In El Paso Hall’s Student Lounge, there was a recent celebration for World Hijab Day at the first concert cafe of the spring semester. The event was hosted on Feb. 7 by the Muslim Student Association, or MSA, to celebrate the Muslim holiday.
The Muslim Student Association had an interactive presentation to allow people to see if a certain food was Hiram or not.
A table where attendees could get Henna designs drawn on their hands Hirams were given out for people to wear. These Hirams were provided by MSA through a collaboration with the nonprofit organization Why Islam. A collaboration that Leen Al-Jame, event coordinator of MSA, said helped the event. “This year we had a collab going, so it was easier, less stuff on our end but like a bigger end product.”
Alongside karaoke ballads from students and cheers from their friends, was Hijab Day being celebrated right there in the student lounge.
MSA felt that a sense of unity filled the campus with multiple students wearing Hijabs. One of MSA’s main goals in celebrating World Hijab Day on campus is peace. “Spreading goodness into the campus and peace,” Al-Jame said. “Our Religion always stands for peace.”
The turnout was something noticeable as well across campus and especially El Paso Hall. Al-Jame said the event was a great success. “We’ve gotten more audience and more recognition, which is why I felt like it did better,” Al-Jame said.
MSA’s goal with bringing events such as this to campus is “creating engaging activities to bring the community together” said Al-Jame. It’s about brother and sisterhood for the MSA and Al-Jame said anybody can join.
World Hijab Day happens every Feb. 1 and was started in 2013, now celebrated across 140 countries. To Al-Jame, World Hijab Day is “a day were women that wear the Hijab can embrace themselves.”
