Until a few weeks ago, UW-Madison did not have a student organization specifically for Arab and Arab-American students. To remedy this, UW-Madison senior Manal Hamid recently started the Arab Student Organization.
Hamid, an international student from the United Arab Emirates, had expected to find an Arab student organization when she arrived in Madison three years ago.
\I was surprised that there wasn't already an Arab student organization on campus,"" Hamid said. ""My friends talked about how we needed one.""
She was not the only one who was surprised not to find an established Arab student group. UW-Madison senior Marla Delgado, a Multicultural Resident Consultant for University Housing, shared the sentiment.
""[The absence of such a group is] pretty shocking,"" Delgado said.
The ASO currently has 10 members, but anticipates growth as more students find out about the organization. Its members are both international and Arab-American students. The ASO meets once a week.
The new organization has several goals. Its first goal is to educate Arabs and non-Arabs on the history, language and cultures of Arabs and Arab nations.
""My experience has been that there seems to be a lack of knowledge about [Arabs]. The information people have is very outdated and very stereotypical,"" Hamid said.
The ASO's second goal is to provide both academic and non-academic support for Arab and Arab-American students, Hamid said. Current plans include having peer mentoring for Arab students and having an Arabic language table where both native speakers and students of the language can converse.
In addition to these goals, the ASO aims to have cultural programs about Arabs and Arab cultures. It will also try to collaborate with other Arab student organizations around Wisconsin and eventually around the nation. Additionally, it seeks to promote humanitarian aid in Arab countries, according to Hamid.
However, Hamid said the organization is still in the planning stages and its kickoff meeting is scheduled for the upcoming spring semester.
Although the organization is still relatively small, its numbers are growing as more people become aware of it. There has also been positive feedback from the community, according to Hamid.
""It's really refreshing to see that people are noticing the lack of diversity and are doing something about it."" Delgado said.
