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SWANA celebrates Ramadan with iftar meal

Christian Arndt, Life & Culture Editor

March 25, 2024

Collegian | Cait Mckinzie

Attendants of the iftar for Ramadan begin getting food in the Lory Student Center ballrooms March 22. “The whole purpose (of fasting) is for you to understand how others feel who are less fortunate,” event organizer Reham Abdunabi said. “It puts you in a mindset where you need to understand that not everyone has access to food and unfortunately not everyone has access to water.”

In the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims who observe the holiday abstain from drinking water and eating food during daylight hours. Together at sundown, they break their fast with a meal known as iftar and unite as a family and community.

Students and faculty gathered together to break their fast in an iftar open to the community at sundown March 22 in the Lory Student Center ballrooms with approximately 600 people in attendance.

Reham Abdunabi, the CSU South West Asian and North African Organization coordinator for the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center, described what the intent of the event was.

“(The event) is for people to learn and get educated more about Muslims and just see us in not a bad light,” Abdunabi said. “That is something that is framed in media. … Me personally in my life, it’s been very rare that Muslims have ever had anything positive said to them, unfortunately. So it’s always been my mission to change that narrative and show people our culture and heritage.”

“I just want people to get educated and learn and have more of an open mind. I think college is a time where you can learn about different cultures. … Just open yourself to experiences. That’s definitely been my mission and kind of why I decided to have the event.” -Reham Abdunabi, South West Asian and North African Organization president

Abdunabi said one of the most important aspects of Ramadan is to come together as a community and share a meal and also mentioned how integral it is in the Middle East and North Africa.

“During Ramadan especially, it’s about giving and charity,” Abdunabi said. “We fast the 30 days just for discipline, and so we have a sense of empathy for others who don’t have food and water because those are unfortunately a luxury in this world and always has been since the beginning of time.”

Nora Aslan, a senior at CSU, reflected on the importance of this event for the Muslim community as well as the community at CSU.

“(The event) was meant to bring people together in the community because the SWANA population, as well as the Muslim population here at CSU, were not really well known or well seen on campus,” Aslan said.

Considering the importance of Ramadan, Aslan continued to describe the essence of Muslim identity.

“Being Muslim is meant to be something that takes care of the entire community around you rather than just yourself,” Aslan said. “Which I think is really important because CSU talks about building a community, and so having that event really did focus on building community.”

In consideration of Muslim representation on campus, Abdunabi said she believes these events are powerful and important for the community and hopes to see similar events happen more frequently in the future.

“I just want people to get educated and learn and have more of an open mind,” Abdunabi said. “I think college is a time where you can learn about different cultures. … Just open yourself to experiences. That’s definitely been my mission and kind of why I decided to have the event.”

Reach Christian Arndt at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.

About the Contributors

Christian Arndt, Life & Culture Editor

Christian Arndt is the returning editor for the life and culture desk for the 2024-25 school year at The Collegian. Hailing from Silverthorne, Colorado, Arndt began his writing journey in high school. With the help of his English teacher, he found his love for writing and, eventually, his love for journalistic writing. Arndt is a fourth-year at Colorado State University, where he will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism and media communication with a minor in English. Although his studies have provided excellent insight and practice within journalism, The Collegian has helped Arndt foster professionalism and experience in the field. Arndt looks forward to learning and growing through this experience. Initially a reporter for the arts and entertainment desk in early 2023, Arndt primarily focused on movie reviews, local art coverage and curated playlists. He soon took over as the second-ever editor for the life and culture desk in summer 2023, where he takes pride in providing coverage on local happenings, cultural events and local business features. Going into this year with the same amount of enthusiasm as last, Arndt is looking forward to providing accurate and important coverage of the Fort Collins area. If not editing articles, Arndt can be found watching movies, listening to punk rock, hoping for a Talking Heads reunion tour and walking his adorable dog, Penny.

Cait Mckinzie, Photo Director

Cait Mckinzie is a second-year student double majoring in art and journalism and media communication. She is one of two photo directors for the 2024-25 school year. Despite growing up in Renton, Washington, Mckinzie knew she wanted to go to Colorado State University since middle school. She had only ever been to Colorado twice, but she visited campus once, and that was all it took. At first, there wasn’t much in Fort Collins that Mckinzie was familiar with. But in high school, she was the co-head of visuals for her school newspaper, so she applied to The Collegian as a photographer to get back into a similar environment. Mckinzie was first introduced to photography by her grandfather, who has been a photographer most of his life. After he gifted Mckinzie her first camera in her junior year of high school, she began to take any assignment she could for her high school paper to improve her skills. Of all the memories made in her first year at CSU, most of the interesting ones came from The Collegian. One Halloween drag show assignment, a lot of mentorship and a few months of practice later, Mckinzie found herself being offered the position of photo director for the next academic school year. Mckinzie is excited for another year at The Collegian and aims to continue learning and growing during her time as one of the photo directors.

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