The Diversity Activities Board kicked off its first semester at St. Thomas with an open house to celebrate the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha on Sept. 15, continuing the conversation on interfaith relations and making Muslim students feel welcomed at a Catholic university.
Eid al-Adha, Arabic for Festival of the Sacrifice, is a four-day celebration that began on Sept. 11 and wrapped up on Sept. 15. The Discover Islam event was a way celebrate this major holiday for St. Thomas students, said DAB adviser Othman Zeimi.
“The Eid al-Adha, which is a rough equivalent of Christmas in Islam, is a huge event that is happening that is important for Muslim students,” Zeimi said. “The Muslim Student Association and the Saudi Club have both created events around this, but St. Thomas itself has almost never done something around this event, so we wanted to give a chance for St. Thomas to celebrate.”
The event was also an interactive way to introduce students to the new location of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center and the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, which has now combined into one location at 2057 Portland Ave. and been renamed the Centers for Interreligious Understanding.
Dominic Longo, the director of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center, was excited to get students acquainted with the new location.
“We wanted to have a couple of events to introduce the whole university community to our new space,” Longo said. “We are very excited to have this new Diversity Activities Board as a natural partner for the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center because this space is really designed for students to make use of and to feel welcome at.”
The event featured educational posters about Islam, Middle-Eastern appetizers and live Arabic music. The band Amwaj, meaning waves in Arabic, is a music ensemble that travels around the Twin Cities playing traditional music. Posters featuring common topics and questions regarding Islam such as the Quran and the five pillars lined the walls, opening up discussion and creating a natural flow throughout the house acting as a self-guided tour.
Longo has long-term plans for the posters to continue the dialogue about Islamic culture.
“I have ideas for them to travel to church congregations and public high schools, like maybe before a speaker from St. Thomas or a Muslim resource group goes to a school or a church to talk, maybe these posters are displayed there for a week first,” Longo said. “It’s kind of a low key way for Islamic education to happen.”
Junior Diana Nguyen, who attended the event, was excited to gain a new perspective and further educate herself on a new faith.
“I always like to learn about other faiths,” Nguyen said. “Right now I’m in Theology 101 so I thought it would be interesting, since we’re learning about Bible creation stories, to learn about Islam as well.”
This first-ever DAB event was run by three advisers representing Diversity & Inclusion Services, the Office of International Students & Scholars, Campus Life and six student interns.
“We represent three different offices that have a stake in making sure these programs happen,” Zeimi said. “We also share our experiences. Our role is to guide the students.”
The goal of DAB is to educate, engage and enrich students on social justice and inclusion. Senior Emma Kopp, programming intern for DAB, explained how they want to reach the student body.
“I think it’s really important in creating students who are well-versed in the world and good leaders, because that’s a goal at St. Thomas, to advance the common good,” Kopp said. “I believe that we are doing that by providing events that wouldn’t usually exist on campus.”
A complete list of upcoming DAB events can be found on its website.
Mary Brickner can be reached at bric0029@stthomas.edu