Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

My name is Sarah Jukaku and I have the honor of serving you as the 2009-2010 Muslim Students' Association President. On behalf of the executive committee, I would like toextend a warm welcome to you. We are excited to meet so many ofthe future path-paving students who will become a part of making our MSA one ofthe best Muslim organizations in the nation. Furthermore, we are also looking forwardto seeing the familiar faces who have been integral in the last few years in makingthe MSA one of the most recognized organizations on campus, the recipient of theprestigious Outstanding Student Organization award. We pray that Allah (swt) will allow us to live up to theexample that you have set for us and to meet and exceed our individual andcollective goals.

As first generation Muslims many of us struggle withreconciling our religious, ethnic, and national identities. During our collegeyears, we negotiate the fusion of these three to form our present selves,making it crucial that we find a strong community in which to ground ourselves.At the university, that community is the Muslim Students’ Association. Everyday, we work to serve your needs from organizing lectures and social events to makingsure that you can exchange your textbooks free of cost or get a bowl of soup delivered to you when you are ill.

And this year is no less important for the MSA—not onlyhave we been planning many new events for the upcoming semesters, but we havealso been working to establish and nuance our vision for the future. A few ofthe many goals that we have set for this year include expanding the campusreflection rooms, increasing university-sponsored Islamic education events,improving our electronic event record keeping, creating sustainable ties with local service organizations, revamping our political activism, bringing halalfood to more dorms, and expanding our Thursday educational and social events. Weinvite you to take a few minutes to read through a more detailed outline of ourcurrent and future goals on our website, muslims.studentorgs.umich.edu.

However, none of these plans are viable without your support; wecannot stress enough the importance of involvement from our constituents. TheMSA is nothing without its members and given the difficult economic times, itis crucial that we unite to promote a strong presence on campus for both Muslimand non-Muslim students alike. This fall we will kick the year off in Ramadan,a great time to come together as a community to strengthen our faith, worship,and community involvement. So as the hustle and bustle of classes begin, weurge you to make time to join your fellow brothers and sisters not only tobreak your fast, but to build bonds that will last a lifetime.

Wassalamualaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

SarahJukaku

President,Muslim Students’ Association