UConn students are participating in these academic programs but are also working to better understand Middle East issues using their own form of diplomacy \u2013 getting together to talk and socialize.<\/p>\n
While dialogue at UConn among students with Middle East heritage \u2013 whether through religion or nationality \u2013 has occurred for many years, the killing in February of three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and remarks earlier this month about the qualifications of a student affiliated with Jewish groups for a judicial board position at UCLA have added to the dialogue.<\/p>\n
Just prior to those two events, UConn Hillel invited members of other student organizations, including the Muslim Student Association (MSA), to its annual Avi Shabbat dinner. The event is a communal meal that serves as a catalyst to discuss awareness of issues related to Israel on college campuses that honors the memory of Avi Schaefer, a former Israeli soldier who worked to pursue peace in the Middle East while enrolled as a student at Brown University, where he was killed by a drunk driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no real politics [discussed], just students talking with students,\u201d says Dan Saxon \u201917 (CLAS), an economics major who leads UConn Hillel. \u201cThat started the ball rolling. MSA subsequently reached out to us when the Chapel Hill situation unfortunately occurred and asked us to attend a vigil at Laurel Hall and at the Islamic Center.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samir Chaudhry \u201916 (CLAS), a biology major and president of MSA, says students from both organizations have continued to get together socially at Hillel or the Islamic Center, which hosts a weekly social gathering known as Halaqah, where guests can learn more about Islam.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have gatherings on Thursday night, the Halaqah. It creates the kind of community we try to build,\u201d Chaudhry says. \u201cIt\u2019s so easy to build a community when you have everyone at one place at the same time and in the same dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t have a conversation with someone you disagree with now, how are you going to have a conversation with the person next to your engineering cubicle or at the school you are teaching in? It all starts within these walls and within this community. — Gary Wolff<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Daniel Weiner, vice provost for global affairs, says Hillel, MSA, and students in other organizations on campus are realizing the kind of \u201chealthy dialogue\u201d intended by the existing and planned academic programs developed by the University that are focused on global concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cJewish and Muslim students at the University of Connecticut are talking with each other, learning about each other, developing friendships and communicating about a range of issues. This is a healthy process that we are very proud to support,\u201d says Weiner. \u201cI am also gratified that UConn is a place where difficult conversations about the Israel-Palestine conflict are taking place. This is made possible by our faculty, staff, and students who embrace critical thinking and are not threatened by ideas and political perspectives that they may not support. We are listening and learning from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gary Wolff, executive director of Hillel, says he hopes students leave UConn with a greater understanding of how to live and work in an increasingly diverse world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you graduate, you\u2019re going to enter a workplace that is diverse,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you can\u2019t have a conversation with someone you disagree with now, how are you going to have a conversation with the person next to your engineering cubicle or at the school you are teaching in? It all starts within these walls and within this community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reda A. Ammar, professor of computer science and engineering, is the faculty advisor to MSA, was a member of the committee that developed the minor in Middle East Studies, and serves as director of global engagement in the School of Engineering. He continues to work on developing exchange programs that bring faculty as well as students from the Middle East to Storrs, helping to deepen understanding of issues in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcademics who come here to study go back and become our ambassadors,\u201d he says. \u201cTheir interaction with their classmates builds friendships; we sometimes forget about that dimension. They bring their cultures and behaviors so we know each other. That\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ammar says UConn recently hosted the vice rector for development at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca, one of the most prestigious universities in Saudi Arabia, to discuss establishing a training program for students in Storrs; and is working with Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, an all-female university in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, to set up a summer program for students to gain field experience and learn English through UConn\u2019s English as a Second Language program.<\/p>\n
Chaudhry relates a story that illustrates how students are finding their own way to better understand issues in the Middle East. He recently called another MSA leader to find out where to meet before they had to attend a meeting, expecting the location would be the Islamic Center.<\/p>\n
Says Chaudhry, \u201cHe told me to pick him up at Hillel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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