City of Residence:
St. Paul, MN
Occupation:
Retired high school teacher
Excerpt:
“My family comes from Lebanon, and it’s an all-Islamic heritage. My dad came in probably the mid—I think it was 1913—with his dad and his uncle. My dad sold merchandise with a horse and buggy, and then later a car. That’s how he made his living. And my grandpa Hagar, my mom’s dad, came about 1903.
In the travels between 1961 and ’68, I had met the founders of the Muslim Students Association at one of the conventions I attended and became a member in 1963. And, you know, I thought, oh, I’m a joiner, I’ll join this club. And not even thinking I’d find members at the University of Minnesota. And the only reason I found members was to read the Minnesota Daily and find that they are having an event. And I told my mother about it and we lived 350 miles from the University of Minnesota, so I said, “Mother, do you want to come down on the train and come to this event and stay with me at Bailey Hall at the University?” And she said “Sure.” So she came down and we went to this event and we met some of the Muslim students. It wasn’t until 1968 I decided, really, this is it, you know, I want to be a full-time student at the University. So that’s when we moved here, 1968.
We founded a Sunday school on the campus of the University of Minnesota for Muslim kids and we founded Women’s Society shortly thereafter—and all of these things still exist. And I was communications director for three terms and my mother was a Women’s Society president.”
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