Laura Keating
lrk002@marietta.edu
Last Thursday, Feb. 6, students of the Islamic faith stood outside Gilman dining hall eagerly giving away free roses to the rest of campus for one simple reason:
“We want to show that Islam is a religion of peace,” freshman Hawraa Kamal said.
This nationwide movement, called “Flowers for Peace Day,” occurred on multiple campuses across the country, according to Assistant Professor of Communication Dr. Tomeka Robinson. Each white rose was attached to a card inscribed with a quote from the teachings of Mohammed, prophet and founder of Islam. One of the primary objectives of the movement was to spread Mohammed’s name as the “Prophet of Mercy.”
The group purchased 250 roses for the event and had planned to stand outside for three hours. Within the first hour and a half, they had given away every one. The overflow of positive response from the rest of campus was unexpected for the Muslim students.
“It felt good for them to feel accepted,” Robinson said.
Rana Alhomoud, a freshman from Saudi Arabia who organized the event, said that seeing students smiling as they accepted their roses was very affirming for her and a sign of support for her and her partners.
“No words can be enough to explain how happy I was,” Alhomoud said. “Of course it is one of the best days in my life, and I will never forget it.”
Sophomore Margaret Price, in international peer mentor, expressed great pride in her Muslim peers and was happy to see other American students advocating for them.
“I thought the event was amazing,” Price said. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like to go to college in a different country. They go through so many obstacles and communication is a huge one. They are brave, strong, and independent.”
Amidst this encouragement, Kamal said there were still a small number of American students who were made uncomfortable by the gesture.
“[The students] thought, ‘Why do you even pass out flowers? We don’t need to know about Islam,’” Kamal said.
She seemed unabashed by this, however.
“We don’t want people to join Islam or anything like that – no,” she said, and explained that rather than trying to convert others, the group’s intent was to help break down common American stereotypes of Muslims.
Sophomore Trever Pontius stood by this mission.
“A lot of our society is sometimes scared by people just because they are different,” Pontius said. “I personally don’t understand that. I think having the students on campus… allows us to interact with and learn about a culture half a world away, and to me that is great – That is something special.”
It is the hope of the Muslim students that “Flowers for Peace Day” becomes an annual tradition at Marietta College. Additionally, the students have been inspired to hold another event where they plan on talking about their home cultures and incorporating their native food and music. The date for this event has not yet been decided.
Kamal said the event was unrelated to the recent article in the Marcolian exposing discrimination against Muslim students.
