Call for Creation of Muslim Community Center

With an organized presence that dates back nearly half a century, the Stanford Muslim community is one of the oldest and most established communities in the university's history, now incorporating over a dozen cultural student organizations and nearly 10\% of the student body. This vibrant community represents a faith which includes nearly one fourth the world's population and embraces cultures and ethnicities spanning from Morocco to Indonesia --- an area which includes 52 nations and 60 languages --- in addition to established minority communities in America and Europe.

In spite of the steady growth of the community over the last twenty years and the explosion of organizational activity in the last five (symbolized by the awarding of the 2004-2005 ASSU VSO of the Year title to the Muslim Student Awareness Network), the Muslim cultural community has constantly failed to receive the resources from the university that have been afforded to
organizations of similar size.

The community lacks:

Any meeting, office, event, storage, or community congregation space on campus, instead allotted only a small prayer room in Old Union. This has significantly hampered the ability of organizational leaders to plan community and public events and rendered the Muslim community invisible and inaccessible to most students.
A staff presence on campus --- an important source of guidance and direction --- making it exceedingly difficult for the community to maintain an identity over time, carry out long-term projects, or preserve institutional memory.

These needs can only be properly addressed through the establishment of a Muslim Cultural Community Center on campus and the hiring of a full-time Muslim Community Center Director.

In a post 9/11 America where misunderstandings about Islam and the Muslim World run rampant, the need for cross-cultural dialogue about Muslim culture and for vibrant Muslim communities on college campuses is as strong as ever. This is especially true at a campus like Stanford, which lacks an Islamic Studies Program or resources for students to learn about the Islamic culture or faith outside the classroom. The proposed Community Center will not only serve the Muslims on campus and in the surrounding area, but will also serve any individual who identifies with or has an academic, political, historical or social interest in the Islam and/or the global Muslim communities. Additionally, it would cater to the larger umbrella of cultural student groups affiliated with the Muslim community. By creating a Muslim cultural community center on campus and hiring a community director, Stanford can establish itself as a leader among American collegiate institutions in its support of Muslim students, re-affirming its commitment to promoting cultural diversity and serving the needs of all communities at Stanford, and create a richer, vibrant, and more welcoming campus community.

We welcome all concerned members of the Stanford Community (students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, etc) to sign this petition.

To view a full-length proposal online, please visit: http://msan.stanford.edu. Thank you.