Parker’s Muslim Students Assocation first banded together when I was a sophmore. There were five members at the time, including me. Yasmeen, Thewfic, Nadine, Mrs. Sabir, Mrs. Sabir’s son, and I met once a week. Unlike close to all other affinity groups at Parker, our agenda was never robust or extensive. Over the whole of the 2020-2021 academic year, the only thing we did was make a website on the Uighur Muslims and send it out to the student body. I bet you didn’t click on our link.

When I first met Mrs. Sabir, she reminded me of my grandmother. I know now that I just felt more safe around her than I did with most of my other teachers. She was just a member of my community, and I, a part of hers. When she says “Salam” to me in the hallways, I know I have my people at Parker. But she’s leaving. 

Our 2021-2022 academic year in MSA consisted almost entirely of having conversations about how the Parker curriculum is failing Muslims. I bet you didn’t know that there’s a teacher who didn’t let a Muslim student re-schedule their math quiz when they were tired and hungry because “participating in Ramadan is a choice.” I bet you didn’t know that one of my classmates once said, “Rania, your uncle is a terrorist.” I bet you didn’t know that there are still books, conversations, and points in our curriculum that make the Muslims at Parker uncomfortable or feel forgotten. I bet you didn’t know that the first day of school this past year was changed because of a Jewish holiday. I bet you didn’t even know when Ramadan was, despite the fact that it’s 31 days long. 

With Mrs. Sabir leaving Parker, MSA doesn’t have a faculty advisor. There are no more Muslim teachers or adminstrators in the Parker Upper School. Mrs. Sabir was the only Muslim member of the Upper School Faculty. I’m sure this isn’t as absurd to you as it is to me, but to put it into perspective, next year MSA will either be the first club in the Upper School without a faculty advisor, or the Muslims Student Alliance will be run by a teacher who isn’t Muslim. I can’t help but look to place a blame on the Parker administrators for this. In a school community that so heavily aims to cultivate inclusive and diverse communities, why was there only one Muslim Upper School teacher? Why isn’t MSA listed as a Student Affinity Group on the Parker website? Why do we still have only five members?