David Price: “I wish to introduce to my colleagues my distinguished constituent and today's guest chaplain, Imam Abdullah Antepli. I…”

“I wish to introduce to my colleagues my distinguished constituent and today's guest chaplain, Imam Abdullah Antepli. I also want to welcome in the gallery our many guests from the Duke University community, the Muslim community, the Turkish community, both from the triangle area of North Carolina and from the Washington area. Imam Antepli has a long and distinguished record of faith-based and humanitarian service in countries ranging from his native Turkey to the Southeastern Asian nations of Burma and Malaysia. Since moving to the United States in 2003, he has been a true pioneer in the field of Muslim campus ministry, serving as the first Muslim chaplain at Wesleyan University and as the founding member of the Muslim Chaplains Association. He later served at Hartford Seminary, where he completed his doctorate on the challenges and opportunities facing the Muslim campus ministry in the United States. In July 2008, he came to Duke University to serve as the school's first full-time Muslim chaplain. Although he has been on campus less than 2 years, he has made an enormous impact on the university community. His role is obviously to facilitate worship and study for the school's Muslim students, but he has taken on much more than that. He counsels students of all faiths, fosters understanding of the Muslim faith, and is much in demand as a speaker and a participant in a variety of community events.”