DEARBORN —  The Muslim Students Association of the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s annual dinner has become one of the signature campus events of the year, and this time around, the organization will celebrate 10 years of achievements and building relationships. 

Almost 750 tickets have already been sold for this year’s ‘Reflecting on a Decade of Unity’ event, which will feature four different speakers from various backgrounds joining a diverse crowd in the name of goodwill and finding common ground. 

The dinner is Michigan’s largest student interfaith event and will feature speeches and entertainment. 

“The dinner was created in 2002 as a counter-narrative to what was going on in the media particularly with 9/11, not only Islam but religion in general,” said MSA President Nasir Bokhari. “We created it to bring people together with common themes of interfaith, unity, and multiculturalism.” 

Each year’s dinner has a theme, for example, four years ago the focus was on the fasting aspect of the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This year’s is looking back on the event’s history. Many of its past events have been educational ones about Islam, media portrayals of the faith, various events as part of Islamic Awareness Week and more including a Fast-a-Thon each year during which non-Muslims join in. 

“It’s great to have people at the same table of different races, ethnicities and religions to be able to talk to each other, we provide forum for that type of engagement which is what we hope to get out of the dinner,” Bokhari said. 

This year’s speakers will be Pastor Charles Williams Jr., of the King Solomon Baptist Church, who promotes community involvement throughout the Detroit area, Dr. Saeed Khan, a professor of Islamic and Muslim history and Political Islam at Wayne State University, Ben Falik, co-founder of Summer in the City, a dynamic non-profit volunteering organization in Detroit, and Yousef Erakat (Fouseytube), a Youtube comedic skit performer. 

The event will be held on Saturday, March 17 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $40, $30 for students with valid UM-Dearborn ID and $50 at the door. For more info, visit //www.unityindiversitydinner.com or email Houda Ghassani (hghassan@umd.umich.edu) or Asif Khan (asifblue@gmail.com).