Melanie Jensen/Fourth Estate
Students create a petition to urge Mason administration to find a suitable prayer space for hundreds of Muslim students on campus
BY MELANIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER
Walking through Wilkins Plaza on Oct. 29, students may have noticed a group praying on the grass outside the Johnson Center. These students represent a small number of the Muslim community on Mason’s Fairfax campus asking for a permanent and adequate space to practice their religion.
On Nov. 3, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Mason Student Government appealed to the Mason administration in an Instagram post, asking the administration to find a permanent and appropriate prayer space for Muslim students on campus. The call to action came after fire marshals closed the designated prayer and meditation space on the third floor of the Johnson Center on Oct. 16.
Fire marshals deemed the room divider and the high occupancy of the meditation room a fire hazard, leaving hundreds of students and faculty without a space for their daily prayers. The room was reconfigured and temporarily reopened on Oct. 21, but MSA officers said the reconfiguration made the space unsuitable for students’ religious needs. MSA invited female students to continue to use the space, while male students prayed on the grass in front of the Johnson Center on Wilkins Plaza.
“Muslim students had no choice but to complete their congregation of daily prayers outdoors in Wilkins Plaza and have temporarily returned to the JC space, both of which have been undignified and inadequate solutions due to a lack of administrative support,” MSA said in a joint statement with the Cuesta-McAulay administration and Mason Student Government on Instagram.
In the statement, MSA demanded that Mason administration provide an adequate space for daily prayer and other religious activities and establish a formal line of communication to address current and future concerns. MSA requested that Mason administration actively support Mason’s Muslim community in an effort to maintain Mason’s mission of celebrating diversity.
According to MSA, the student organization has been asking for a larger and more suitable prayer space to accommodate students’ religious needs for years. Some students expressed feelings of disaffection and being ignored due to Mason administration’s “lack of urgency” to address their requests.
“This has only heightened feelings of alienation amongst Muslim students at a time when incidents of harassment and discrimination have largely gone unaddressed by the university, which has contributed to the degradation of the political climate on campus,” MSA said in the statement.
On Nov. 9, MSA shared a petition with a list of requests. “As the political climate intensifies and discrimination against Muslim communities grows, it is critical that the university recognizes and supports its Muslim students,” said MSA in the petition statement. MSA asked the Mason community to sign in support of the “over 1,650 members” of their organization.
“We urge the university to prioritize the establishment of appropriate prayer facilities that reflect the dignity and respect that all students deserve–no community should feel the lack of support that Muslim students currently do,” MSA said.
Fourth Estate reached out to Mason for comment but have yet to hear back.
