Tradition, Inclusion Need Careful Balancing

According to The New York Times ("For Muslim Students, a Debate on Inclusion," Feb. 21), after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a surprising amount of people converted to Islam. It may have been due to curiosity about another religion or possible other factors that influenced people to convert, but masses rapidly switched religions. A large part of that mass consisted of college students eager to explore a different path. Because of this, problems arose in Muslim Student Associations (MSA) on numerous campuses. The students that were joining were not stereotypical Muslims who were raised in a conservative lifestyle with specific rules and strict regulations. Suddenly students who partied excessively, joined MSAs in hope of reformation and possibly a new identity.

However, those activities are severely frowned upon in the religion of Islam. Hence, many campuses are debating whether MSAs in various universities should only allow strictly-practicing Muslims into the group or be more lenient and allow most everyone who wants to be in it join. With more than 200 Muslim Association chapters in colleges across the U.S., the issue is becoming increasingly prevalent. Everyone should have a chance to join the MSA, although they should be respectful of the rules and traditions of Islam.

The problem is that behavior and dress could be unintentionally offensive. It isn't that people already in s MSA are not accepting of others, but they are upset when two members of the opposite sex engage in kissing or holding hands. It is very difficult for college students to rapidly change their lifestyles from partying and hooking-up to religious devotion and gender segregation. While this is understandable, they need to accept the traditions of Islam and follow them, at least for the most part. All religions have people who are strict followers and people who don't practice all parts of the religion. However, some religions are stricter than others. People should realize that if they want to join a conservative religion, they should be prepared to behave and dress in a conservative manner.

The practices in different religions are specific to the belief systems. While many people don't practice what they preach, they should not join a religion if they plan to break all of the traditions. However, a student should not be scorned for wearing a T-shirt that sports a Bud Light logo. There is a fine line between insulting and offending people of a certain religion and trying to be an average college student.

There should be a compromise between not being able to blend in with the crowd in college and partying all the time while belonging to a certain religious group. Many MSAs are becoming more accepting of college life and allowing more diverse students to join. However, there are still some that believe that traditions should be adhered to and that it is possibly futile to belong to a religion and not practice what you preach.

Organizations that are still strict in recruitment should come around and realize that things such as attending parties are a large part of many college students' social life. Even if the student does not imbibe, he or she has the opportunity to meet new people. It seems that there could be a compromise. Perhaps being in a party setting should not be as looked down upon. This way, students can have the opportunity to explore different religions while still being a stereotypical college student. Some will find that the religion is very appealing and they will end up adhering to the traditions, while others will find that the religion is simply not their cup of tea and keep searching. But if students are immediately turned away by organizations, they will never know what it feels like to belong to a particular religious group.

Everyone should be given an equal chance to belong to a group, especially in college when soul searching can lead to who someone is in the future. College is the time to try new things and really explore what is out there. If students don't get the chance to explore the world and its offerings in college, when will they get the chance? Many adults are already set in their views, especially when it comes to religion. If groups open up to curious students, there could potentially be more diversity and fewer tendencies to form cliques. This could not only be beneficial for the students but also for the religious groups themselves. More group recruitment could open more doors and cause expansion within the groups and in many people's lives.

Weekly Columnist Alex Sanders is a 4th-semester journalism and psychology double major. Her column runs on Wednesday. She can be contacted at Alexandra.Sanders@UConn.edu.