Olivia Love
Staff Writer
Events that have happened over the last month have given Idaho State University a bad reputation on both a national and international level.
However, certain media attention and recent acts committed by some do not describe or even hint towards the copious amount of love and support for the international population shown by the faculty and student body at ISU.
“The recent activities that have happened against some people here on campus or in the community don’t represent the ISU community at all based on my experience,” said Ali Alhramelah a Ph.D. student at ISU who has lived in Pocatello for more than six years.
Alhramelah spoke at the rally on April 18 alongside ISU President Arthur Vailas, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad, Mackenzie Smith, president of ASISU, and others. At this event, people from all over the ISU campus and the Pocatello community gathered to show their support.
When an article published in the New York Times framed the ISU and Pocatello community as groups that do not support or care for their international population, but rather saw students strictly as ATMs, an outpouring of criticism as well as support occurred.
“That article drew national attention to the community so I don’t think it’s unrelated that a week or two weeks after we saw a bunch of Islamophobic videos on campus and shortly after that people started breaking into students’ apartments on campus,” said Zackary Heern, who teaches courses about the Middle East. “I’m not blaming the New York Times article and saying it was their fault, but I think it attracted attention that wasn’t there on that level.”
Heern teaches classes ranging from Arabic to the history of the Middle East. Some of the classes cover general education requirements so he gets many non-history majors. This year, about half of his students are from the Middle East. Some of his students did have tainted views about the Middle East due to the influence of the media, but they have expressed to him that since coming to ISU and having international students as classmates and friends, their views have completely changed.
Students in his Arabic class have become some of the most outspoken students on campus showing support and love for the international students, according to Heern. They have been working on a multimedia platform to stand up for and encourage their fellow students who have just as much of a right to be here as they do.
“We decided to show some solidarity to our fellow Islamic students and show some support,” said Edith Ramirez, who is one of the students in this Arabic class. “Obviously we don’t hate their culture if we’re trying to learn about their language and a lot us are majoring in Middle Eastern studies.”
Heern’s Arabic class inspired Ramirez’s involvement with international students, and is now a friend to many of those from the Middle East. She expressed frustration regarding current events, specifically how authorities have handled the issue.
“If they don’t address what it’s actually about, the people that are doing it for that reason aren’t going to stop, and you’re never going to be showing true support for these students,” Ramirez said.
In his speech, Alhramelah referred to an on-campus organization called PEACE. This acronym stands for People Empowered by Acceptance, Conversation and Education. The purpose of this organization is to create a community where students from different cultures can build relationships with each other through conversation and education.
“The differences between us can give more opportunity to learn from each other,” Alhramelah said. “By understanding the differences between us, we can be more powerful and more united.”
Smith, who also spoke at the rally, described how proactive the student body has been in wanting to help protect the international students. She received many emails from students asking for ways that they can help.
“Our first step is the resolution, this march, this meeting of people to talk about what we feel and how we want to help the people on this campus,” Smith said. “But then we need actions such as making banners letting students know we care, making videos in support of the students on this campus, every student on this campus.”
People are showing support in the ways that Smith has described, but according to Smith, it cannot stop there. As is often the case, the negatives have recieved more coverage than the positives, of which there are many.
Ramirez is passionate about finding impactful ways to show the students that we are all united. According to her, the damage has already been done; it is about where we go from here.
“The haters are not going to win, the bad publicity is done,” She said. “Nothing but good publicity is going to come out of this. Nothing but the other side of the story is going to come out of this. Even if the international students leave, we are not going to stop fighting for this and maybe someday they will be able to come back.”
Ramirez wants to lead by example in the same way that Heern wants to show ISU’s love for all of its students on an international level. This is the first step but so much more work remains, with most of it through education about the area and culture.
“My biggest hope is that somehow we can still encourage international students to come here,” Heern said. “We have this horrible reputation now so I hope that we can do enough to convince not just the people of Pocatello, not just the people of Idaho, but the people of the world and students that are hearing about this stuff from half a world away that this is still a place that they can come.”
An event coming up to combat this hate is a screening of “Jihad for Love” at the Trinity Episcopal Church on Wednesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. It is a documentary about the coexistence of Islam and homosexuality as well as reclaims the concept of jihad as an internal struggle to the path of god.
Additionally, on April 30 a free community picnic will showcase an opportunity for international students, domestic students and the community of Pocatello to unite and stand firm against messages of racism and bigotry. Titled “Let’s Celebrate Kindness and Diversity,” attendees are encouraged to wear their traditional dresses and there will be live music. The event is on the ISU Quad from 2 to 7 p.m. with free hot-dogs, hamburgers and chicken.
People agree that ISU must stretch far beyond merely words, and what we need most is action. The loving community is already present and strong within Pocatello, it just needs to be more known.
“Each and every one of us needs to stand united and do whatever it takes to keep the students on this campus safe and comfortable and make them feel like they are home,” Smith said. “We are all Bengals.”
