years. These are not hard and fast rules about how a Bahá'í Society should work, but suggestions and ideas which you may find useful, and serve to spark off ideas more applicable to your situation. As this is meant to be a handbook for Bahá'í Societies throughout Europe, we would welcome ideas and suggestions from other countries, so that the next edition of this handbook may be based on a wider European experience.

This handbook is a patchwork of materials written over many years that draws on the ingredients of successful Bahá'í activities in various universities. Some of the ideas that are contained within the Handbook arose from the first European Bahá'í Student Conference, held in January 1992 in the Czech Republic and attended by 24 delegates from 13 countries. The Department of Student Affairs of the European Bahá'í Youth Council (1992-1995) compiled and developed these materials, and convened the second European Bahá'í Student Conference in Hungary in 1995, which was attended by over 100 students representing 26 countries.

We would like to thank the members of the Department of Student Affairs of the European Bahá'í Youth Council (1992-1995), in particular Miss Jenny Semple and Mr Ian Holland, who are responsible for coordinating and editing the material for this publication.

We are also grateful to Dr Seena Fazel for preparing most of the material contained in the handbook, as well as for his valuable editorial advice along the way.

The European Bahá'í Youth Council

The Association for Bahá'í Studies (English-speaking Europe)

October 1996 

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