Stevens has a wide variety of different ethnic clubs and organizations. Among them are the Indian Undergraduate Association (IUA), Filipino Association of Stevens Tech. (FAST), Polish American Culture Society (PACS), and several others. Now, the newest ethnic organization to join the other RSOs is the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA).
MESA just kicked off its inaugural year recently. Like the rest of the ethnic organizations on campus, MESA aims to build a community of people who have a similar culture and background, so that their members may feel more comfortable and further develop their understanding of their own culture. Members will also help the other students at Stevens learn what the Middle Eastern culture is like.
President Stephanie Sayegh, currently a sophomore, started the group because she wanted an ethic organization that represented her own culture, in addition to the various other organizations she joined in during freshman year to become exposed to different cultures and traditions. “As a freshman at the club fair, I noticed that many other ethnicities were represented besides those from the Middle East, which… was not very surprising to me. But as the year went on, and I noticed how these ethnic organizations brought students together and let them bond about their culture with each other, I found myself wanting that for all those Middle Eastern students that felt like they couldn’t express their own culture on this campus.”
To learn more about the Middle Eastern Student Association, contact Stephanie Sayegh at ssayegh@stevens.edu.
