Delicious tea, yummy foods, a lovely community and no men? Incredible.
On Thursday, April 24, in the Middle Eastern North African South Asian (MENASA) Cultural Center, PSU’s Iraqi Club had its first event after being inactive since Winter term 2024.
This event was titled “Iraqi Club Girls Potluck” and marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Iraqi Club, starting up a new era for the Spring term and beyond.
To kick start the event, students brought a variety of different cultural foods and drinks, such as Chai Adeni (Yemeni tea), majanat (mini pastries topped with different meats and cheeses), halawa chocolatia (a milk sweet) and more.
This event caught the attention of a diverse array of students in the community, such as Yasmin Hussein, a Somali Student majoring in Public Health at PSU, who was excited to engage and connect.
“It was really nice to see a lot of Muslim girls in one place […] I did not know what the event was about, but walking in and seeing a lot of Muslim girls being themselves was nice,” Hussein said.
Hussein is a member of the Somali Student Association (SSA), and stumbled upon the event while waiting for the SSA event right after, and ended up really enjoying spending time with other Muslim women.
Sara Arheim, a Libyan Student studying Public Health, shared a thoughtful perspective on the sense of comfort and belonging she felt as a Muslim woman being in women-only environments.
“I feel like [the event] brings a sense of community together, especially since it’s an event for women on campus,” Arheim said. “I don’t really get to see that a lot, and since I’m Muslim… we like to keep it halal, I feel like it’s more welcoming. You can talk with your friends more freely, and can also bond over food. Since it was a potluck, people were bringing their own [cultural] food, which we can bond over as well. If it’s store bought, it doesn’t really give the same vibe.”
The last event that was posted for the Iraqi Club prior to this event was in October 2024, and was for National Iraqi Day. The event was a huge hit, and had over 100 attendees present and celebrated Iraqi heritage with friends and family.
The current president of the Iraqi Club, Basma Sulaiman, played the leading role in planning and carrying out this event. She demonstrated exceptional dedication in keeping the Iraqi community alive at PSU.
“I put in a lot of hard work into the Iraqi Club at the beginning of this year and last year, so it felt wrong to leave it inactive, and so I took on the role as president because it felt like the right thing to do,” Sulaiman said. “[The potluck] went really well. All the girls came and brought food and we connected. The energy was great and everyone was welcoming—we had a lot of fun.”
Sulaiman’s decision to step into a leadership position after the prolonged inactivity reflects the commitment that drives the Iraqi Club. The potluck served as a meaningful social event for women in the community, as well as a symbol of the Iraqi Club turning a new leaf.
“The Iraqi club is a place where Iraqis can find themselves being built into the community at PSU […] everyone can come, it’s for everybody, but it’s a place where we [as Iraqis] join together and find ourselves in our community,” Sulaiman said. “Iraqi people are welcoming to every other culture.”
