Muslim students on the go now have a centrally located space set aside for prayer on campus.
The space--a room in the former Office of Institutional Equity in the greenhouse behind the Bryan Center--is a "functional step forward," said senior Lala Qadir, co-president of the Muslim Student Association.
The room provides Muslim students, who must pray five times a day, with the privacy they previously lacked for such prayer. For the first time, MSA has also been allotted office space, located in the Office of University Life on the top floor of the Bryan Center.
"Last year, we had to pray all over campus," Qadir said. "We're hoping this can be a place where everyone can congregate."
In the spring, student groups in the Office of University Life donated their own office space for Muslim student prayer because MSA did not have an office then.
"It was a wonderful show of solidarity," said Saima Hussain, a senior and co-president of MSA. "Students in other groups understood our needs."
Qadir attributed the acquisition of the new space to the "great initiative from students and the administration's willingness to help."
The issue of prayer space was first brought to light last November at the Unity through Diversity luncheon, where leaders of cultural groups spoke about their goals and concerns to an audience of administrators that included President Nan Keohane. Judith White, director of the Residential Program Review and chair of last year's Cultural Space Committee, responded to MSA's needs for space, helping find the new room.
"They have been in line for a long time," White said.
"Everyone was trying to make it work, and we had the right convergence of interest, space opening, timing and good neighbors."
Last April, OIE moved to Trent Drive, freeing up space in the Bryan Center basement.
Now, Hussain said, the issue has turned to giving students access to the prayer room.
The door to the hallway outside the room is locked, and neither Hussain nor Qadir possesses a key to that door. Even if they obtain a key, they said, other students wanting to pray would be unable to access the room.
"The purpose was to come in any time during the day," Hussain said. "Generally, things have worked out well. We just need to work out the logistical kinks."
Anticipating the development of a new multicultural center, Hussain and Qadir said that in the future, they hope to upgrade to a facility with room for both prayer space and office space.
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