As students entered the North Lounge of Campion Student Center Jan. 23 for the Middle Eastern Students Association’s first general meeting, they were greeted with Middle Eastern flags hung on the walls, shawarma and music.
MESA is a new student organization on the Hawk Hill campus dedicated to celebrating Middle Eastern culture, identity and community. Founded by Jomaria Furicchia ’27, the organization aims to bring visibility, representation and Middle Eastern pride to St. Joe’s.
Furicchia, who is Lebanese and Italian, started MESA, and serves as its president, hoping to create a space where Middle Eastern students feel like they belong.
“I just felt like there was no place for Middle Eastern students on campus … I just wanted to bring something to campus to make other students feel like they have a place, a community, a support system,” Furicchia said.
Students like Dareen Alfroukh ’26, PharmD ’28, share the sentiment of wanting someone who understands their cultures, backgrounds and experiences. Alfroukh said she hopes to find more people who had a similar experience in life that she had.
“Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of people from a similar background as myself,” Alfroukh said. “So, it was really hard to find people with more relatable experiences to me and already understands my culture.”
Mariem Bastorous ’28, PharmD ’30, vice president of MESA, was approached by Furicchia with the idea of creating MESA to create that community for Middle Eastern students at St. Joe’s.
“I just thought it was a great way to get us all to meet each other,” Bastorous said. “A lot of us don’t know each other because there wasn’t a space for us to all come together.”
MESA is not just for Middle Eastern students but also for those who want to learn more about Middle Eastern culture. Maeve Higgins ’27, the community outreach representative for MESA, learned a lot about Middle Eastern culture through her friendship with Furrichia, and hopes people “become more educated from going to these events.”
Higgins was suitemates with Furrichia during their first year. They talked together and shared stories about their families’ respective immigration stories.
“My dad’s from Ireland, so we connected a lot by both having immigrant parents,” Higgins said. “I feel like we always support each other. We just connect with each other.”
Alfroukh, who attended the general meeting, felt like there had never been a place made specially for Middle Eastern people growing up, and she hopes that MESA will be able to create that safe space.
“I really hope that it will create a safe space for [students] and let them feel like they’re not the only ones struggling throughout the college experience because it is really crucial, especially in college, to have a support system,” Alfroukh said. “Especially if you’re living away from home, it can get really lonely and really hard, and so I feel like having this community will really help those students to be successful during their time here.”
Yusef Houssein ’29, PharmD ’31, secretary of MESA, said they helped create MESA to allow Middle Eastern students to be comfortable in a space created specially for them to embrace their heritage.
“I know how some people can hide that part of their culture, identity and might blend in,” Houssein said. “But we want them to show that we’re unique, we stand out and we’re proud to be what we are.”
