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Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. This month is a holy month, a time for observant Muslims to begin fasting to strengthen their spirituality, or deen. Fasting is an act of worship and a way to learn patience and break bad habits.

Many colleges are or have already established accommodations for Muslim students observing Ramadan. Since Islamic holidays are not considered a part of United States federal holidays, it is up to students to advocate for themselves to receive religious accommodations from their university.

Syracuse University is one of many colleges that has introduced new dining hall hours for the month of Ramadan that extend past the sunset and before the sun rises. SU students of all religious backgrounds can also submit forms at the beginning of each semester requesting days off if a religious holiday falls on an academic day.

So, what else can the university do? For most Muslims, Ramadan is a communal time to be spent with loved ones. But for many, it can be hard to cultivate a community during Ramadan between classes, studying and other extracurriculars.

It is important to note that supporting Muslim students on campus during Ramadan is not limited to accommodating religious practices, but also community and a sense of belonging.

Beginning a day of fasting before sunrise (suhoor) and breaking fast after sunset (iftar) can be extremely difficult to do with friends or with the local Muslim community while living on campus. If Muslim students express feeling anxious entering certain spaces alone, professors and staff could be a bridge to the wider Muslim community at SU.

Implementing these efforts would be very simple. Emailing, sharing and relaying resources for the Muslim community throughout the academic year would already be a step in the right direction. With that understanding, SU staff should make an active effort to inform students of the resources, events and religious communities on campus. For example, campus can try to amplify certain religious clubs, like the Muslim Student Association, during Ramadan and make additional efforts to ask them what needs students have.

Making these adjustments can create a safer environment on campus outside of Ramadan as well, and allow trust to build between students and the university, creating a safe space for Muslim students to share and advocate for their needs.

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At some point though, it can no longer be the students’ responsibility to continuously ask for change or their religious practices to be recognized by the university they attend. What’s required of SU is to implement long term solutions and not quick fixes to prevent a cycle of students requesting the same needs multiple times.

A drive to include religious diversity within DEIA training can limit cases of Islamophobia on campus and religious bias. Including an emphasis on a diverse religious education within training can provide the opportunity for faculty to broaden their understanding. Like other minority communities, Muslims are not a monolith. For a variety of reasons, not all Muslim students are automatically connected or share the same religious beliefs. By including a focus on diverse religious education within DEIA training, faculty can better understand the needs of their Muslim students and know how to create a welcoming environment on campus.

Education goes beyond sharing general information on different religious communities, but also creating spaces to discuss, educate and understand the origins and effects of hate crimes, like acts of Islamophobia — an aversion and discrimination against Islam or people who practice Islam.

In a 2023 investigation on religious students’ perceptions of institutional commitment to diversity, only 34% of Muslim students would agree that their racial or ethnic background was respected on campus.

DEIA is about educating the campus community, while also enacting an effort to diversify the faculty. Hiring more staff that reflect the student body can increase the sense of belonging for minority students on campus and can amplify the voices of students.

On the part of SU, diversifying and being intentional about employing minority religious groups in jobs of power and tenured positions on campus lifts the weight off students who feel the need to advocate for themselves.

The amazing thing is accommodations for one community can apply for all. These efforts from the university are not exclusively beneficial to Muslim students on campus. More diverse staff, an administration that advocates for student needs and faculty with knowledge on their students’ various backgrounds can grant students the space to feel supported by their community members regardless of their background.

Sarhia Rahim is a Sophomore Policy Studies Major. Her Column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at slrahim@syr.edu.

Published on March 22, 2023 at 9:26 pm