Inter-org MSA potluck bring over 100 students and several UMD clubs together

From maqluba, a traditional Levantine rice dish, to ful, a popular Sudanese and North African bean recipe, an array of cultural dishes from several ethnic clubs at UMD filled tables outside at the Nyumburu Amphitheater yesterday for the Muslim Student Association’s inter-organizational potluck and picnic. 

11 cultural organizations including the Pakistani Student Association (PSA), Egyptian Student Association (ESA) and the Palestinian Cultural Club (PCC) collaborated with the MSA for the event, which over 100 students attended.

“Events like these are very important, it brings about a community. For Muslims in the West it’s hard,” said Ibrahim Khalil, a freshman public health science major. “Having a community like this brings you closer to your religion, to your culture.” 

Yaara Aboelmagd, a junior public health major and vice president of sister’s affairs for the MSA, was excited to organize a larger event to give students a chance to connect with different cultures.

 “We do inter-org events during Ramadan too, but we thought it would be fun to do at the beginning of the school year as well to help people meet each other and connect,” Aboelmagd said. 

Students who attended noted that the event was an opportunity to hang out, meet new people and try different cultural foods for the first time.  

Yusra Yousef, a senior psychology major, was excited to come out to the event with her friends and try new food. 

“I’ve gone to some of the Pakistani and MSA events before, so I was looking forward to coming out here today with my friends. I got to try a lot of different food which was also really fun,” she said. 

While the event was hosted by the MSA, multiple other organizations participated in partnering and helping out. Each organization involved was to bring at least one cultural dish or dessert to showcase their organization’s ethnic food.

Mahad Bhinder, a sophomore neurobiology and events coordinator for the Pakistani Student Association, said he enjoyed the opportunity to network with other cultural organizations.

 “It’s always helpful to learn from others,” he said. “It gives us more insight on what we can do in our own organization too.”

Zain Khaliq contributed to reporting this story.

_{Image credits: Cover photo by Safiyah Fatima/Al-Hikmah Staff.}