"I realized this year that Muslims do not matter to #Columbia . And while that remains true, I cannot let myself be a diversity token for this service."
"During meetings with Religious Life staff leading up to Baccalaureate, I was told not to mention Palestine, nor name any specific regions of the world where my community was suffering. I was told there will be many communities in the room, and that it was just too sensitive to talk about."
"I am left with the understanding that to be Muslim at Columbia is to face extreme censorship of your language to appease an audience that doesn’t represent nor respect you. To be Muslim at Columbia is to be racially profiled and doxxed, beg for administrative resources and support, and still receive none. To be Muslim at Columbia is to face Islamophobia on campus—to be spat on and called “terrorists”—
and receive no University acknowledgment or recognition. Instead, our experiences are interrogated, as administrators try to poke holes in our narratives, questioning whether they even happened, while others get seats at the table with the University President and the governor of New York, dedicated to making sure they feel seen, heard, and valued."
"To be Muslim at #Columbia is to have your community and peers be suspended, arrested, and brutalized by the New York Police Department for peacefully protesting the genocide of those who widely look and practice like us, and still being made out to be the aggressors."
"It is to watch the University condone the arrest of female Muslim hijabi students who then had their hijabs ripped off by NYPD officers, in the name of the University’s “safety and order.”"
"To be Muslim at Columbia is being told to stop ruining “the senior experience” for those who have the privilege of turning a blind eye to injustice, while we repeatedly put ourselves on the line for justice, every day."
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