December 11, 2015 - 11:04
I learned much more about the Muslim community at Bryn Mawr than I ever thought I would with my project. Both the archival work I researched at Special Collections and the current perspectives I gained through interviews truly gave me an insight I didn’t expect to find. In class, I was able to share a lot of the historical aspects of my project during the presentation, but I just barely touched on the current students’ testimonies due to the time crunch. I interviewed five different students and gave them each a fake name to keep confidentiality.
Sana
Although she normally wears hijab (veil/head covering), Sana takes her hijab off for zumba class because there are no men around, and zumba involves a lot of working out and sweating. The class went fine, but as she was putting her hijab back on after class, an older McBride Scholar approached her. The McBride asked, “Are you forced to wear hijab? I’m not okay with that. You’re oppressed.” In her interview with me, Sana tried explaining what it was about that statement that made her feel so small and degraded. She wears hijab out of choice and is immensely proud of it, and she hated the way that student seemed to already have her mind made up about her. Perhaps the student was well-intentioned, but her words did not come across as friendly. Sana went on to explain how she speaks a lot in class -- both because she wants to speak and has a lot to say, but also because she feels a constant need to prove that she’s not oppressed, in any sense of the word. “People have really different misconceptions on Muslims, but they don’t say anything out loud because it’s Bryn Mawr.”
Marwa
As a Muslim, Marwa feels inconvenienced for a number of reasons at Bryn Mawr. Prayer times always conflict with her classes, the food in the dining hall is not halal, and the general way of life built at Bryn Mawr doesn’t allow for Muslims. She says, “Religious life at Bryn Mawr is parallel to where the religious life buildings are located on campus. Far away, and on the edge of campus.” She related an incident that took place a couple years ago, in which hateful anti-Muslim ads were put up by SEPTA. Muslims and non-Muslims in Philadelphia and elsewhere were upset by these problematic ads, so Haverford held an Islamaphobia panel on campus in response to these ads. However, Bryn Mawr took no action. Marwa said, “I was saddened that a similar conversation did not take place at Bryn Mawr, but I was not entirely surprised. Conversations about perceptions of Muslims within the campus community rarely occur. Events locally and abroad often bring Islam under scrutiny, but these events, and the religion itself, receive little attention on campus. Either out of fear of causing offense or fear of sounding uninformed, the campus leaves such subjects untouched.”
Farhin
Farhin believes there is a disconnect between Muslims and the rest of campus. As someone who wears full abaya and hijab, she can feel that there is judging going on when people see her. People don’t say anything outwardly to her, but they look at her and feel intimidated. She told me that she often feels lonely, because people don’t bother talking to her. “When you dress like me, people put you in a particular box in their head.” Like Sana, Farhin tries to speak up and put herself out there in class as much as possible to try breaking stereotypes. As I mentioned the common misconception that Islam “oppresses” people, Farhin laughed. “Are you kidding? I’ve been the leader for an on-campus initiative that protects food from being thrown out at the dining hall, and actually gets distributed to people who need it in the urban Philadelphia community. Islam taught me to save food, Islam taught me to be a leader and make the connection between a need and solution. I’m not oppressed in any sense of the word. If anything, I’m empowered.”
Amna
Amna doesn’t wear hijab, so there is no reason to believe she is Muslim based solely off her outward appearance. She suspects this is the reason no one has ever discriminated against her in any outrageous way. However, she has had many negative experiences surrounding alcohol and the fact that she doesn’t drink. “A lot of times when I mention to my friends that I don’t drink, I get a look of surprise and disbelief. Oftentimes, they laugh or don’t believe me, which is really upsetting, because I am telling the truth, and I wish they could believe me and respect that.” In this way, she has felt certain degrees of ignorance, disrespect, and intolerance from other students. “Many people here don’t know much about or haven’t interacted much with Islam, so I feel that the best way to combat that is to ask more questions. Honestly, I’d be so willing to answer anything and increase awareness. I’d much prefer that than people silently passing judgement towards me.”
Hamna
Although she is an extremely active member of the Muslim Students’ Association and an ex-board member of the club, Hamna struggles with trying to decide whether or not she should list it as an activity on her resumé due to the potential of discrimination. “I hate that I feel like I have to hide such an integral part of my identity.” I personally struggled with this question myself when applying for college, and didn’t know if my religion was something I ought to list.
From these interviews, to the 9/11 Bi-Co News articles, to the 1976 reports on Islamic Studies, I think there’s a lot to be learned. It’s clear that religious life is something Bryn Mawr hardly talks about as a community. Yet studying the struggles of Muslim women in the context of Bryn Mawr is a rare type of opportunity. We like to promote ourselves as a very liberal, progressive, and tolerant school. But the chapter we read from Jody and Anne’s book earlier this semester might make us reconsider. When reading about the complex set of reactions on campus after 9/11, I couldn’t help think of slippage, where a person might harbor some discrimination hidden within that they aren’t even aware of themselves. We also maintain silence on issues pertaining to Muslims and religion in general -- but by refusing to talk, we take a step backwards in the path toward our individual development. Colleges concentrate a lot on keeping the classroom a “safe space.” But there are ways to do this while also addressing challenging issues. If we just shelter all our students from having difficult conversations, there is no longer a learning process. A student I interviewed almost perfectly pinned this challenge, stating, “We must encourage discussion that is productive but not vindictive and teach students to handle sensitive issues with respect and honesty—in the classroom and beyond.” For me, this was the biggest takeaway in my research and I hope the class could take away a similar concept. As for carrying my research forward, I have already made an appointment with Vanessa Christman at the Pensby Center to discuss what accommodations Bryn Mawr has made for Muslims in the status quo, as well as explore what Muslim alumni of Bryn Mawr have gone on to do in their lives. I also wanted to get a clearer understanding of the history of Bryn Mawr’s Muslim Students’ Association (MSA). While researching for this project, I heard lots of contradictory dates and numbers through word of mouth about when the MSA was founded, when it stopped being Bi-Co, how many students were in the club, and more. But because I couldn’t find legitimate records and historical data about the MSA, I decided to keep most of it out of my project. But this is still an area I’d like to explore if I were to further my project.
Below are more excerpts from the 9/11 editions of the Bi-Co News in 2001. These were originally part of my presentation as well, but we ran out of time before I could show them.
The other projects were really fascinating to me. The project on clothing showed interesting intersections between clothing and socioeconomic class. It even made me look at my own clothes and wonder what “category” I am seen as from the outside. Am I subconsciously trying to make myself look a certain way without realizing? Am I trying to represent myself in a certain way with clothing? The project on dining hall and wages were of similar interest to me. As someone who works both in Erdman and the Payroll Office, I definitely see first-hand how different campus jobs are from working in the dining halls. The project on gender at Bryn Mawr was insightful for me, as someone who isn’t well-versed in the various ways people may identify themselves. The discussion we had of Bryn Mawr’s title as a “historically women’s school” was very necessary. I wonder now if trans men feel uncomfortable or upset with Bryn Mawr’s title as a women’s school, and wonder if that had anything to do with their desire to attend Bryn Mawr.