Courtesy of MENACC

In August, after years of student activism requesting increased resources for Arab, Middle Eastern, North African and Muslim students, a new designated MENA cultural suite opened with Lena Ginawi as its inaugural Assistant Director and Chaplain Leenah Safi began her appointment as the University’s second Muslim Chaplain.

In his December 2023 statement “Against Hatred,” former university President Peter Salovey promised both of these changes, among his series of promises “to enhance support” for communities most affected by the Israel-Hamas war. This announcement came after months of growing campus tension surrounding the war and years of lobbying by MENA students and the Yale College Council, among other student groups, for a MENA space.

On Aug. 1, the University Chaplain’s office welcomed Safi as a new Assistant Muslim Chaplain, according to University Chaplain Maytal Saltiel. The MENA cultural suite opened at 305 Crown St. on Aug. 27. 

“I think the space is going to be a place for people to meet, especially when they’re transitioning onto campus,” Bassel Dahleh ’27 told the News. “I think more than that, it shows that there’s been a change in sentiment from the administration that they are willing to recognize their MENA students and work with them.” 

Safi has previously been a community educator and scholar, teaching with various Muslim community organizations. Safi was appointed by a search committee through the Chaplain’s office that included students and campus partner feedback.

Muslim Chaplain and director of Muslim Life Omer Bajwa wrote in his announcement and introduction of Safi that she enters the role at a time when “the pastoral care demands have grown significantly for the Muslim Life Program.” 

At Yale, Safi will work with Bajwa to support the wider Muslim community, per Saltiel. 

Previously, the Asian American Cultural Center cleared two rooms in their building for the MENA community and coordinated the first AACC-MENA peer liaison program consisting of three PLs last year. An expanded team of now six peer liaisons will guide MENA students and assist with their transition to campus. 

According to Satia Hatami ’25, a MENA peer liaison, the new space this year is important to the recognition of the MENA community on campus as its own cultural and ethnic category.

Hatami said this space serves as a step in gaining recognition for the Middle Eastern community as a community of color, rather than white or caucasian categories they may have to mark down on traditional surveying. She added that the need for a designated MENA space became apparent last year following Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza. 

“With the events of last year, with October 7, and everything that followed, I think one thing that we really felt within our community was just not having a designated space to congregate and support each other,” Hatami said.

Fagr Aboudaka ’27, a MENA peer liaison this year, noted that several administrators were instrumental in establishing this space. 

Aboudaka praised Joliana Yee, Assistant Dean at Yale College and director of the AACC, for her support in establishing the MENA space and helping to hire MENA Cultural Community Assistant Director Ginawi. Aboudaka also shared that Eileen Galvez, an Assistant Dean at Yale College and director of La Casa Cultural, worked with the heads of college and helped the MENA cultural suite connect to other cultural centers and peer liaisons during training. 

Hatami said that she became involved in the AACC-MENA peer liaison program last year and continued this year as well because she wanted to assist a program that was not available during her first year but could be a resource for others. 

Aboudaka also said that her experience in high school founding a MENA cultural club was part of the reason why she became a MENA peer liaison this year. 

“Becoming a PL feels like an extension of this — a continuation of my efforts to not erase our heritage, to do my part in not letting anyone slip away from it, and to open doors for conversation,” Aboudaka told the News.

Hatami said that students can sign up for more than one peer liaison across cultural communities if they, for example, identify as both Latine and Middle Eastern or North African. 

The MENA suite consists of two rooms on the first floor of 305 Crown St. One of those rooms serves as a kitchen and the other will be used as a social space and a study area with plans to build partitions for the differing uses of each room. 

Hatami told the News that student leaders have been “very intentional” with using their funding to fully equip the space but added that they could still use additional funding to make it an “even better space for everyone” and continue to build up its programming. 

Dahleh hopes that the MENA suite will “be like a hub” where different MENA-identifying students can find each other in contrast to the decentralized organization of a social MENA community he experienced without a dedicated space. He hopes to visit the MENA suite during Ramadan or Eid, where there is now a designated space for those events. 

“It’s more than just the physical element, having a space for MENA students to feel welcomed on campus, to feel like they can share their own stories,” Dahleh told the News. “I feel like for a long time that voice hasn’t been protected and in many ways, it’s been targeted whether it’s doxing or just generally being de-platformed.” 

First years can request a peer liaison through the University PL page. 

Ada Perlman contributed reporting. 

Correction, Aug. 30: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Joliana Yee as assistant director of the AACC. Yee is director of the AACC and Assistant Dean at Yale College. The article also mistakenly stated that the search committee that appointed Safi was The Advisory Committee on MENA and Muslim Student Life. Safi was appointed through a separate search process.

Update, Aug. 30: The article has been updated to add information about Assistant Director Lena Ginawi’s appointment.