“Interviewees often expressed that they did not feel different or the need to advocate for their identity until they attended university”
The University of Ottawa Student Union recently conducted a study on the Muslim, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) student experience on campus. The study, initially proposed as an initiative by the University of Ottawa Students’ Union (UOSU) recently established Multi-Faith Caucus, garnered the interest of U of O administration officials who requested a 1–2 page report summarizing the study’s findings to be submitted by Sept. 25, 2024.
The U of O administration’s request came with the important caveat that the report must not include any mention of the pro-Palestinian encampment which took place from April 29 to July 10, 2024 on Tabaret Lawn.
Despite this, the final five-page report, submitted internally to the University of Ottawa administration includes a section on the intersectional nature of Anti-Palestinian and Anti-Arab Racism, Islamophobia, and the need for divestment.
A preliminary conversation regarding the report’s findings took place on Dec. 11, three months after the report’s completion, due to the University of Ottawa administration’s repeated cancellation of meetings that were originally set for Oct. 30 and Nov. 13, 2024.
The report organizes the accounts of seven student leaders “representing hundreds of members of the clubs they lead” into five key issue areas which include the imposed politicization of the Arab-Muslim identity, the alienation of Muslim and MENA students from campus communities and events, the management of Multi-Faith Rooms, religious and crisis accommodations provided by the U of O, and finally, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and the need for divestment.
Ostracization and Neglect from the Top-Down
The report, titled Enhancing the Campus Experience of MENA and Muslim Students, specifically identifies the role of staff, faculty, professors and members of the U of O administration in perpetuating an environment hostile towards the identities of Arab and Muslim students.
“Interviewees often expressed that they did not feel different or the need to advocate for their identity until they attended university,” the report states on the issue of the imposed politicization of the Arab-Muslim identity.
“They expressed that it was through the negative remarks and interactions with University of Ottawa’s staff, faculty, professors and administration, that they were placed in positions where they had to defend themselves and their identities.”
In response, the report highlights students’ requests for more education and training to be given to staff and administration to help them better understand the needs and concerns of Arab and Muslim students.
Another concern reflected by the report distinguishes the conduct of professors who discuss or comment on Middle Eastern and North African regions (MENA), expressing that professors need to be better informed about the intersectional and sensitive nature of these issues.
“There’s this perception that we’re dangerous … that we’re trying to cause issues … that we hate women … that we limit the power of women. There’s so many different assumptions that we have to deal with because of the skewed Western perception on who we are,” said Farah Mourad, the UOSU director for the faculty of health sciences.
“As a result, it kind of overshadows the fact that we’re human just like everyone else, and that we have needs just like everyone else, and that we have aspirations just like everyone else.”
The impact of the lack of cross-cultural engagement with Muslim and MENA students is particularly in relation to how professors engage with these topics within classroom discussions.
“We spoke about the media and how it can portray various narratives,” comments Areeba Mallick, the president of the uOttawa Muslim Students Association (UOMSA). “I spoke about Palestine and found the tone shifted very drastically. I kept getting cut off by the teacher who tried to [steer] the conversation in another direction.”
Another factor impeding the cultivation of an inclusive environment for Muslim and MENA students highlighted by the report is the University of Ottawa’s failure to effectively collaborate and implement the requests and recommendations of Muslim and MENA students with whom they have established a dialogue.
“The administration [was] saying that we didn’t have enough concrete stories and evidence of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism happening on campus,” shares Mallick. “So we turned to the community and asked them to tell us their experiences … and there were some students who, I think shortly after the pager attack had happened they had someone biking by them who started screaming, ‘you should have been the ones who had pagers,’ like they should have been the ones to be harmed. A lot of times incidents like these aren’t reported to security because of the fact that there hasn’t been much support given.”
The lack of redress by the U of O administration regarding hate-motivated incidents which take place on campus follows a trend of administrative silence towards issues concerning MENA and Muslim communities such as Palestine and the rise of Islamophobia.
Mallick states that the concern which stems from the University of Ottawa’s negligent stance towards issues concerning Muslim and MENA students is that those motivated to commit hate crimes towards Muslim and MENA students may be reassured that they can get away with it.
“If you say that you are very adamant on combating Islamophobia, say it out loud,” states Mallick. “I reached out multiple times, asking if they would be releasing a statement against Islamophobia. They said they would let me know in 10 days. It’s been three months.”
Despite positive collaborations with the University of Ottawa’s vice president of equity, diversity, and inclusion, Awad Ibrahim, Mallick states that president Jacques Frémont must be willing to condemn Islamophobia. Without the backing of the top members of the University of Ottawa administration, only so much can be done.
The Need for Education, Space, and Follow-Through
The Muslim and MENA student experience on campus does not struggle due to a lack of effort put forth by the students themselves. Instead, the report indicates that student efforts are continuously impeded by the U of O administration and decision-makers.
In March of 2024, mould was discovered growing in between the walls of UCU-107 and 108, designated as Multi-Faith space, revealing that the University of Ottawa had failed to provide any maintenance services that would facilitate the safe upkeep of the room, leaving this task to student volunteers from uOMSA.
“Almost all the initiatives that have been put out in terms of … support services … they’ve all been initiated by students. The burden has always been on students in getting things done [but] change has to come from those who actually have decision-making power, such as upper administration,” states Mourad.
The report details the consistent and fundamental role Arab and Muslim students have played in providing space for much-needed community building on campus. From organizing social and cultural events to filling gaps in the education they receive from the University of Ottawa on issues such as the Palestinian occupation and genocide, Arab and Muslim student leaders have risen to the mantle to challenge the imposed politicization of their identities by university administrators, faculty, staff, and professors.
However, the report indicates that the obstacles put forth by the lack of support and dialogue regarding the needs of Arab and Muslim students on the University of Ottawa campus continue to significantly hinder the ability of these students to feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.
Mourad shares that while she would like to be optimistic about how the University of Ottawa will respond to the recommendations and concerns captured within the report, she remains concerned regarding the U of O administration’s willingness to implement the report’s recommendations in good faith. The repeated rescheduling of meetings and the requested censorship of the report’s findings concerning the encampment represent only some of the examples raising concern.
“The statements that they [the University of Ottawa] put out that were making it seem as if … the people that were involved in the encampment were [representing] something that was hateful … or being territorial, how they handled the encampment, threatening to [call] down police and threatening to have safety officials come on site, how they directly refused to listen, engage, and cooperate [with students], they were outright stonewalling them in the same way that the MSA was treated [with regard to] getting prayer rooms and ablution spaces,” adds Mourad.
The University of Ottawa’s ongoing failure to install an ablution room nearly 10 years after having agreed to do so represents another example informing the concern as to whether the findings of the concerns of Muslim and Arab students on campus will remain unaddressed by the university administration.
Creating space for Muslim and Arab students at the University of Ottawa requires the administration to commit to implementing the recommendations proposed by the report and meaningfully addressing the concerns outlined. It also requires critical engagement with core issues, such as the Palestinian genocide, which implicate the identities of these students both within and outside the classroom.
As an environment dedicated to the learning and cultivation of all students, the report stands as a challenge to every single member of the university community, from clubs, to professors, to administrative staff, to listen and learn about the experiences of Muslim, Middle Eastern, and North African students.
