After nearly two hours of waiting, Hadeel Saadeh stepped up to the mic to testify.
The IU Indianapolis junior urged the Indiana House’s election committee to vote against Senate Bill 10, which would eliminate student IDs as a valid form of voter identification.
“If we keep making it harder to vote, young people will be left with a system that shuts even more people out, and they won’t feel involved in the process they have a right to be a part of,” Saadeh told the committee March 12. “Students are the future.”
Student voices are at the heart of the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network’s first student chapter at IU Indianapolis. Saadeh is the president. Founded this semester, the club wants to mobilize Muslim students at IU Indianapolis to get involved with political advocacy and organizing.
The new club comes on the heels of a generational wave of college student activism. Last spring, college students across the U.S. created encampments on their campuses to protest the Israel-Hamas war. Students at IU Indianapolis camped out for over three months in support of Palestinians, one of the longest-running encampments in the country.
This new group, though, is taking a different approach — one focused on legislation and policy. While Saadeh supported the encampments, she wants to make sure that no one feels unsafe or afraid when speaking out.
“Many students, especially from marginalized communities, want to get involved, but they don’t know how to do so without risking their education and safety,” Saadeh said. “I think that’s why we started IMAN’s first student chapter — to have that resource that students can plug into, where they can learn how to advocate.”
By students, for students
As president of then-IUPUI’s Middle Eastern Student Association, Yaqoub Saadeh spent much of his senior year protesting and advocating for Palestinians.
Saadeh graduated last May and now works full-time as a community engagement organizer for the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network, a grassroots organization founded in 2017 to advocate for and engage Indiana’s Muslim community.
When Saadeh reached out to engage Muslim student groups at his alma mater, they suggested to him that there needed to be a separate group for advocacy and activism on campus.
“We were able to get something going that specifically focuses on that civic and legislative part,” Saadeh said, “as opposed to what the other orgs are here for, which is creating a safe space for those students to express their identities.”
After he talked with his sister, Hadeel, and other students, IMAN’s student chapter was founded to fill the gap at IU Indianapolis.
Less than 1% of Indiana’s population — around 41,400 people — is Muslim, per 2020 data from the Association of Religious Data Archives. But at a time when Islamophobia is on the rise nationwide, students say it’s important to have a space where Muslim students feel safe and empowered to speak out.
Hadeel Saadeh’s testimony before the committee was the first legislative action for IMAN’s student group, which was founded at the beginning of the year. Senate Bill 10 is still awaiting a vote from the House elections committee.
Teaching and advocating
Training students to testify on legislation is just part of the group’s aims. Members also are hoping to educate students on social and political issues affecting Indiana’s Muslim communities and encourage civic engagement through voting.
At their first political advocacy workshop in April, they’re planning to team up with other student organizations to teach attendees different aspects of policy and government.
Freshman Adam Tayeh said he hopes the club also provides opportunities for students to get involved with issues outside IU, too.
“Yes, we can help address things locally on campus,” said Tayeh, who’s the club’s freshman outreach coordinator, “but also just on a broader scale — getting students advocating for students and also for the Muslim community.”
Whether students want to pursue advocacy in their future careers or not, club leadership wants students to be able to build skills and be more engaged.
IU Indianapolis junior Manal Hussain is new to politics and advocacy. But since getting involved with the group, she has gained confidence in her public speaking skills and broadened her horizons.
“I found out that I actually really like this,” said Hussain, who also is the club’s treasurer. “It’s really good to shape who I am, gain new experiences.”
As for Hadeel Saadeh, her commitment to advocacy was renewed after seeing reports of the violence in Gaza over the past year. In this political climate, it’s more important than ever to her that Muslim students feel empowered and safe to speak up.
“Muslim students know that they deserve a seat at the table,” Saadeh said, “and if something is affecting them, then we want to work on representing them and making their voices heard.”
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, on most social media @clairerafford or on Signal 317-759-0429.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
