Robert Mann is a Professor and Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University. He is the Director of Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, Louisina State University. He served as communications director to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. He is a political columnist for the New Orleans-Times Picayune | NOLA.com.

“I have to say that I am almost overwhelmed when I think of Hizmet and what it means to me, what it means to the people of Turkey, what it means to this community in Baton Rouge and to the world. It’s really been something that’s changed my life. Changed my view of the world, influenced my view of people, to see an organization, a group of Muslims who believe deeply in dialog with the West, with Christians, with Jews, with people of other faiths, who reach out in such a compassionate way to build those bridges across our cultures and across our religious beliefs.”

“I have to say that I consider myself a member of the Movement. I’m a follower of his. I greatly admire what he does, what he teaches. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for people who are motivated by his teachings and are inspired by his teachings to do what they do, in service, education, dialog, interfaith dialog. We need more people like him in this world. We need more people encouraging people of all faiths to get together and talk.”

“Hizmet, I think has done a lot. It’s hard to say, it’s hard to choose one thing, but I think for me it has been the interfaith dialog, it has been cultural, building those cultural bridges, encouraging people of different faiths, different backgrounds to talk to one another, get to know each other in a deeper, almost spiritual way. He’s done a lot in education, he’s certainly done a lot in a lot of other areas of service, helping people in need, and his Movement has changed a lot of lives.”