Former and present ASU members with ADC-MI Director Fatina Abdrabboh, recipient of the “Empowering the Youth” Award.

DEARBORN — The Arab Student Union (ASU) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn continues to serve as a platform for students to increase positive awareness of Arab American heritage and debunk stereotypes about the culture. The student organization has remained politically active on issues pertaining to the community at both the national and international levels. 

On Friday, March 20, the ASU celebrated its past while recognizing the leaders of today who are motivating the community’s youth at its 10th annual “Empowering the Youth Banquet”, held at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center.

This year, the ASU reflected on past members who helped build the foundation of the organization and have gone on to achieve success in the community.

At the beginning of the ceremony, ASU President Zeinab Bazzi discussed the organization’s role during times when injustice and prejudice targeted the Arab American community.

“We don’t live in a perfect world; there are many injustices that occur everyday,” Bazzi said. “Some times, there may have been one single urgent task that required our attention, while other times there were a compilation of issues that required us to act swiftly. Regardless of the magnitude, we joined forces with those who share a common interest to provide a voice for the voiceless.” 

The banquet also included a Mother’s Day reflection. As millions of families celebrated Mother’s Day in the Middle East last weekend, ASU members surprised each of the mothers in attendance with a rose. Dozens of the mothers appeared delighted by the warm gesture.  

Sentimental moments continued to overpower the evening as the keynote speakers took the podium. 

Batoul Abdallah, the first president of ASU in the post 9/11 era, said it was important to transform the organization from being culturally centric to one that was more politically driven, as the Arab American identity was amid a crisis. 

Abdallah said the transition has dwindled the number of members, but the message prevailed across campus. She recalled storming the Student Government office in favor of passing an anti-war resolution. 

“That year our membership went down from about 20 members to maybe five,” she said. “Although we were small, we were ambitious and very passionate individuals who made the Arab voice loud and clear on campus.”

The second keynote speaker, Hussein Saghir, was also a former president of ASU. During his time as president, the organization conceived its first annual “Empowering the Youth” banquet dinner and drafted the first ever “Divestment from Israel” resolution that would later be challenged by the administration.

“We had tremendous obstacles to overcome, ” Saghir said. “But we were able to bring the youth of the community and put forth an agenda that would aggressively reshape the role of the youth.” 

The evening commenced with a tribute to Abdulla Ibrahim, a local 14-year-old student at Stout Middle School who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Former State Representative Rashida Tlaib also spoke about the strides made with the #TakeOnHate Campaign, formed to tackle bigotry and racism across the country as Islamophobia fever reached new heights in recent months. 

The campaign has been successful in earning recognition from leaders in Detroit and Taylor, although the former city received some backlash from residents. Tlaib has also been working closely with Dearborn City Council President Susan Dabaja to have the city sign onto the campaign as well. 

“For me, the campaign to Take on Hate is all about calling it out,” Tlaib said. “The core values that is embedded in the constitution, that no matter your faith, your ethnicity, sexuality or anything, you are not supposed to target someone because of that. That’s who we are as a country. When my son has to feel like he has to hide that he is Muslim or Palestinian, to me we are failing as a country.

“Campaign take on hate is engaging with non-Arabs and non-Muslims and saying to them as fellow Americans we have to stand up against hate.” 

Every year the organization also selects a recipient for an “Empowering the Youth” award. This year, the organization recognized the American-Arab Discrimination Committee of Michigan’s (ADC-MI) Fatina Abdrabboh. Abdrabboh successfully took over ADC-MI in 2013 amid controversy with the former leadership and began engaging with local youth to tackle issues of concern with the community.

While accepting her award, Abdrabboh noted the ASU’s remarkable achievements and stressed the importance of working with the youth so that they could effectively lead the community to a bright future.

“I can’t think of better recognition to get than that of empowering the youth,” Abdrabboh said. “Strong advocacy is a key component to empowering our children with the tools they need to determine their own future, to be creative, to fulfill their potential and to seize the opportunities needed to build a better future for themselves and for all of us.”

The banquet also recognized its hard-working executive board and sponsors who helped make the event a success, including Lola Elzein, president of Venture Title Agency and a former ASU member. She organized the first annual banquet and remains a key sponsor today.  Other sponsors included Yasmeena’s Floral, Saj Cafe & Bakery, Habib’s Cuisine, ACCESS, Vital Pharmacy and Famous Hamburger.