ING Presentations on College Campuses

ING NEWS UPDATE 5/03/06

* ING Speakers Address Bay Area Universities & College, 4/18-4/30/06

* ING Speakers at Bay Area Churches, 4/23 & 4/30/06

* ING President Presents at Peace Conference, 4/22/06

* ING Conducts Speaker Trainings for UC Berkeley & Toronto, 4/23 & 4/26

* ING Speaker Addresses Fundraiser for Fremont School, 4/30/06

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ING Speakers Address Bay Area Universities & Colleges, 4/18-4/30/06

ING speakers are frequent guests at universities and colleges around the Bay Area throughout the school year. In the month of April this included presentations at four events. The first was on Tuesday, May 18th at Mills College in Oakland, where a group of 75 students attended an Orientation on Islam and Muslims with a focus on Women in Islam. Mills is an all women’s college, and not surprisingly most of their questions focused on the topic of Muslim women.

The following day, on Wednesday, April 19th, an ING speaker addressed a group of students at San Jose City College as part of its 6th Annual Middle East Heritage month. The talk focused on providing a better understanding of Islam, and the Prophets of Islam, from Abraham to Muhammad. It also gave the background and explanation for Muslims’ reaction to the Danish Cartoons.

On the same day in the evening, the Danish cartoons were once again the topic of discussion at Stanford University, in an event sponsored by the Muslim and Scandinavian Students Associations at Stanford. The topic was addressed by a panel that included a graduate student from Denmark, the head of the Stanford Department of Journalism, Ted Glasser, and ING President, Maha ElGenaidi. Entitled, “the Cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohamed published in a Danish newspaper, the preceding and following events, and the implications for the future,” the topic included a lively debate by panelists on the topic, as well as numerous questions from the audience of over 100 people. While the cartoons have resulted in increased prejudice and misconceptions about Muslims, they have also lead to fruitful dialogues and genuine desire for understanding.

On Tuesday, April 25th, an ING speaker delivered the Islamic Contributions to Civilization presentation to a class on Islam at Los Positas College in Livermore. Long time ING speaker, Uzma Hussaini, teaches the class itself! As always with this groundbreaking presentation, students were fascinated to learn about the numerous everyday amenities they enjoy that were brought to the West by Muslims.

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ING Speakers at Bay Area Churches, 4/23 & 4/30/06

On Sunday, April 23rd, two ING speakers addressed Peninsula churches in Los Gatos and Palo Alto. The first event was in the morning and included an overview on Islam and Muslims for the Los Gatos United Methodist Church during their “Faith in Action” class that meets twice a month. The class was attended by over 50 people who were surprised to learn of the similarities Islam shared with their own faith.

The second event was at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Palo Alto in the evening as part of their on-going lecture series. A second lecture took place the following Sunday, on April 30th, and focused on the topic of Women in Islam. Both lectures were received enthusiastically with numerous questions and an expression of interest in learning more about the topic.

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ING President Addresses Peace Conference, 4/22/06

ING participated in a Peace Conference, entitled “Carry the Vision” on Saturday, April 22nd at Evergreen College in the South Bay. ING’s president, Maha ElGenaidi joined a panel of other distinguished guests that included Rick Callendar from the NAACP and Richard Hobbs form the Santa Clara County Human Relations Office to discuss the timely topic: “Diverse, nonviolent communities are the building blocks for world peace”. Over 800 people took part in the conference, lively discussions and creative recommendations.

ING’s President also presented on a related topic on Friday, April 28th, to Santa Clara County leaders in a presentation titled: “Mediation, Dispute Resolution, Difficult Dialogues and Religious Conflict”. The session attended by 30 academics, professional mediators and community leaders focused on ways that various groups can solve their conflicts.

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ING Conducts Speaker Trainings at UC Berkeley & for Toronto, 4/23 & 4/26

ING conducted Speakers Trainings for UC Berkeley students on Sunday, April 23rd and on Wednesday April 26 for a group of students from Toronto. The first was a four-hour training in the afternoon for a group of students at UC Berkeley to train them on strategies for outreach, tips for communicating affectively, and answering frequently asked questions about Islam and Muslims.

The second training was conducted with a group of students from Toronto, Canada for an-all day training, which included observing live ING presentations in high school. This is the second training that ING has conducted with Canadians, following training in Vancouver last year.

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ING Speaker Addresses Fund Raiser for Fremont School, 4/30/06

Ameena Jandali joined Imam Zaid Shakir at a Fundraiser on Sunday April 30th at Chandni for the Peace Terrace Islamic School in Fremont. Both speakers discussed the various negative influences on our children in today’s society, from television to video games and the internet. They also addressed the benefits of an Islamic education, and the importance that children have as an investment for the future. ING speakers are well acquainted with issues affecting Muslim students today, as they regularly interact with them in public and private schools.