Prayer services are usually held in Earl Hall. Students have advocated for Earl Hall to be available during breaks.

This week, Barnard’s SGA continued on its group outreach mission. At last night’s Rep Council meeting, SGA welcomed representatives from the Columbia Muslim Students Organization (MSA) to discuss their goals, concerns, and what SGA can do for them.

Turns out, they can’t do much. MSA president Faizan Kothari and senior advisor Fatima Koli explained to the Rep Council that one of the main issues currently facing the community they represent on campus is a lack of permanent prayer space. Space in Earl Hall is generally provided during the semester for prayer services, but is not available during school breaks. This causes a major inconvenience for Muslim students, staff, and neighbors in Morningside Heights and nearby Harlem who wish to convene on campus during breaks and have nowhere to go.

Another issue brought up was the lack of a full-time Muslim religious advisor on campus. Other faith groups can rely on external funding to provide for a salary for someone who can work with their communities and serve as an administrative liaison. Koli and Kothari pointed out that the Muslim alumni base is smaller than those from other faith groups, and that there is no nearby mosque that can help provide them support. There have been attempts to secure university funding during the past few years, which resulted in hiring a temporary religious life fellow who is Muslim but does not exclusively serve the Muslim community.

SGA members expressed their sympathy with MSA’s struggles, but admitted that they have no real jurisdiction over the Office of the University Chaplain. When asked if they needed assistance on any Barnard related fronts, Koli responded that “most of what needs to be done is through Columbia, because we haven’t really had any problems with Barnard.” She did suggest that staff and faculty across campus receive more training about talking about Islam and Muslim concerns in classes, as well as raising awareness of holidays that fall during the school year to make accommodations for Muslim students who may have to miss class.

In other SGA news:

• Barnard’s quad gates will not be kept open later at night, despite student requests, due to a lack of personnel availability. Good news is, no one is really sure exactly when they are supposed to close. Said SGA Rep for Campus Affairs Kira Dennis incredulously, “public safety does not know.” So that’s heartening.
• Join SGA! Elections are coming up. To run, you must attend an information session, happening 3/27 to 4/4. For more information about times and locations, check out SGA’s facebook page.

Image via Wikimedia Commons