The Muslim Students and Allies (MSA) is a club on campus that junior Amina Golden-Arabaty started her freshman year.
Two years later, the club has grown to sustain major trips. On Oct. 21, MSA took their first club trip to the Met museum in New York City, but this was not MSA’s first off-campus trip.
Golden-Arabaty said she wanted to introduce this club to campus in an attempt to “create an inclusive and comfortable environment for students to converse, branch out and learn/experience new things. Things they may not have ever experienced or heard of before.”
Golden-Arabaty explained that the title of the club was chosen because “allies” fit the goal and mission of MSA better than “association” would have.
Last year, the club went on a day trip to the Cleveland Art Museum to see the Mughal exhibit. According to Golden-Arabaty, this year the club “decided to go a little farther and do an overnight in NYC to check out the Metropolitan’s collections of Islamic, Near Eastern, Egyptian and South Asian art.”
Golden-Arabaty explained that although the Mughal exhibit was a great experience for the club, “the Mughal art collection only touched on one culture and the Metropolitan’s museum has so much more to offer and is much larger, holding many more exhibits than the Mughal exhibit.”
She added that the “trip was especially impactful because of the absolutely incredible collection” the Met has on display.
Everybody on the trip expressed how much they enjoyed the experience. The group as a whole described MSA’s trip to the Met as “absolutely incredible.”
“I really enjoyed the Met,” Mitchell Smith, a sophomore marketing major, said. “I thought all the history and artifacts in the exhibits were very interesting. I believe MSA should definitely offer this trip again.”
During the spring 2018 semester, MSA will be going on another trip, open to all students, members or non-members of MSA. Golden-Arabaty emphasized the importance for students within and not in the club to be able to learn and connect with other cultures.
The club’s ability to make this happen and would not be with out the help and support of Fr. Michael. He is also the reason for the success of MSA’s trip and the group expressed their gratitude for his support and help.
Karen Ye mentioned that she “learned a lot on the trip.”
“I know more about the Islam culture,” she said. “My favorite part of the museum is the Egyptian architecture. The Met museum is huge, we spent four hours in the museum, but we only were able to visit a part of the museum. I hope I can go again next time!”
She added that the trip was much more than just learning in the museum. The group of students and Fr. Michael were able to explore the city and visit landmarks, as well as popular sites and restaurants. The students were given their first chance at an overnight trip, and it was a huge success. They cannot wait until next semester to see where they will go next.
Lastly, Golden-Arabaty said the group thanks the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies for funding the transportation and admission into the Met. Father Michael, director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, was the groups guide throughout the trip and is “greatly appreciated by not only the group that attended the trip, but everyone in MSA,” Golden-Arabaty.
mcknigbl15@bonaventure.edu
