Student group reaches out to Muslim faculty

The group will bring together more than 20 Muslim professors Friday for an honorary dinner to build support in the Muslim community and to recognize the professors’ academic achievements.

“We’re trying to show the community that Muslim professors are amongst us, teaching and making contributions,” said Abdulahi Sufi, a business administration and prelaw junior and member of the association. “Some people don’t even know there are Muslim professors teaching them.”

He added that Muslim achievements are frequently unnoticed.

“One good example is in education. They are contributing so much, but not everyone recognizes this,” Sufi said.

Most of the professors invited to the dinner have doctorate degrees and teach in departments from engineering and science to history and religion, which breaks stereotypes about a lack of education for Muslims, said Maryam Khalil, vice president of the association.

Khalil, a journalism sophomore, added that people should know that Muslim women strive for higher education, which goes against stereotypes about Muslim women being restricted from education.

“There are female professors teaching here,” she said. “It shows that even though we’re Muslim women, we are not necessarily oppressed in our religion.”

Sufi said the association invited more than 50 Muslim professors at MSU, along with MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who will not be in attendance but will be sending video messages.

“This is a way to thank (Muslim professors) for all that they do and for enhancing the intellectual fabric of the university,” association president and human biology senior Farhan Azeez said.

Azeez said he thinks only a portion of Muslim professors on campus were identified and invited, and that there could be close to 100 in all.

“We wanted to create an awareness among the Muslim professors that there are other Muslim professors on campus,” Khalil said.

She said she hopes the dinner will create friendships and support groups among Muslim students and professors, and added that it’s especially important due to recent international events in which Muslims feel they have been threatened or discriminated against.

Eman Ahmed, an MSU associate professor of neuroscience, attended last year’s dinner and plans on attending Friday as well.

“I like to see colleagues from the same background at MSU,” Ahmed said. “It’s a good chance to get together and bond and get to know each other.”

Source: The State, MSU’s Independent