Community News (V12-I7)

Ivy Muslim students conference held

Muslim students from top universities gathered at Yale last weekend for the first Muslim Ivy conference. About 120 delegates from each Ivy League school attended, with 30 delegates from Yale.

The conference was the brainchild of Omer Bajwa, the Coordinator of Muslim Life on campus. The Yale MSA worked in conjunction with the University Chaplain’s Office to organize the event.

The conference began Saturday with a Dhuhr prayers and addresses by Bajwa, Tariq Mahmoud ’11 president of the Yale Muslim Students Association, and University Chaplain Sharon Kugler. Throughout that day and the next, students attended panels and small group discussions on topics including post-graduate experiences, gender dynamics, campus activism, community activism and life as a Muslim-American.

Hamid said that because this conference was largely organized by the Yale chapter of MSA, he thinks more inter-Ivy League collaboration would greatly improve future events.

The Yale MSA, which has around 200 members, kicked off Islamic Awareness Month at Yale with a meet and greet with members and guests on Friday.

Mosques offer reward for leads in Muslim man’s death

CHESTER, PA– Philadelphia area mosques are offering a $5,000 reward for information that they hope will lead police to the killer of a local Muslim man.
Abulaash Ansari, 57, a much respected community member, was shot and killed on Dec. 12.

Chester police say that the investigation is ongoing and that there is a person of interest.

“There were some domestic issues that took place prior to the shooting,” said Darren Alston, deputy chief of police. “We can’t say for sure whether that is connected or not.”

Ansari was a familiar face in Chester. A native of Ahmadabad, India, he moved to the United States about 20 years ago with his four children.

An electrician, he often worked for free on projects at his mosque.

Discrimination lawsuit against Illinois college dismissed

BENTON,IL– A federal judge has dismissed  a lawsuit against a southern Illinois college by an administrator who claimed he was passed over for the school’s presidency because he’s an Iraq native and Muslim.

U.S. District Judge David Herndon dismissed Salah Shakir’s lawsuit against Rend Lake College on Monday in Benton.

Herndon ruled that Shakir lacks evidence supporting his contention that he was discriminated against. He was the college’s vice president of information technology, but he wasn’t hired to fill a vacancy in the college’s presidency.

Free dinner-lecture on Islam at Western

KALAMAZOO–Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah will discuss similarities among the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths during the semiannual installment of a free dinner-lecture series sponsored by the Muslim Students Association of Western Michigan University.

In addition to the keynote address, “One God, Many Names: Muslims, Christians and Jews all Call Upon the Same God,” the evening includes a multicultural dinner and multiethnic exhibition. Events begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, in the Bernhard Center Ballroom.

The dinner-lecture is open to the public free of charge, but reservations are required. They must be made online at www.rso.wmich.edu/msa by Wednesday, Feb. 17. The popular event typically attracts capacity attendance, and those wishing to attend are encouraged to register early. A waiting list will be maintained for late registrants.

The Muslim Students Association, in collaboration with the Arab Student Association, sponsors the dinner-lecture series once each fall and spring semester.

For more information, visit WMU’s Muslim Student Associationonline, or contact Samira Shammas at rso_msa@wmich.edu.

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