Letter from the President P Dea r F ri en d s an d S u pport e r s : Salam alaykum. We have lived through another year under the lingering cloud of a pandemic that has been woeful and wearying for many. Yet we are asked as believers to see the light that shines amidst the darkness of adversities as the Qur’an reminds us: “Surely with hardship comes ease; surely with hardship comes ease” (94:5–6).
implementation of technology, safety, and social measures to reinstate in-person learning in 2021. As we continue to grow and strategically plan for the future, we will take heed of their recommendations for greater capacity in personnel, more diversified revenue streams, stronger disability accommodation practices, and increased measures of student learning.
By the grace of God, we have witnessed this ease at Zaytuna College as we reopened our campus in August and students once again arrived to study and learn with our faculty in the classrooms, albeit with the requisite precautions for health and safety. That is only one of many gratifying openings God the Generous blessed us with. As a result, we look to the future of Zaytuna College with hope and optimism.
Meanwhile, our public engagement and education initiatives have had a productive year, with the Emir-Stein Center continuing to produce videos dispelling ignorance and misunderstandings about Islam. In 2021, the Center produced seven new videos, and its videos have received nearly 12 million views since its inception.
“In October, we had a successful visit from a team representing the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) to assess our progress in implementing their recommendations from 2019, when they had reaffirmed our accreditation for eight years.”
We welcomed a new freshman class to Berkeley, one of the most distinguished classes to date in terms of preparation and qualifications, and we bid an online farewell to graduates of both the MA and the BA programs last May. Meanwhile, our alumni who chose to pursue graduate study elsewhere are thriving at major universities such as Oxford, Georgetown, Harvard, University of Chicago, University of Texas, and Rochester Medical School.
Our journal Renovatio—which publishes original work inspired by the philosophical and ethical traditions of the great world religions, especially Islam—had its most productive year yet, nearly doubling its archive on the website in 2021 to almost two hundred pieces. It also released a major seven-part series of conversations with scholars and writers on the Seven Deadly Sins entitled, “One Is Enough to Kill You.”
In October, we had a successful visit from a team representing the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) to assess our progress in implementing their recommendations from 2019, when they had reaffirmed our accreditation for eight years. Every WASC review results in commendations and recommendations, and the commendations on the improvements made in the past two years were heartening: more efficient management, more effective fundraising, faculty expansion, increased student support, upgraded recruitment, refined student assessment mechanisms, an almost seamless transition to online learning in 2020, and a holistic
We were delighted by the warm response from the community to the programs we hosted during the blessed month of Rabi’ al-Awwal on the teachings and the biographical study of Prophet Muhammad s. On the operational side, we have been blessed with some extraordinary new additions to our staff, 5
