Muslim civil rights group applauds Johns Hopkins’ response to student complaints

The Maryland office of the Council on American Islamic Relations is applauding Johns Hopkins University’s recent handling of complaints made by Muslim students after objecting to the the institution’s initial response early this school year.

Leaders of the Johns Hopkins University Muslim Association asked administrators at the start of the semester to install a lock on their prayer room, expand access to halal food on campus and expedite the search for a school chaplain who will serve as their on-campus religious leader.

For several months, they made little progress, said Mazin Elshareif, a junior majoring in neuroscience who serves as the group’s vice president.

“We were told things were being worked on, but it was hard to figure out what was being done,” said Elshareif, whose group has about 50 active members. “We felt out of the loop and wondered if our concerns weren’t being taken seriously because we are students.”

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Unsure of what else to do, the students sought guidance from the council, a national Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. And then things started to turn around.

Zainab Chaudry, the council’s Maryland director, helped connect the students with Charles Lu, Hopkins’ associate dean of diversity and inclusion. Lu quickly pledged to replace the prayer room’s door, expand halal food options on campus and include Muslim students in the school’s search for the new chaplain.

“These steps reflect that the university is prioritizing its student body’s needs,” Chaudry said in a statement.

But the slow progress early on led Elshareif and other members of the association to think that their concerns weren’t a priority.

He said the prayer room’s doorknob and lock were previously removed because a child once accidentally locked themselves inside. He added that halal food, which is prepared according to Islamic tradition, isn’t widely available on campus, even though kosher food for Jewish students is. And without a chaplain, he said students had to lead Friday prayers on their own.

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Lu wrote in an email that he was grateful for the chance to meet with members of the association and reaffirm Hopkins’ support for Muslim students.

“Johns Hopkins University Muslim Association student advocacy on these matters helps to ensure that each member of our community knows with certainty that they belong at Johns Hopkins,” Lu said.

He added that when Ramadan begins in March, Hopkins will provide meals called iftars for all Muslim students who observe the monthlong holiday by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Iftars are eaten after the fast is broken at the end of the day.

Elshareif said being a practicing Muslim student at Hopkins can be tough because many others on campus are ignorant of their practices and traditions. For example, he said he prays five times a day and will even leave class to pray if prayer time hits in the middle of a lecture.

A poll conducted by the association earlier this year found that nearly three in four respondents had been disturbed while praying in the Brody Learning Commons, a campus library, and four out of five respondents said the inability to pray at a secure space is a source of stress, anxiety or concern. The poll surveyed Muslim students, faculty and staff.

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The lack of a working lock on the prayer room door became an issue earlier this year when non-Muslim students entered the space and disrupted students who were praying.

“We want everyone to know that we’re here, we’re present, and we’re just like everyone else,” Elshareif said. “We’re hardworking students trying to make an impact on the world.

jessica.calefati@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jessica Calefati

jessica.calefati@thebaltimorebanner.com