AssalamuAlaykum:

On Thursday, December 3rd 2009, the USC administration took an unprecedented step to defend the Muslim Student Union and Muslim students on our campus. In an event hosted by the USC College Republicans a few months ago, the USC MSU was defamed and accused of being a terrorist organization which is supported by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore the Islamic religion and muslims were blatantly attacked. We prepared and sent a letter to the administration with our concerns and expectations the morning of the event. Our letter was officially endorsed by 64 recognized student organizations, including the Latino Student Assembly, Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, Womens Student Assembly, and Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Assembly.

Our efforts prompted meetings with administration and resulted in a letter written by Michael L. Jackson, VP of Student Affairs. This letter was printed on pg 7 of the Daily Trojan in the Dec. 3rd 2009 issue as a full page ad (below). This letter clearly condemns the statements made at the controversial event, and underscores the importance of mutual respect and understanding on campus. To the best of my knowledge, this type of official administrative defense of Muslim organizations and students has NEVER occurred on any other college campus. This is setting a national example, and we all need to send letters and/or emails to the administration to convey our gratitude and support, most specifically to:

• Michael L. Jackson, VP of Student Affairs - for writing and publishing this letter. ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
• Heather Larabee, Director of Campus Activities - for taking the time to meet with us, hear our concerns, and convey them to higher administration. (  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Please share this with your families and friends and have them send letters too. The administration has done something great for us here and we need to show them that we appreciate it.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Jazakallah