Tag: Community
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Leena Davis reflects on MSA presidency
The UMD MSA was founded in 1969, according to its website, and has had approximately 56 presidents to date. Only two of them have been women, making up less than 4% of the organization’s leadership across its history. Leena Davis became one of those two women when she was elected MSA president for the 2024-2025…
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“We stand in firm solidarity”: Boycott Israel Fest in photos
Enclosed in a circular frame of silver fences, students and faculty stood side-by-side in Hornbake Plaza for a counter-demonstration against the annual “Israel Fest” on May 6. The protest, hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), called for the campus community to boycott the festival, referring to it as a celebration of a settler…
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MSA bazaar showcases small businesses, student talent
Dozens of students gathered in the Nyumburu basement on Thursday, May 8 for the MSA’s bazaar event, during which students and organizations displayed their businesses, crafts, or services. Leena Davis, a senior agricultural and resource economics major and president of the MSA, was inspired to organize the event by her longtime love of arts and…
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New Muslim club sparks mental health conversations amongst community
To create a space for Muslim students and others to discuss mental health through cultural and religious lenses, Maha Idsassi and Yusra Umer co-founded the club Noor On My Mind (NOMM). “As a Muslim student, I am passionate about my faith, but I feel like when we talk about Islam and mental health together we…
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Uyghur students speak out about China’s genocide, building community in US
Over hundreds of thousands of Muslims are imprisoned in China’s concentration camps, according to Amnesty International. Among them is Hadija Yahya’s uncles, whom she has never been able to contact. “We don’t have any relatives in the US,” the freshman biology major, who is of Uyghur descent, said. “My uncles are in concentration camps.” Who…
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Palestinian Cultural Club: building community through culture
In an effort to gather Palestinian students on campus and educate the UMD community about Palestinian culture, Sarah Edwan came up with the idea of the Palestinian Cultural Club, also known as PCC. Edwan, whose family hails from Gaza, founded the student organization last semester with the motto of building community through culture. “I wanted…
Al-Hikmah 