Muslim students fly kites while celebrating Eid on campus in spring 2021.
Photo by Sarwa Shah ’24

The WCAA has welcomed a new SIG to the ranks. A pilot shared identity group, Wellesley Muslim Alums (WMA), held its first event on Zoom in April, hosting a discussion about being Muslim in the workplace.

“It went so well,” says Sidikha Ashraf ’19, who serves on the WMA’s interim board. “We had at least 40 alums in attendance, and we had 54 registrants. There were new alums and older alums we had never met.”

WMA has a Facebook group, and other SIGs have pitched in to publicize it, as well. Wellesley Alumnae of African Descent (WAAD) and Wellesley Alum Pride Alliance (WAPA) both advertised WMA in their newsletters. The SIG also has a WhatsApp group that has attracted a number of young alums.

Ashraf thought about launching a Muslim SIG when she was a student worker in the WCAA office. “The September after graduation, it really hit me that I wasn’t going to be part of the Muslim community on campus that I’d relied on for the past four years,” she says. “This is an effort to continue the inclusivity and supportiveness that I felt while at Wellesley, to make sure that is available to all our Muslim alums, and have that space be present whenever anyone wants to take part in it.”

The WMA hosted a Zoom gathering at reunion and looks forward to organizing a range of social and spiritual events in the future. It’s considering a book club. And the SIG hopes to facilitate alum engagement with current Muslim students on campus.

In addition to Ashraf, the interim board includes Sabrin Beg ’07, Saafia Masoom ’20, and Ali Saueressig ’19. If you are interested in helping out behind the scenes, have any other questions, or just want to chat, email them at wma@alum.wellesley.edu.