In an effort to break stereotypes and foster greater understanding between students, multiple South Asian organizations came together for their first kickoff event, “Breaking Barriers.”
Hosted on Thursday evening by the Indian International Student Union (IISU), Hindu Student Council, Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Pakistani Students Association, the event was the first collaboration between different South Asian clubs on campus for “Back to School Brown Town Weekend.”
According to Tiara Roy, president of IISU and a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, the event was created to foster a unified presence between clubs and to let students know they can join more than one club on campus.
“This year, we made it a mission to get together and host this weeklong thing so that all the new freshmen who come to campus can learn about each South Asian organization and see that it’s not [that] if you pick IISU, you can’t do the rest or things like that,” Roy said. “It’s not pick-and-choose because that’s not how you are as a person. You could be Hindu and from Pakistan. There are so many different sects, you’re not confined to one specific thing.”
During the event, attendees discussed common misconceptions and stereotypes, such as the belief that all Hindus are vegetarian, everyone in India is poor, all South Asian parents want their children to be doctors and all Pakistanis are Muslim.
For Naseeb Ally, senior adviser for MSA and a senior majoring in accounting, discussing these misconceptions helps prevent divisions and increase understanding between different religious and cultural groups.
“There’s lots of divides — everyone thinks that there’s a lot of tension and that we all hate each other but as you can clearly see from coming here today and see how we interact with each other, we’re all friendly,” Ally said. “As a minority on campus, we feel it’s very important to stick together.”
Attendees also shared personal testimonies about their own struggles attending religious schools, growing up with familial pressure to succeed and discovering their faith and identity. According to Roy, sharing these common struggles allows people to realize how similar they are, regardless of their religion or culture.
“A good way to get all the organizations to relate on a common ground was to talk about struggles we’ve had with our religion, or what stereotypes are associated with our culture,” Roy said. “At the end of the day, they have the same core values. So we felt that breaking these stereotypes would be a good way to help us all realize that we’re essentially all the same, it’s just different practices.”
According to Ellma Demirovic, a junior majoring in biology, events like “Breaking Barriers” are important for promoting more conversation and knowledge. Demirovic said she didn’t know that Pakistan is one of the few countries to recognize a third gender, and enjoyed learning about South Asian cultures.
“I’m Muslim, but I’m not from any of the South Asian countries, so I like seeing a different perspective,” Demirovic said. “I like seeing what other Muslims are going through and plus, it’s not just other Muslims, it’s everyone else together.”
Other events for “Back to School Brown Town Weekend” included the Onam Celebration, an annual Hindu festival celebrated in the South Indian state of Kerala, on Sunday at Old Union Hall. All proceeds from the event will go toward the Kerala Flood Relief.