Santa Clara University Campus Ministry Interfaith Hosts Solidarity Dinner for Sikh Student Association After Alleged Racial Incident

Santa Clara University’s Campus Ministry is hosting a dinner on June 3 to support the Sikh Student Association (SSA) and other religious groups on campus in response to an alleged racial incident in May. The event is organized by Interfaith and aims to foster unity and healing within the university community.

Photo Provided by Sikh Student Association

The initiative comes after an alleged incident on May 11 at an SSA picnic held in the Swig courtyard. During the event, at least one individual yelled “Allahu Akbar” repeatedly from a Dunne dorm room. The picnic was a collaborative reunion between Santa Clara, Stanford, and San Jose State students. The incident left many students feeling unsafe and targeted. 

Jugarj Singh, President of the SSA, commented, “Allahu Akbar means God is Great, however, the student used it to portray us as Muslim and in the manner where the phrase is being used before violent action. The abuse of this phrase is common outside of Muslim settings and is meant to imply that the Sikh Students are terrorists.” 

While Americans often believe Sikhs and Muslims to be part of the same culture, they belong to separate religions with different sets of traditions and values.   

Daniel Morgan a professor of Religious Studies, explained in an email that it is a nuanced phrase that is often misinterpreted, especially in the United States. “‘Allahu Akbar’ is an Arabic phrase that literally means, ‘God is the greatest’ or ‘God is greater’. Known as the ‘takbīr’, the phrase is widely used in Islamic religious practice as well as in Islamicate iconography,” he explained.“The phrase is widely used by many Muslims on a daily basis, often at times of heightened emotion including moments of joy and happiness, but also when faced with suffering and even death.” 

Morgan discussed how modern media and perception have shifted this understanding. “Because the takbīr has sometimes been used by modern terrorists when carrying out attacks, people unfamiliar with Muslim culture came to associate the phrase exclusively with extremism and terrorism,” he wrote. “As a result, in recent times, Islamophobes have thus come to see it as a symbol of Islamic supremacism, and there have even been calls to criminalize the phrase.”

Elizabeth Rand, the Campus Minister for Religious and Spiritual Diversity, highlighted the dinner's importance as a platform for communal support and reflection. "We need to reaffirm the importance of community," Rand said. “Attacking any student is not right, and this is an opportunity for us to embody solidarity and interconnectedness."

The dinner is part of the monthly Mosaic Dinner series, usually held on the first Thursday of each month. However, this specific dinner, scheduled for Monday, June 3, at Unity Commons in McWalsh, is a direct response to the recent incident. It aims to bring together students from various faith backgrounds to share their experiences and discuss actionable steps to create a more inclusive environment at Santa Clara University.

Singh expressed the collective sentiment of the affected students. "The incident made us feel not at home," Singh said. "Part of this dinner will be focusing on not just having reflection and communal support, but also having next steps for action on what we want to see the university to do. And change how we're going to have things moving forward to support these students in need."

In addition to the dinner, Campus Ministry plans to take an Interfaith team of students to the Interfaith Leadership Summit in Chicago this August. This initiative is part of their ongoing efforts to foster a more inclusive and understanding campus environment.

The dinner is open to all students, and those interested can contact Elizabeth Rand at Elizaeth.rand@scu.edu for more details.