Diego de los Rios ’06 (left) is studying a worldwide religious movement based around an Indian teacher named Sathya Sai Baba. He first noticed the movement in his hometown of Bogota, Colombia, during dinner at a friend’s house.

“I had this idea of Colombia being Catholic and they were Catholic, but they also had pictures of Sai Baba everywhere,” he says.

The Religious Studies, Psychology, and Sociology triple major was inspired to study the Hindu revitalization movement’s dynamics of recruitment and organization in Colombia and its broader global implications. Through a Research and Creativity Grant, de los Rios was able to travel to Columbia in order to conduct interviews with Sai Baba’s followers.

“Many believers think Sai Baba is God, and that everyone has a little God inside them, but don’t realize it,” says de los Rios. “Every person has a divine power, and when you realize it you feel more responsible for the world, and you’re kinder.”

Sai Baba restates Hindu and other religious beliefs, although his followers don’t have to subscribe to any particular religion to follow his teachings.