Pass the torch. It’s a mantra that describes the mission of Fadlullah Firman, the president of the Muslim Student Association of KU. Fiman is in his final days in office as president and he is optimistic about the success of the group when he steps down at the end of the year.
Over the year the executive board of the MSA meets every two weeks to discuss the direction of the group and to brainstorm ideas for events. Two of the main events the MSA sponsors are the “Fast-A-Thon” and Islam Awareness Week. Firman said that the group struggled when it came to lining up speakers to headline events and meetings.
“We are still in the learning process when trying to book speakers,” Firman said.
But Firman has learned a lot over the last year about how to effectively run a student group. Especially when it comes to passing on the leadership responsibilities. The MSA nominates their leadership from a group of students who have been deeply involved in the clubs activities over the year.
“We’re able to involve more people and create more leadership with the freshman and sophomore members,” Firman said.
Part of passing the torch involves getting younger members involved in sub-committees for the events the MSA hosts. Firman said that this was the first year the MSA was able to utilize funds from student senate to help them get their message out to campus.
Firman said that this year about 200 people attended their flagship event, Islam Awareness Week. While that number is short of what the group had hoped for, Firman was still happy with the turnout.
“It could have gone better,” Firman said, “but we’re satisfied.”
Firman said that during weekly Halaqah meetings, or circle of Islamic knowledge meetings, Muslim students discuss their own faith and find ways to support each other when fasting or praying.
The group works closely with other organizations around campus and around Lawrence. Firman said over the past year they teamed up with KU Hillel and Amnesty International as well as the Lawrence Open Shelter. But Firman admitted MSA needs to change it’s routine to increase student participation.
“We’ve been doing the same things for the past three years,” Firman said. “We need people set in place; to get someone to sit on Student Senate and spice things up.”
Firman said that the group doesn’t exist to directly fight racism, but their strategy of educating people about their faith seems to be paying off. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported 8,804 hate crimes nation wide in 2005. Religious communities suffered 1,405 times at the hands of hate; people of Islamic faith shared 10.7 percent of the cases. But, the University of Kansas department of Human Resouces and Equal Opportunity reported no incidences of anti-Islamic racism.
“If there is any racism we hope to tarnish it through education and information,” Firman said. “Hate grows because of ignorance and misconceptions. Most of the time people’s opinions can be altered.”
Firman’s group attempts to show the community that students who practice Islam are just normal people here at the University for an education. Giving educational seminars and exposing the community to what Islam means to Muslims is ultimately what MSA is all about.
“It’s important to give them a first-hand experience in what it means to be a Muslim,” Firman said.
And it would appear that their approach to sharing that experience is catching on around campus. Ola Faucher, director of the department of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, has taken notice of the group on campus.
“I think their PR has been as successful as other groups on campus,” Faucher said.
The University’s Human Resources department is one of the offices that provide diversity training to faculty and staff. She thinks that for a Midwestern school the university is doing well in supporting diversity and encouraging multiculturalism.
“The University values diversity,” she said. “We can’t let our world be restricted by the borders of Kansas.”
The MSA also gets some help from the Multicultural Resource Center on campus. Santos Nunez, the program director, said that the MRC has worked closely with Firman’s group. The MRC has invited the Muslim Student Association to be a part of their diversity dialogues series and their brown bag discussions. The MRC also offers multicultural education training to help students and faculty understand a variety of cultural groups.
“Our goal is to promote cultural diversity and to promote cultural awareness,” Nunez said.
Nunez said that when she has worked with the MSA their leadership has been “excellent.”
When Firman steps aside as president he is confident that the group’s new leadership will be able to work hard to meet their goals of having monthly speakers at meetings, get a MSA member elected to Student senate and to increase attendance at events like Islam Awareness Week.