The Tuesday panel on the post-9/11 experiences of Muslim-Americans was one of many initiatives designed to reach Penn students and groups outside of the Muslim community.
Dave Sidhu, Penn alumnus and event coordinator, referred to this goal as an “uphill road.”
“Students have a lot on their plates, and there are a multitude of national subjects that occupy their minds not only in classwork,” he said. “The impetus is on us to demonstrate that this is something that deserves their attention.”
But the Muslim Students Association has planned a semester of outreach and education to capture student attention and strengthen its campus presence.
“We’re trying to make every event as open to everyone as possible. We want to work with as many groups and as many people as possible,” said College senior Mo Shahin, the MSA Islamic Education co-chairman.
And after three events this month, they are well on their way. The MSA began the semester with a New Student Orientation Chocolate Extravaganza Social, in tandem with the Penn African Students Association, Penn Arab Student Society and Penn Pakistan Society. They hosted fast-breaking dinners over Ramadan and a brunch for students who did not return home for the “Eid” holiday.
The launching of an “Islam Awareness Series” this October is a continuation of these initiatives.
“We hope that people will come to our events and hear what Islam is really about, as opposed to what they hear from the media and other people,” MSA President and Engineering senior Dara Elass said.
And in an age of Islamophobia and terrorism, the message is especially resonant. The Islam Awareness Series will include two October banquets raising awareness about the flood in Pakistan and the Uighar group, respectively. A prayer on the Green and a presentation by a realist photojournalist are also on the agenda.
These student plans are supplemented by panels and initiatives that Sidhu hopes to implement under the Civil Rights Project. Tuesday's “Nine Years Later: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in Post-9/11 America” marked the beginning of this potential initiative.
Sidhu, who is founding the project, hopes “that Penn nationally [will be] thought of as the real home for these conversations.”
The Civil Rights Project aims to offer monetary awards for student essays on the subject and hopes to publish winning essays in an online journal.
“This has to be about the students, ultimately,” Sidhu said.
And so far, it is. “It was nice to let people know: we exist, we do fun things, come meet us. This is us,” Elass said
