SGA Approves Five New Student Groups

By Lina Rodriguez

Published: Monday, February 1, 2010

Updated: Monday, February 1, 2010

Project Nur

Project Nur offers a new take on Muslim culture and heritage

Five new student organizations were approved by the Student Government Association at last Thursday’s meeting. The Entrepreneurship Club, SU Racquetball Club, Project Nur, Habitat for Humanity and the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting were all made official members of the Suffolk community on Friday, Jan. 29.

The Entrepreneurship Club’s constitution stated that their purpose was “to provide opportunities for students who are interested in collaborating ideas of their own projects, by sharing each other’s knowledge in their particular area of study”.

The club is not limited to students pursuing entrepreneurship majors. In fact, it is open to any Suffolk student with an interest in entrepreneurship and start-ups. The club is also open to outside influences, such as Suffolk University Alumni, local businesses and venture capitalists.
The Racquetball Club is also open to all students of Suffolk University. The club gives its members a chance to engage in the game in competitive and non-competitive settings. Beginner or expert players are welcomed and encouraged to join.

Calling themselves a “new light on campus,” the Suffolk chapter of Project Nur focuses on Muslim culture rather than religion. In their mission statement, they described themselves as a club that will “provide a place for students to go, where in the past they may have felt alienated and/or left without a voice.” Project Nur offers an atmosphere where students can come together and explore the complexity of the Muslim community and Muslim identity.

Project Nur accepts members of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. The club is open to all students in the university as well as staff and alumni. The group’s members want to build a student-led initiative for human rights and civil rights, in an effort to denounce hate speech and violence.

The group will hold meetings twice a month. Location and times are unknown at the moment.

Another new club on campus is a Suffolk campus chapter for Habitat for Humanity. They are affiliated with Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston, and will be working with them to fundraise, advocate, educate and build homes. All students are welcome to join. They will be meeting once a week and organizing events, where they hope to raise money to build homes around the Boston community.

Last but not least, the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, also known as ALPFA, has started a student chapter at Suffolk. The purpose of this organization is to enhance the knowledge of opportunities and trends in the field of accounting and finance to Suffolk students.

They will also provide opportunities to network with professionals and potential employers. They provide access and information about professional workshops, functions and career fairs in business and student environments in the Boston area.

ALPFA, like all the other groups, is open to all types of new members as long as they are dedicated to what the group stands for.

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Louis Rocco

Tue Feb 16 2010 20:04

I know this comment comes over two weeks after the initial publishing of this article, but upon reading it again, I became curious about Project Nur and decided to do a little research.

The first two sentences of the Project Nur constitution preamble read:

"Muslim student groups and the term 'Muslim' traditionally have been rooted in and/or asociated with religion, and less often culture. Totally devoid of any religious underpinnings, Project Nur is a 'new light on campus' in that is creates a distinct and alternative Muslim voice: a civic identity grounded in pluralism and moderate thinking and action, one that dispels the perception of a monolithic Muslim voice."

A few thoughts about the above quoted section of the preamble:

1. It should come as no surprise that Muslims are traditionally associated with religion because without religion (Islam, in this case), there would be no Muslims. Muslim literally means "one who submits (to God)" and the definition of a Muslim is essentially "an adherent of Islam".

2. There would be no Muslim culture without Islam. It is exclusively from Islam (particularly what I understand to be the two most important texts in Islam: the Koran and the Hadith) that Muslims derive the values, norms, beliefs and behaviors that constitute "Muslim culture". Without Islam, and those two texts, a Muslim culture could not exist because, as previously stated, there would be no Muslims.

3. How can a self-identifying Muslim organization, one that stresses the fact that it is a Muslim-led forum and is an off-shoot of the American Islamic Congress, claim to be "totally devoid of any religious underpinnings"? This would be like the Christian Coalition claiming to be totally devoid of religious underpinnings. Project Nur cannot identify itself as a Muslim organization while at the same time claim to be "totally devoid of any religious underpinnings" without appearing to contradict itself.

Now, the reason I bring all of this up is because I find it puzzling that a self-indentifying Muslim organziation appears to be trying to divorce Islam from it's identity. I am not saying that Muslims cannot have a civic identity, but to remove Islam from the identity of a Muslim would appear to make them no longer a Muslim. In fact, without Islam, Muslims, and Project Nur for that matter, would have no identity.

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
- Thomas Jefferson

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