The series is held by the Islamic Society of Stanford University in California, (ISSU) and the Muslim student awareness network (MSAN) every year, the Stanford Daily reported.
In the last few weeks, the groups have held a comedy show, a spoken word performance and panels on women’s issues in Islam and how to create safe spaces.
Other event included an interfaith Friday prayer and lunch open to the whole community on May 8. A panel in which converts to Islam will discuss their Muslim identities will be held on May 15. Another panel on Islamophobia in America is still on work.
“I think not too many people are familiar with what it’s like to be Muslim American, or even a lot of the things that affect the Muslim world and the people that live there,” said El-Gabalawy, a member of both groups.
For Kate Bridges-Lyman MA ’15, the ISSU Vice President, the most important thing about the series is getting people from the broader Stanford community to come to ISSU and MSAN events.
In another effort to improve the experience of the Muslim community on campus, the ISSU is pushing for the Office for Religious Life to hire a Muslim spiritual leader, Bridges-Lyman said.
“I think that having an actual Muslim chaplain is something that’s really important to help Muslim students with religion-specific questions, like, what does the Qur’an say about this, or how do I deal with Islamophobia those are issues that people outside the faith might not have a lot of insight into,” Bridges-Lyman said.
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