In collaboration with the Honor Committee, the Middle Eastern Leadership Council released a video entitled “MELC has Honor,” to highlight the diversity of Middle Eastern and Muslim students on Grounds and raise awareness of the challenges those students may face.
Ambassador of the Middle Eastern Leadership Council Attiya Latif, a second-year College student, is one of the six members of the organizations featured in the video itself.
Latif said the belief all Muslims are Arab, and vice versa, is a hurtful stereotype which automatically categorizes and labels individuals in an unfair way.
“It’s important for me to express to people that you can’t categorically stereotype people to be a single identity and thereby silence their voices,” Latif said.
MELC President Adrianna Taweel, a third-year College student, said the organization worked hard for over three weeks to collaborate on the video project.
“Given the presidential election going on and the comments by Ben Carson, we decided it might be a good time to show our support of Middle-Easterners on Grounds and throughout America,” Taweel said.
In September, 2016 Presidential Republican Candidate Ben Carson said he would not support having a Muslim leader in the White House. Carson received much attention for the controversial comment, which prompted both widespread criticism and support.
At a time where the political atmosphere tends to group all Muslim and Arab Americans together, both Latif and Taweel said it is crucial to remind people of the diversity of the Middle Eastern community.
“We are trying to prove a point,” Latif said. “You don’t get to judge us. You don’t get to lay claim to our identities. You have to let us define ourselves.”
In creating the video, MELC and the Honor Committee also hope to raise awareness and promote tolerance and diversity specifically on Grounds and in organizations like the Honor Committee, Latif said.
“It’s really on the first level a way to raise awareness especially at a place like U.Va.,” Latif said. “Working with [The Honor Committee], it’s a way to encourage the students who are stereotyped to feel like they can take control or can be involved in organizations that normally seem very homogenous.”
Honor Chair Faith Lyons, a fourth-year Commerce student, said the film was a good way for Honor Committee to see concerns and experiences of University students.
“During the filming and the creation of the script, it was really cool to hear about the different students’ experiences, at U.Va. in general but also particularly with Honor,” Lyons said in an email statement.
Lyons said she thinks the most important step from here is follow-up.
“We want to make sure it’s not just a one time thing,” Lyons said. “While the video is good starting point, it’s important to keep up with these communities like MELC.”
In November, the Middle Eastern Leadership Council and the Student’s Association will be co-sponsoring a dialogue about minorities in the workforce. MELC also holds an annual Middle Eastern Cultural Month in the spring to celebrate and share the diverse practices of diverse Middle Eastern students and groups.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done and a lot that needs to be changed,” Taweel said. “The battle is never over.”
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