Muslim Students Association Founded on Campus

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Author: Alex Zeldin

A Muslim Students Association was recently formed at Occidental by students Aja Sanneh (sophomore) and Natalie Malter (sophomore) through MSA National, a religious organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses. The club is a response to a lack of an outlet for Muslim students on campus.

For Sanneh, being Muslim at Occidental proved to be quite challenging.

“There wasn’t a safe place on campus for me to talk about Islam, so I wanted to provide that for everyone in the same situation,” Sanneh said.

Malter, who works in the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL), has always thought that Occidental should have a Muslim Students Association on campus.

“I felt [the MSA] would be a really important part of campus,” Malter said. “It would be something that everyone could benefit from. Not only for students who are Muslim, but for students who want to learn about Islam as well.”

While bringing in speakers may be an option down the road, the main goal for the organization is to encourage dialogue, spread awareness of the Islamic religion and promote a safe space where both Muslim and non-Muslim students can communicate.

“In today’s society with so much Islamaphobia, there is a lot of not understanding what it is and many people automatically hate it or distrust it,” Sanneh said. “We want to dispel that and to promote dialogue as to what Islam is really about.” Sanneh felt it was very important to put a face to Islam at Occidental.

The club’s first meeting was Tuesday, Feb. 15, from 7:30-8:30 in Lower Herrick.  Both Sanneh and Malter were happy with the level of interest expressed so far and encourage anyone interested to attend the weekly meetings.

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