The Revival of the Muslim Student Association

By SYDNI ZIDAREVICH Justice, Equity, and Diversity Beat Reporter

After two years, the Muslim Student Association is now back in full swing at Oregon State University.

Like many clubs and organizations, the MSA pushed to work through the trials and tribulations that COVID-19 presented by doing periodic Zoom meetings, which consisted of five to six members, typically officers of the MSA. Eventually, due to the inability to gather and organize events as frequently, as well as the president at the time graduating, the MSA dissolved.

“I was interested in getting that community again,”said junior, and now President of MSA, Fatima Yassir Rashid.

Rashid began the process of reviving the club during spring of 2022 by reaching out to the former MSA President, Sadia Hasan for guidance on how to begin the club again.

their term as the university’s student-run government association president and vice president.

“I’m really proud of how strong our (executive) team has been this year and am glad we were able to contribute to past years successes by seeing through wage increases for every fee funded unit,” Paola said.

Paola mentions being proud of being able to push the reforms for the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center, now Center for Advocacy Prevention and Education during his time as an ASOSU representative and working with others from last year’s executive administration.

SARC and the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Team have joined together to form the CAPE. CAPE will operate through a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach to provide a continuum of programs and services designed to prevent interpersonal and gender-based violence and to support survivors.

“This job is so insanely varied, it’s kind of hard to pick a single aspect. But the ability to hire and manage a staff of over 14 incredibly dedicated students has definitely been a challenge but one of the aspects I’m most grateful I had the opportunity to experience,” Paola said.

A favorite project during his term was the World Heart Rhythms event which was primarily planned by their international and cultural coordinator Jojo Namuddu and this event into a early ASOSU tradition.

Paola hopes he next ASOSU president is as committed as him to student workers and student basic needs as the past ASOSU administrators have been. He also hopes to see a continued push for higher student worker wages and increased worker benefits.

According to Paola, he wishes he had the capacity this year to unionize student workers — just like University of Oregon’s student government has been doing — but hopes to see ASOSU work towards that in the future. UO’s student government is working to support a unionization movement on their campus.

For the next president, Paola advises to lean on other leaders for support and collaborate with other student body presidents.

According to Paola, the position can be incredibly rewarding but can also be very isolating due to having back-to-back meetings from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

On top of managing a full course load, Paola said the position can be very daunting. But there are very few other positions on campus that come with the privileges and challenges associated with the work. So for Paola, it has been really helpful to build relationships with presidents at other Oregon universities and PAC-12 schools.

“I chose to run cause during my lier in the house resentatives I actually achieve gible change, and ed to spend my lives of students,” advises the next vice president sure they how to delegate and not to overwhelm themselves. She initially ran for vice president so she could better represent groups that she’s a part of like performing arts and the LGBTQ+ community.

As ASOSU president, there are many times when you will be the sole student voice in the room for important university decisions and committees, so you must view your job primarily as a way to elevate the concerns of other students.

As someone who comes from a more privileged background, Paola realizes his experience is far different than many. The concerns of students who are struggling more than him are incredibly relevant and need representation in those rooms and meetings where they rarely have a voice.

“I am happy we were able to raise student wages, max working hours, and a few other things. I plan to do as much as I can in the time that I have left, more can always be done, but I am happy we’ve been able to continue pushing for important change for students so far,” Paola said.

JASON MAY | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Vice President of ASOSU Sierra Young (left) and President of ASOSU Matteo Paola outside Austin Hall during their campaign on Feb. 24, 2022. “I plan to do as much as I can in the time that I have left, more can always be done, but I am happy we’ve been able to continue pushing for important change for students so far,” Paola said.

Community Service

Continued from PAGE 2 projects such as preparing and serving meals and assembling wellness kits.

Another opportunity will be for students to travel to Ashland, Oregon to learn about the pressing environmental conservation and restoration issues in the area. For a week, students will enjoy a hands-on experience working on service projects that may include creek restoration, planting native species, mulching, invasive species removal and other environmental restoration and conservation projects.

Students will be learning from local environmental leaders about impacting threats and factors on natural habitats and ecosystems. There will also be a focus on sustainability, renewable energy and waste reduction.

A third alternative spring break opportunity for students will be the immersion into the communities of Yakima Valley, Washington. There they will stay for a week learning about the impact of land acquisition, settler colonization and immigration.

The focus will be on the experiences of the Yakama Nation, Filipino-Americans, the Latino/a/x community and undocumented migrant workers and their families.

Students will also work with individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity, economic disparities, food insecurity, influences of agriculture and environmental justice.

Hulbert, who led the Yakima trip last year, said some activities were particularly powerful.

“We sat on a hillside examining the Treaty that was written when much of the land was forcibly removed from different Indigenous communities. We also shared meals with community partners who told us parts of their stories, and we went and did projects with them to better understand what led to their work on social causes,” Hulbert said.

Hulbert also said that one of the ways they were able to help and give back to the community was by building a wheelchair ramp onto the home of a member of the Yakama Nation so she could be approved to come home from the hospital.

“She gave me some tips and some information to the social media, the Muslim Student Association account on Ideologic,” Rashid said. “And she was like, ‘Okay, the club is yours. Do what you gotta do.’”

From here, Rashid posted on her Instagram, asking if anyone was interested in starting the MSA with her. She received a few responses, which then allowed for them to begin initial planning.

“I talked to our now Vice President, his name is Abdula. We had our first meeting and said, ‘What are we going to do?’” Rashid said. “We just outlined our plan and we didn’t really get events starting until, I believe week six of fall term.”

Rashid, who is originally from Illinois, said that finding a Muslim community when she first moved to Oregon was difficult, not even knowing if there was a Muslim community to join.

“Coming to OSU, trying to find that community was very crucial to me,” Rashid said. “Especially because these are people we can connect with, these are people with shared beliefs and we can definitely make more connections and friends that way.”

Rashid and members of the MSA are excited to be back and operating at the university and hope to see communities outside of OSU, and throughout the state of Oregon, incorporate their own MSA and create resources for those who might be interested in Islam or want to be better educated about Islam.

“I think, especially being a Muslim in America, that’s already a difficult place for some people to connect to,” Rashid said. “Having people that you know and are with you that understand you, especially in Oregon, which…I didn’t find super diverse when I first came here.”

Community is an important aspect of the club, especially as Ramadan approaches in March.

“Ramadan is a month of the Islamic calendar where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days,” said MSA Officer and Media Liaison, Anisa Ali. “The purpose

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To participate in the Alternative Break program, there is a $200 program fee that includes transportation from the OSU campus to the program location and back, lodging in shared and communal housing, 7 dinners–6 prepared by the team and 1 dinner out together–as well as 2 dinners provided at send off, food staples for preparing breakfast, lunch and travel meals.

However, OSU believes no student should be excluded from participation due to financial barriers, and is offering program fee waivers.

Students can go to https://cel.oregonstate.edu/students/altbreaks for additional details. The deadline to apply is March 3rd and students can find Olivia Hulbert under the contact information if they have any questions about t he program.

According to Hulbert, the Alternative Break program is one where students can gain personal growth while expanding their understanding of both history and the realities of today.

“It is an experience that is beautiful and challenging and really worth it,” Hulbert said.