A two-year-long commission by the university looking at inter-cultural relations on campus suggested increased support for Jewish and Aboriginal groups on campus, but did not specifically address other groups, including Carleton’s largest minority religious group, Muslim students and staff.
The Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) Islamic programming and prayer services director, Washim Ahmed, said the report does a poor job representing all cultural groups on campus.
“We are the biggest club under [the Carleton University Students’ Association], largest religious minority on the campus, and there is absolutely nothing mentioned here about us,” Ahmed said.
Third-year communications student Sawssan Kari said that only including two cultural groups delegitimizes the purpose of the commission.
“If you’re not going to mention Muslims or people of other groups or anyone that’s diverse, why would you call it [an Inter-Cultural report?],” Kari said. “You might as well just change the name to aboriginal and Jewish report.”
Kari said although she has never personally faced discrimination on campus, the school’s admittance that two groups are having problems should be a warning sign that other groups may be experiencing the same thing.
Kari said the best way to eliminate discrimination for all cultural groups on campus is education.
“I do think students should be more aware of what Islam is about and what other religions and groups are,” she said.
Noor Hajaig, a second-year photonics and laser technology student, said the school has turned away several groups of students.
“Whatever troubles the Muslim students are having . . . they’re being completely ignored,” he said.
Ahmed said Muslim students on campus face plenty of discrimination, and cited a February 2012 survey conducted by the MSA prior to Islam Awareness week.
“Our survey found that 91 per cent of students do not know what the Jihad is and they associate the wrong concept of Jihad to Muslims. Fifty-five per cent of Carleton’s population believe Muslims are associated to violence and extremism,” Ahmed said.
“This is a very serious misunderstanding that this report should have covered.”
Ahmed also said that although Muslim students are the largest minority religious group on campus, their prayer space is too small to accommodate them, and is in an unsafe location.
Ahmed said their exclusion is alarming whether it was deliberate or not.
“If it’s deliberate, then I would like to point out here that it is systemic discrimination,” he said. “If it’s not deliberate then I would like to question the competence of the commission.”
