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Diversity for whom? Institutional requisite for combating Islamophobia and the racialization of Muslim college students

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Diversity for whom? Institutional requisite for combating Islamophobia and the racialization of Muslim college students

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Content Copyright 2024 Milie Majumder
DIVERSITY FOR WHOM? INSTITUTIONAL REQUISITE FOR COMBATING
ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE RACIALIZATION OF MUSLIM COLLEGE STUDENTS
by
Milie F. Majumder
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
August 2024

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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my incredible participants, who, considering all the
emotional and mental turmoil in the world today, took the time to share their insightful and
incredibly impactful realities of what it means to be a Muslim student attending a higher
education institution. May your words spark conversations for change and may generations of
Muslim students feel the positive impacts of what you shared.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim (in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most
Merciful). It is midnight on April 22, 2024, and my home is in a rare silence from the daily
hustle and bustle of life, while my babies sleep. I am in disbelief that I have the opportunity to
write the acknowledgement section of a dissertation that I only dreamed of completing years ago.
It was not easy to get here, by any means. When I began this program at the height of the 2020
COVID-19 pandemic, I was a mom to a beautiful toddler, and the demands of motherhood and
life left me unsure if I could actually do this. As a South Asian Muslim woman, the first in her
family to pursue a Ph.D., and someone who, for the majority of her life, struggled with
identifying her strengths and determining where she could truly effect change, I naturally
experienced imposter syndrome and self-doubt. Fast forward to four years later, after multiple
breakdowns, "ah-ha!" moments, learning opportunities, pure gratitude, and even a second
pregnancy and birth of a second baby later, here I am, standing firm with a goal and passion for
telling the stories of fellow Muslim students. I am so grateful for the opportunity, but I could not
have gotten here without the support of my loved ones.
I would like first to thank my Baba and Ma–the two people who relentlessly taught my
sister and me growing up that there were three things in this world that no one could ever take
away from us: our health, our education, and our right to proudly exist as Muslims in America.
My dad immigrated to the States when he was in his early twenties, unsure about everything in
his life except for his determination to build a future in which his family would reap the benefits
of his hard work. Upon entering the U.S.—specifically Louisiana—he worked 80+ hours/week
while simultaneously attending college, financially providing for himself, and somehow
managing to send financial support to his family back home in Bangladesh. Then, one day, he

iv
hopped on a bus from Louisiana with a few belongings and a dream of better opportunities in
Los Angeles, California. Since then, Los Angeles has always been the place that my family and I
have been blessed to call home. Growing up and even now, one of the most important life
lessons my parents taught me was to be unapologetically Bangladeshi and Muslim. From a
young age, my parents would take us to Bangla School, where we learned to fluently read and
write Bangla, and my mom would take us to Arabic class every day after school so that we could
read and understand the Qur’an. Whenever we were in public spaces and it was time to pray, my
parents would quietly and succinctly find a small corner to offer their prayers. If we ever
expressed discomfort, my mom would remind us that our every intention in this world should be
meant to serve Allah. If we were doing nothing wrong, we should not feel awkward or
uncomfortable for being visibly and outwardly Muslim in any space. I did not understand the
impact of the important lessons and the time and energy they sacrificed then, but now, as a
mother myself, I am deeply grateful. I am here today because of their endless sacrifices and
vision to see us through. I love you both so much!
To my (not-so-baby) sister, my built-in best friend, Adiba, who changed my life the
moment she entered this world and constantly reminds me of my worth, my ability to take on all
life tasks, and to take care of myself when I forget to. I am a thoughtful mother, scholar, and
researcher because of my first role as her older sister. Though she got married and moved away
this past year, she is the first person I want to call whenever something good or bad, small or big,
happens. I thank Allah for listening to my prayers 24 years ago and granting me the little sister I
desperately wanted and needed. I love you more than words! To Rakeen, for being the best
brother-in-law and husband to my beloved sister. His brutal honesty and the way he "hops
around" makes me laugh. Most of all, his kind heart gives me comfort in knowing that my sister

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was blessed enough to find an incredibly loving and supportive partner to live with. I am so
lucky to have met you this past year, Rakeen, and I look forward to many more incredible
memories. To my best friend, Zakiyya (Zak), who has been my person for the last eleven years,
constantly reminding me to be my best and put myself first. Zak is a fearless Muslim woman
who continues to empower women like me to embrace their identities with no apologies. I am so
thankful for our El Camino library days back in 2013. She has forever changed my perception of
friendship and sisterhood. I love you, Zaku!
To my doctoral advisors, who also served as co-chairs for my dissertation, Professor
Shafiqa Ahmadi and Professor Darnell Cole. Over the years, I have learned so much from their
leadership and guidance, including the history and context of systems of education as an
"outsider" holding anthropology and public health degrees prior to entering this program and
how to leverage my skills for success. However, the most critical lessons under Professors
Ahmadi and Cole's leadership came from discussions outside of the classroom and professional
development lessons. They gave me space to burst into tears when the weight of the world felt
like it was on my shoulders (on multiple occasions), they reminded me to be bold and fearless in
my work; they always advocated for my well-being in the program; and most importantly, they
validated my experiences as a mom to two young babies while attempting to build my scholarly
identity. Not only are they incredible advisors, but they are also courageous people whose
humanist approaches to mentorship have shaped me into a thoughtful emerging scholar today.
On this note, I would like to thank my dissertation committee member, Professor Stanley Huey,
whose immense kindness, warmth, and support I will never forget. Following the birth of my
second child in 2022, I was a student in Professor Huey's class. However, because I was always
tired and juggling multiple responsibilities, I rarely made it to his 8 am class on time. Truthfully,

vi
I struggled to keep up, and Professor Huey could have quickly decided to put me down for it if
he wanted to. To my surprise, however, with every interaction I had with Professor Huey, he
reminded me that I was doing a great job, expressing appreciation that I was pursuing a doctorate
degree with children. Shafiqa, Darnell, and Stan, I appreciate your guidance, support, and
mentorship more than I can express.
Laura Romero and Dr. Alex Hazard are two pivotal individuals in my journey as a
doctoral student navigating an institution meant to break down people like me. From the very
first interactions with Laura and Alex, I was blown away by their kindness, not to mention their
timeliness and swift efficiency in being a listening ear or providing any necessary assistance I
was seeking at any given time. They are incredible individuals and mentors, and I am immensely
grateful for their skillful approach to academic advising.
To Dr. Mabel Hernandez, Dr. Ting-Han Chang, and Dr. Tr'Vel Lyons, my academic
family, whose advice, support, and opinions I will hold near and dear to my heart for the rest of
my career. Dr. Hernandez, who has always been my "academic sibling," provided me with
constant support in the background and was always someone I could easily talk to about
anything, including health, relationships, and faith. Dr. Chang, who has been there for me during
some of my very low moments and yet always encouraged me even when I felt like I could not
do it, and whose kind heart and passion to center her participants and students will always
remind me of what is truly essential in this work. Dr. Lyons, whose insightful reflections, kind
words of affirmation, and meaningful work for his communities have taught me so much about
being a thoughtful and intentional scholar. I am so proud and grateful to know you all.
I am grateful to Dr. Diane Lee and future doctor Leila Carranza, who have been my
besties in this program and have always been there for me whenever I needed them. Diane's

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genuine and impactful research on Asian students, and Leila's and incredible insight as a former
teacher continues to give me so much hope for future students. I am looking forward to
continuing this work alongside these two brilliant scholars, who bring so much depth and
necessary perspectives to the challenges we face in education today.
Last but certainly not least, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my incredible husband,
Mohammed, and my two jaan babies, Areez and Izaan. Mohammed, the most important person
in my life–my incredible, supportive, kind husband, the love of my life, the person I have the
honor of building this life with–I could not have done this without you. I hope every person on
this planet gets to experience a kind, soft love like the one you show me every day, even when I
make it difficult. Thank you for taking care of our babies when I needed to finish work or write
this dissertation, for taking care of me, for listening to my rants, for reading my papers even
when they were long and academic, for holding my hand and validating my every emotion, for
believing in me, for being my shoulder to cry on, for gently reminding me of the importance of
faith, for graciously taking my many mean outbursts (sorry!), for filling up my water bottle and
making me breakfast when I was running out the door to make it to school, and for approaching
every conversation and situation with pureness in your heart. I would not have gotten through
this without knowing I could come home to the most thoughtful, gentle person I have ever
known. Moreover, finally, to my babies, Areez and Izaan, whose beautiful faces alone could get
me through anything and everything. It is hard to imagine that I ever lived my life without you.
Being your mom has changed my heart--it has reminded me to fight against injustices and for a
better world for you and your peers. I will never stop advocating for your well-being and
success. Mama loves you so, so much. Tomader-ke chara ami kichui na.
Alhumdulillah (all praise be to God)! It certainly takes a village!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...........................................................................................................................III
LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................................XI
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... XII
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................XIII
CHAPTER 1: CONTEXTUALIZING MUSLIM STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN HIGHER
EDUCATION................................................................................................................................................1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM...................................................................................................................3
MUSLIM ARRIVAL AND CONTENTION WITH THE WEST .............................................................................5
THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT AND BLACK MUSLIM CONTRIBUTIONS TO ISLAM IN AMERICA...............6
DEMOGRAPHICS OF MUSLIMS IN AMERICA...............................................................................................8
DEFINING THE PREJUDICE AGAINST MUSLIMS........................................................................................10
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................13
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................14
ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION...................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK....................................18
LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................................................................................18
Race: An Overview..............................................................................................................................18
Racialization of Muslims in Politics and the Media............................................................................23
Racialization of Muslim College Students...........................................................................................28
The Racial Muslim...............................................................................................................................31
Sense of Belonging and Muslim College Students...............................................................................35
Institutional Support Mechanisms and Muslim College Students.......................................................37
Strengths and Gaps in the Literature...................................................................................................40
THEORETICAL GUIDANCE........................................................................................................................41
Campus Racial Climate .......................................................................................................................42
Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey.................................................................................44
Development of MRSCC......................................................................................................................44
The Racial Muslim...............................................................................................................................49
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................................53
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS.....................................................................................................59
POSITIONALITY ........................................................................................................................................59
RATIONALE FOR QUALITATIVE METHODS ..............................................................................................61
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................62
PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................62
RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................................................................63
Informational Surveys..........................................................................................................................64
Semi-Structured Interviews..................................................................................................................66
DATA COLLECTION..................................................................................................................................66

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Sampling and Recruitment Phase 1: Criterion Sampling....................................................................67
Sampling and Recruitment Phase 2: October 7th and the Impact on Data Collection.......................68
Participants..........................................................................................................................................70
Institutional Settings and Context........................................................................................................73
DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................................74
TRUSTWORTHINESS .................................................................................................................................76
LIMITATIONS............................................................................................................................................77
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ...........................................................................................................................79
RACIAL MUSLIMS IN COLLEGE................................................................................................................79
Defining and Experiencing Islamophobia ...........................................................................................79
Gendered Islamophobia.......................................................................................................................83
On Advocating for Palestine................................................................................................................88
SENSE OF BELONGING..............................................................................................................................92
Defining Sense of Belonging................................................................................................................93
Fostering Belonging as a Muslim Student...........................................................................................95
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT.......................................................................................................................100
Acknowledging Muslim Students: Responding to Islamophobia in Real Time .................................100
Resources for Muslim Students’ Belonging.......................................................................................104
Freedom of Speech and Expression...................................................................................................107
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS.........................................................................................................................111
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND CONCLUSION ........................................................113
DISCUSSION............................................................................................................................................114
Racial Muslims ..................................................................................................................................115
Sense of Belonging.............................................................................................................................128
Institutional Support ..........................................................................................................................131
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE ................................................................................135
Mandatory Diversity Trainings .........................................................................................................136
Counselors to Address Islamophobia ................................................................................................137
Accommodations for Muslim Students...............................................................................................139
Protecting Muslim Students...............................................................................................................140
FUTURE RESEARCH................................................................................................................................143
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................144
REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................................146
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................................................162
SURVEY QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................165
DEMOGRAPHIC CLOSED-ITEM QUESTIONS............................................................................................165
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS......................................................................................................................166
Racial Muslim....................................................................................................................................166
Institutional Support ..........................................................................................................................167
Sense of Belonging.............................................................................................................................167
Additional Support.............................................................................................................................167

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Final...................................................................................................................................................168
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS......................................................................................................................168
INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS..................................................................................................................168
RACIAL MUSLIM/ISLAMOPHOBIA/IDENTITY .........................................................................................168
SENSE OF BELONGING............................................................................................................................168
MRSCC/INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT MECHANISMS ................................................................................169

Copyright 2024 Milie Majumder
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Study Participants and Relevant Demographics............................................................. 71
Table 2: List of Participants in Institutions by Type..................................................................... 74
Table 3: Islamophobia Definitions From Survey........................................................................ 162
Table 4: Sense of Belonging Definitions From Survey.............................................................. 163

xii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework: MRSCC and Racial Muslim.................................................. 56
Figure 2: Survey and Interview Responses Flow Chart................................................................ 71
Figure 3: Relating Findings to the Conceptual Framework........................................................ 115

xiii
ABSTRACT
This phenomenological, qualitative study examined the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim
college students’ sense of belonging and use of institutional support mechanisms in several
institutions of higher education located on the West Coast of the United States. Data was
collected qualitatively using an informational survey with open-ended questions and interviews
to evaluate students' perceptions and descriptions of Islamophobia, sense of belonging, and
institutional support. The research sample consisted of 23 survey responses and 10 interview
responses. Grounded in the Minoritized Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) and
Racial Muslim frameworks, results indicated that Muslim students experience Islamophobia both
on and off-campus, lack proper accommodations to support religious and spiritual engagement,
and have experienced Islamophobia at an increased rate because of the Israeli occupation of
Palestine, which intensified on October 7th, 2023. Muslim women described their experiences
with gendered Islamophobia, and following October 7th, they described a heightened sense of
fear and surveillance due to their gender and religious identities. Overall, Muslim students
described feeling that their institutions made minimal efforts to support their sense of belonging
in tangible ways, and many relied on Muslim student organizations to foster a sense of
community and unity in difficult times. Finally, the findings highlighted the need for institutions
to implement services and mechanisms that acknowledge the impact of political and social forces
on the Muslim student experience. This study underscored the importance of higher education
institutions to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives by
implementing protection for students impacted by Islamophobia and providing culturally,
religiously, and spiritually relevant care for Muslim students considering increasing
institutionalized Islamophobia.

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Chapter 1: Contextualizing Muslim Students' Experiences in Higher Education
Institutions of higher education continue to adapt to diversity, equity, inclusion, and
belonging (DEIB) concerns across America today, most recently attempting to address concerns
that have risen following the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice uprisings after police
murdered George Floyd in 2020. These two major global events have particularly exacerbated
and illuminated pre-existing inequities for students of color in higher education, such as the
decreasing rates of college retention, increased barriers to college access, and the distinct
prevalence of anti-Blackness across college campuses, despite the claim that America had
entered a "post-racial era" after the election of the first Black president in 2008. While
institutions have made significant strides in DEIB efforts to address these inequities, tangible
positive implementation efforts for many minoritized groups remain lacking in higher education,
such as for minority religious groups (Cole & Ahmadi, 2010; Maples, 2023). While religion and
spirituality are considered a salient part of one's identity, higher education institutions have
historically considered addressing these topics contentious (Herrera, 2015). Muslims, or
individuals who practice the Islamic faith, are one such religious minority population whose
needs in higher education institutions have not been adequately addressed, especially in light of
an increase in hate crimes and bias incidents against them due to their appearance and political
views that may or may not be associated with religion (Ahmadi et al., 2021; Pouraskari et al.,
2023; Salinas Jr et al., 2022). In the past few months, it has become apparent how institutions of
higher education have continued to neglect and even perpetuate harm against Muslim student
communities. While Muslim students face myriad challenges ranging from having to demand
prayer spaces on campus the inability to find dietary accommodations such as halal meat and
non-pork options in campus dining halls, they have also been made to be viewed as "terrorists"

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or "terrorist sympathizers" when they engage in political expression on their college campuses
(Ali & Bagheri, 2009; Blumenfeld, 2006; Mutakabbir, 2018; Mutakabbir & Nuriddin, 2016;
Pilkington & Acik, 2020). Despite the lack of accommodations and challenges to their freedom
of expression, some Muslim students rely on social support from their faith communities on
campus to reinforce their sense of purpose and belonging in college (Mubarak, 2007; Nasir &
Al-Amin, 2006). However, little is known about institutional support mechanisms that are salient
to the Muslim college student experience. The question remains: Do Muslim college students
have what they need to support their sense of belonging in higher education?
Broadly, in K–12 and postsecondary education, Muslim students have experienced
systemic forms of oppression due to the racialization of their religious identity (Anwar, 2020;
Cole & Ahmadi, 2010; Reagan, 2020). Since the terrorist attacks that took place on September
11, 2001, the western world has homogenized the Muslim identity at a more systemic level by
associating Muslims as barbaric and terrorists as a political project to label them as "other"
(Jamal & Sinno, 2009). For example, following 9/11, laws and policies were established that
threatened the academic and intellectual freedom of Muslim students and academics (Ahmadi,
2011). Consequently, systemic oppression of social identities, such as racism, xenophobia, and
the intersectionality of these types of oppression, can negatively impact Muslim students' sense
of belonging on college campuses (Faraj, 2019; Nuñez, 2009; Strayhorn, 2012). Since multiple
forms of oppression inform the Muslim experience of systemic oppression, Eagan and colleagues
(2014) found that instances of monolithic categorizations and anti-Muslim racism led Muslim
students to feel as though they were required to introduce their faith to others on college
campuses because they "felt the need to combat negative stereotypes by familiarizing nonMuslims with their faith" (p. 97).

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Existing literature and current events highlight the isolation, fear, and hypervisibility that
Muslim college students experience due to misconceptions and stereotypes rooted in xenophobia
and anti-Muslim sentiment. Institutional support mechanisms, such as academic and social
support, are therefore necessary for students' well-being in the face of these challenges,
especially for those who, like Muslim students, identify with minoritized communities (Means &
Pyne, 2017). For instance, Hurtado and colleagues (1998) confirmed a positive correlation
between religious engagement, academic success, and psychological well-being. In addition,
positive faculty-student interactions when addressing students' college needs enhanced students'
positive campus experiences (Ash & Schreiner, 2016). Cole (2021) reported similar findings in
his study of Muslim college students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs), indicating that they felt more supported and like they mattered when faculty, staff, and
administrators offered support. Alternatively, in the absence of positive interactions with faculty,
staff, and peers within institutions, discriminatory and differential treatment may lead
underrepresented students to underperform academically relative to their majority white, middleclass peers (Eisenberg et al., 2013). With these facts in mind, this dissertation study explored
Muslim college student experiences and the institutional support mechanisms that were salient to
their time in college.
Statement of the Problem
The western world has always politicized the Muslim identity, most recently associating
it increasingly with topics relating to immigration, surveillance, and terrorism (Al-Faham, 2021).
As a result, Muslims face daily religious microaggressions and are perceived more negatively in
society than other minority religious groups, despite their high achievements and contributions to
Western society (Husain & Howard, 2020; Lajevardi & Abrajano, 2019). The American empire's

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ongoing contribution to violence and war against Muslim-majority and Arab homelands in parts
of Asia and the Middle East, such as in countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon,
and Palestine, for example, are one such way Muslims are depicted negatively to justify the
racialization they experience. This violence is continually justified in the west as a means for
Islamophobic racialization, but when Muslims voice disdain against it, they are not viewed as
just un-American but anti-American (Beydoun, 2019).
Contextualizing October 7th, 2023
On October 7th, 2023, the politicization of the Muslim identity once again resurged
prominently when the Israeli occupation of Palestine intensified, and western nations such as the
United States claimed staunch verbal and financial support for Israel by framing Israeli violence
to be "noble and necessary" and Palestinian violence and resistance as "savage and brutal"
(Alsultany, 2023). The western world has used this double standard as an Islamophobic racial
framework to justify the killings of Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians, deeming them deserving
of death.At the time this dissertation is being submitted, over 30,000 Palestinian civilians have
been killed at the hands of the Israeli government, with the majority being women and children.
As we are currently witnessing nationally, this Islamophobic racial framing has affected
Muslim, Arab, and pro-Palestinian students (many of whom also identify as Jewish) because
they are subjected to state-sanctioned repression and silencing of their voices, as well as an
increased threat to their physical safety when they protest this double standard that harms them
and their communities. In response to these global events, the United States Department of
Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently began to investigate Islamophobia and
antisemitism occurring on college campuses. Speaking on these issues, the U.S. Secretary of
Education Miguel Cardona stated in December 2023 that "hate has no place in our schools…and

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schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive education environments where everyone is free to
learn" (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). Ironically, as the Department of Education
investigates rising rates of Islamophobia and antisemitism, hundreds of incidents by higher
education institutions are occurring across higher education to censor and silence Muslim, Arab,
and pro-Palestinian students for their activism, framing them as terrorists and terrorist
sympathizers with little to no support, which calls to question who benefits from these so-called
"safe and inclusive" education environments.
Muslim Arrival and Contention with the west
An understanding of how Islamophobia is rampant in institutions of higher education
requires a larger discussion of how society has continued to uphold anti-Muslim sentiment. In
fact, the contention between the Islamic faith and the western world has continuously operated as
a dichotomy tightly knit into European and American fabric (Iqbal, 2019). Following the
imperial struggle between European Christians and the Umayyad dynasty (a Muslim population),
Muslims were expelled from Spain, and non-Christian society was differentiated into two types
of people – those who were "godless" and those who followed the "wrong" religion (Selod &
Embrick, 2013). Muslim and Jewish groups were placed into the latter category of being the
wrong religion, thus deemed biologically inferior to Christians (Grosfoguel & Mielants, 2006;
Rana, 2011). Consequently, the hierarchy positioned Christians at the top and viewed Muslims
and Jewish groups as second-class (Selod & Embrick, 2013).
Against the backdrop of this newfound religious hierarchy, Muslims first arrived in the
Americas as enslaved Africans in the 15th century, amidst this newfound religious hierarchy
(Rana, 2007). Given African Muslims' high literacy and education rates and fearful that they may
harness power over "their" new land, Europeans relied on ethnic and physical differences to

6
frame African Muslims as "overly tan," "Moor," and "menacing infidels" to establish a racialreligious hierarchy where whiteness and Christianity prevailed in America (Rana, 2007). As
such, white enslavers forced Africans in the Americas to abandon their Islamic faith to "civilize"
them into western culture (Austin, 1997). Further, while 10 to 15% of Africans in America were
Muslims upon their arrival to the country, many were forced to maintain their Islamic faith in
secret (PBS).
The Ahmadiyya Movement and Black Muslim Contributions to Islam in America
Following the first wave of African Muslim arrivals, Muslim immigrants began coming
to the U.S. in the second and third waves, with the second wave occurring in the mid-19th
century from Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon and Syria. During this second wave,
notably in 1920, an Islamic branch known as the Ahmadiyya missionaries emerged in the U.S.
from India when Mufti Muhammad Sadiq arrived in America with the chief intention of
spreading Islam in the country (Bayoumi, 2001). However, upon arrival to the U.S., Mufti Sadiq
was detained by white officials, later writing, "had Jesus fancied to come to America…and
applied under the immigration laws, he would not be allowed to enter the country because…he
[came] from a land which is not [from] the permitted zone" (Bayoumi, 2001, p. 42). Mufti
Sadiq's statement highlighted the profound ways anti-immigrant values and xenophobia dictated
and oppressed Islamic presence to protect whiteness and criminalize Muslims in America.
Despite the challenges Mufti Sadiq experienced with Whites who were "bitter and fearful of his
message," many African Americans became interested in Islam as a spiritual way to escape the
degradation of the systemic oppression they faced daily (Bayoumi, 2001). As a result, historical
accounts indicated that Ahmadi missionary efforts to spread Islam developed into a Muslim

7
brotherhood between Asian Indians and African Americans against racism and oppression
(Bayoumi, 2001).
Within the American context, this newfound realm of spirituality for Black Muslims was
thought to be a precursor of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s (Bayoumi, 2001). While the
contributions and resistance of Black Muslims during the transatlantic slave trade laid the
foundation for generations of Muslims to come to America after them, the establishment of the
Nation of Islam (NOI) was arguably one of the most prominent organizations in the mid-1900s
that continues to have an impact on the Muslim experience in the U.S. today (Hilal, 2022; Lee,
1996). Inspired by the teachings of Mufti Sadiq and the Ahmadiyya, NOI was an Islamic and
Black nationalist movement founded in 1930 by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad to teach racial
independence of Black people "through knowledge of God and of themselves" (National
Archives). Moreover, in 1934, when Elijah Muhammad succeeded Fard Muhammad, NOI
gained popularity among Muslims for its mission of racial independence and the successful
establishment of mosques in urban areas (National Archives). Although he later renounced his
association with NOI, one of the organization's most influential members was Malcolm X, later
known as el-Hajj Malik-el Shabazz. A stark advocate for racial justice and Islamic teachings,
Malcolm X's contributions continue to be one of the most underappreciated aspects of the
Muslim experience in the U.S. (Thange, 2015).
Notably, while NOI gained popularity in America, it further spurred the marginalization
of Ahmadi Muslims in the U.S. and simultaneously developed into an exclusively masculine
narrative of Islamic presence in the mid-19th century, where individuals such as Malcolm X and
Muhammad Ali became the faces of the Islamic movement (Chan-Malik, 2018, p. 45).
Consequently, this phenomenon overlooked the experiences of Ahmadi Muslims and Black

8
Muslim women in the U.S. (Chan-Malik, 2018, p. 45). Moreover, this masculine framing of
these movements in America ignored how Muslim women, men, and communities practiced
religion beyond just engaging in politics. For example, they practiced religion and spirituality by
praying in private spaces and attending mosques. These private acts of worship were crucial
because they relayed Muslim women's "embrace and embodiment of Muslim feelings and
practices as a form of social movement making," which "generated new knowledge, theories and
questions" of the Islamic presence in the U.S. (Chan-Malik, 2018; Kelley, 2022). Thus, ChanMalik argued that Islam's "Blackness" in the United States from the early twentieth century to
the present must center on the contributions of Ahmadi and Black Muslim women, whose
contributions "continually informed the construction and evolution of the contemporary U.S.
Muslim identity, politics, and culture in [many] ways" (Chan-Malik, 2018, p. 5). As such, Islam's
historical and cultural presence in the U.S. is due in large part to Ahmadi and Black feminist
movements that have constituted a set of religious and racial conditions with which non-Black
Muslims must always engage (Chan-Malik, 2018, p. 5). This brief historical context of the
contributions of the Ahmadis and Black Muslims is paramount to the discussion of Muslim
college students today because it depicts the embedded nature of Islamophobia that has long
existed in western institutions and politics. Furthermore, it illustrates that while September 11,
2001, and the terrorist attacks in New York spiked Islamophobia starkly like never before,
Islamophobia has existed for decades as a means to frame Muslims in a negative way.
Demographics of Muslims in America
Following the impact of the Ahmadiyya and Black social movements, the third wave of
Muslim immigration to the U.S. occurred after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality
Act of 1965, when approximately 1.1 million Muslims began migrating to the United States from

9
Middle Eastern and South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan (Hammer &
Safi, 2013). Since then, the Muslim presence has continued to grow in America. In 2020, the
U.S. Religion Census reported that there were 4.45 million Muslims in the U.S., which indicated
a 29% increase from the Pew Research Center report of 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S.
in 2017 (Pew Research Center; U.S. Religion Census). Moreover, following Christianity and
Judaism, Islam is currently the third-largest religious group in the world. By 2060, the Pew
Research Center projects that Islam will be the second-largest religious group in the world (Pew
Research Center, 2017).
To provide a brief depiction of Muslims in America, in 2017, most of this population
(82%) identified as American citizens, including 42% who were born in the U.S. and 40% who
were born abroad but became American citizens (Pew Research Center, 2017). In addition, about
60% identified as first-generation Americans, having been born in another country before
arriving in the U.S., and 18% identified as second-generation – those born in the U.S. and having
at least one immigrant parent (Pew Research Center, 2017). Moreover, Muslims in America are
racially and ethnically diverse. According to the 2017 Pew Research Center report, 41% of
Muslims identified as White, a racial category that the federal government categorized as "a
person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North
Africa". Many Muslims in this category are from countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. However, many hold the belief that this white racial category
fails to accurately represent the self-identity of individuals from the Middle East and North
African (MENA) regions, a topic we will delve into in a later section. Roughly 62% of Muslims
live in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes countries such as Indonesia, India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Iran, and Turkey (Pew Research Center, 2017). Finally, in terms of higher education

10
demographics, Muslim college students constituted 1.6% of the total U.S. college student
population, encompassing an array of racial-ethnic identities (Eagan et al., 2014).
While the Muslim population continues to grow in America, the relevance of these
demographics is to illustrate that despite the monolithic stereotyping of Muslims in the U.S. as
foreigners, terrorists, or exclusively Arab, most Muslims living in the U.S. are American citizens
who come from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Further, this context is salient to
the discussion regarding Muslim college students because it emphasizes the role of higher
education institutions in avoiding the essentialization of the Muslim student population and
further understanding the intersectional nature of their identities. In other words, no single
depiction of what a Muslim is and how they live their lives can be sufficient to enclose the entire
Muslim population. Therefore, considering the stigmatization of Muslims, this dissertation study
explored the narratives of Muslim college students today and emphasized the impact of an
individual’s identities (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, etc.) as central to how they
experienced Islamophobia, described a sense of belonging, and illustrated specific needs for
institutional support, if at all.
Defining the Prejudice Against Muslims
There have been a variety of terms used to define the phenomenon of prejudice against
Muslims. For example, in America alone, we use terms such as "anti-Muslim racism,"
"intolerance against Muslims," "anti-Muslim prejudice," "anti-Muslim bigotry," and many more.
However, of all these terms, the most widely known is Islamophobia (Considine, 2017;
Richardson, 2012). This study utilized Dr. Maha Hilal’s definition of Islamophobia, defined as
"[an institutionalized] phenomenon whereby officially constructed hate and fear of Muslims are
built into structures of the state and society for the pursuit of power and the justification of war

11
and repression" (Hilal, 2022, p. xviii). Hilal's definition of Islamophobia is salient because as
chapter 2 highlights, it acknowledges that Islamophobia is interwoven into institutionalized
structures and systems within society by way of laws, policies, and media rhetoric, to name a
few, which ultimately have an impact on how individuals in society view Muslims. These
phenomena are discussed at more length in the subsequent chapters of the dissertation. Hilal’s
definition also recognizes the role of intersectionality along racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic
lines of the Muslim identity “resulting in stark and different experiences of Islamophobia" (Hilal,
2022, p. xvii). Therefore, the intersectionality of the Muslim religious identity intersects with
their political expression, which includes elements of anti-Blackness, racism, nationalism, and
xenophobia (Hilal, 2022, p. xviii).
In systems of higher education, Islamophobia is an institutionalized agenda to advance
fear and hate against Muslims, and colleges and universities are not immune to this agenda
(Ahmadi & Cole, 2020). Muslim students are harmed in their educational experience because
institutionalized Islamophobia transcends single instances of racism that faculty, staff, and peers
may exhibit towards them and includes the ways academic institutions uphold laws and policies
that are directly harmful to them. For example, academic institutions have participated in
allowing law enforcement, including the FBI and the CIA, to infiltrate Muslim student groups on
campuses to monitor Muslim communities, despite no evidence of their wrongdoing (Anwar,
2020). One example of this infiltration was the implementation of the Student and Exchange
Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a program that the government established in direct
response to the events of 9/11. SEVIS mandated higher education institutions to report
information on nonimmigrant and international students, ultimately turning university
administrators into "government watchdogs" (Rifahie, 2020). According to the United States

12
Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, this system remains in place today to obtain
"essential data" on international students to "preserve national security". There are several
negative consequences of systems like SEVIS, one of which is that they create an environment
where students may hesitate to exercise their freedoms of speech and expression for fear of being
framed as a national security threat (Ahmadi, 2011). In addition, students of international or
immigrant statuses may feel restricted from participating in student movements for fear of
deportation since they might be considered as engaging in "misconduct" (Rifahie, 2020). These
are just a few harmful implications of higher education institutions engaging in surveillance and
policing of Muslim students, which also negatively impact all student populations of color,
despite their claims to be spaces of diversity and inclusion for all students.
Within the last few months, there has been an uptick in Islamophobia, menacing
backlash, and punishment against Muslim and non-Muslim students of color who are engaged in
pro-Palestine activism. Institutions of higher education, although sites of academic learning and
development, are instead upholding institutionalized Islamophobia as a form of racialized state
control (Al-Faham, 2021). As a result, instead of being able to engage in safe, meaningful
conversation around global politics, it appears pro-Palestinian activists, who may or may not
identify as Muslim, face intimidation and the risk of being labeled as radical terrorist
sympathizers. While U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the Biden administration
have begun investigations to combat hate and bigotry in education settings, Islamophobia and
anti-Palestinian racism continue to be sustained, encouraged, and even perpetuated by the very
colleges and universities that are supposed "safe spaces for learning." Considering these events,
Hilal's definition of Islamophobia is essential for the context of this dissertation because it
examines how institutionalized forms of bias, surveillance, and disparaging treatment control

13
Muslim students' speech, freedom of religious expression, and self-censorship as a tactic for
racializing them. As a result, Muslim students’ sense of belonging may be impacted on their
college campuses. The next section outlines the dissertation's organization, delving deeper into
these topics.
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
This dissertation explored the experiences of Muslim college students in higher education
today. Given the omnipresent and rising global geopolitical and social context of anti-Muslim
bias, it is crucial to prioritize the narratives and experiences of Muslim college students. This
will enable higher education institutions, if they genuinely invest in DEIB initiatives for their
entire student population, to better understand how to expand their efforts in the best interests of
minority religious groups affected by anti-Muslim racism. More research is also required to
understand which institutional support mechanisms are salient to the Muslim college student
experience, so that colleges and universities can implement culturally responsive support
mechanisms that can be useful for Muslim students to mitigate Islamophobic interactions overall.
Thus, considering current global events and institutionalized Islamophobia, the two critical
components of this study were: 1) addressing the demographic traits and the political expression
of Muslims that contributed to the racialized, Islamophobic experiences of Muslim college
students in higher education; and 2) how Muslim college students utilized any institutional
support mechanisms, if any, to support their sense of belonging in college. Building on existing
research, I utilized a perspective that considered the stigmatized identity of Muslim college
students to examine their perceived sense of belonging. In addition, whether or not Muslim
students utilized institutional support mechanisms to support their sense of belonging in college

14
was explored. Grounded in the Minoritized Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC)
and Racial Muslim frameworks, the dissertation addressed the following research questions:
1) How has Islamophobia shaped the experiences and sense of belonging of Muslim
college students?
2) How do Muslim students utilize institutional support mechanisms for their sense of
belonging on college campuses, if at all?
Overview of the Research Design
The principal intent of this study was to amplify and center Muslim student voices, given
that their needs have long been neglected in higher education. Thus, the study approach was
guided by a humanist lens, which is rooted in an ethnocentric, community-based effort to learn
about the struggles and experiences of people rather than for purposes of power (Said, 1989).
Aligned with this effort to center their voices, the research design was rooted in
phenomenological methodology to gather the narratives and perceptions of Muslim students
attending large institutions on the West Coast of the United States.
In qualitative research, a phenomenological methodology is utilized by researchers who
have identified a phenomenon and seek to assign meaning to the "what" and "how" participants
have experienced it (Moustakas, 1994). Not only does a phenomenological methodology inform
the descriptions of the phenomenon being studied, but it is also an interpretive process for the
researcher (Creswell, 2007; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). With respect to making these
interpretations, researchers engage in several strategies to make sure the participants' narratives
are centered, such as epoche (or bracketing), to minimize the presence of pre-existing biases and
judgments that may affect the themes of the study. The phenomenological approach, which relies
on participants to define their experiences and make sense of these realities, provided a deeper

15
understanding of Islamophobia at a time when most Muslim students face targeted surveillance
and anti-Muslim sentiment. As a supplement to participants' narratives, any documents or
relevant information about the institutions were paramount to contextualizing participants'
surroundings and were considered the primary and appropriate data collection methods
(Tomaszewski et al., 2020).
In the first phase of data collection for the study, I identified several racial, ethnic, and
religious-centered spaces that may be occupied by Muslim students to recruit participants who
met the inclusion criteria that informed the phenomena being studied. This approach was
pertinent to answering the above two research questions in a way that centered Muslim students'
narratives, experiences, and perceptions and contextualized the structural descriptions of their
experiences to inform their perceptions of campus climate (Creswell, 2007). Since I identify as a
Muslim woman in higher education, I acknowledged my own biases and perspectives that may
have presented themselves in the way I interpreted data from participants, but I planned to
maximize objectivity and validity by engaging epoche methods, data triangulation, and member
checking (Carlson, 2010; Fusch et al., 2017). To more deeply engage participants in one-on-one
interactions with me, I asked students to fill out a preliminary informational survey with
demographic and qualitative-oriented open-ended questions, and secondly, if they expressed
interest in an interview, I spoke to them using a semi-structured interview protocol. I utilized
Dedoose coding software to conduct the qualitative analysis and identify themes that informed
the findings, which will be discussed more deeply in chapters 3, 4, and 5.
Organization of the Dissertation
The purpose of this dissertation was to challenge the "good Muslim, bad Muslim,"
majoritarian dichotomy, which is a employed by whiteness to make negative stereotypes about

16
people of color harmed by Islamophobic laws, policies, and rhetoric (Mamdani, 2004; Solórzano
& Yosso, 2002). This dichotomy is explained in more detail in Chapter 2. Thus, the five chapters
in the dissertation offered insight into how this dichotomy impacts Muslim students' experiences
in higher educationThe first chapter presented the historical context, the overarching problem,
and the two components the study aimed to address: 1) the demographic traits and political
expression of Muslims that contributed to the racialized, Islamophobic experiences of Muslim
college students; and 2) the ways in which Muslim college students utilized institutional support
mechanisms, if any, to enhance their sense of belonging in college. The research questions,
research study design, and terms presented in the first chapter guided the study throughout its
duration.
In the second chapter, a more detailed examination of the existing literature is presented,
which highlighted what we currently know about Muslim college students' experiences,
including elements of Islamophobia, sense of belonging, and institutional support that was salient
context for the dissertation. The theoretical guides for the study, the Minoritized Religious and
Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) and the Racial Muslim Frameworks, are introduced to
review and explore the relationship between Islamophobia, the racialization of Muslim college
students, and institutional support mechanisms that can address religious, spiritual, and political
diversity in higher education.
Chapter three presents a discussion of the two frameworks that work together to guide the
phenomenological study. I argued that the phenomenological study design is the best approach
because it provides a deep, nuanced understanding of the Muslim student narrative in the context
of how they describe Islamophobia, sense of belonging, and institutional support that is salient to
them. Chapter four informed the study's research findings guided by the phenomenological

17
methodology and related methods. In this chapter, I provided the study's findings by connecting
the MRSCC and Racial Muslim frameworks to the data, illuminating Muslim students'
perceptions. Chapter five consisted of the study context, discussion of the findings, relevant
recommendations for policy and practice, and the conclusion.

18
Chapter 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
The purpose of this chapter is twofold— first, it presents a review of pertinent literature
that revealed the stigmatized Muslim identity in the west and encompasses overarching notions
of race, whiteness, and racism in society—all paramount topics to understanding the racialized
experiences of Arabs and Muslims in the context of higher education. Research showed that
these concepts, coupled with ongoing anti-Muslim politics and media rhetoric, contributed to the
sustained racialization of Muslims in the west. In this chapter, unique challenges that Muslim
students experience in postsecondary education is discussed to highlight how their "Racial
Muslim" status has shaped their sense of belonging. The literature review is concluded by
examining and defining institutional support mechanisms and summarizing essential concepts to
identify the strengths and gaps in the existing literature this study aimed to address.
Considering the information from the literature review, the second purpose of this chapter
is to introduce the theoretical frameworks that guide the study, which are Ahmadi and
colleagues' (2019) Minoritized Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) and Aziz's
(2021) Racial Muslim frameworks. Both frameworks were salient to this study because, in
conjunction, they consider the politicized, contentious nature of the Muslim identity in the
United States and the role of colleges and universities in addressing diversity concerns related to
minority religious populations in higher education.
Literature Review
Race: An Overview
The social construction of race has played a role in the imperial project to legitimize the
social exclusion of marginalized communities and protect whiteness (Harris, 1993; Khan, 2003).
While eugenicists have unsuccessfully attempted to utilize pseudoscientific methods to prove a
biological basis of race, many scholars posited that race is not a biological but a social construct

19
that operates as a means to designate "the other" as subject to colonialism while simultaneously
praising aspects of its exoticism, eroticism, and primitiveness (Khan, 2003, p. 1). Eurocentrism, a
modern construct of western prejudice that Europeans and North Americans use to judge nonwhite individuals based on each other, thus forms the basis of racism against people of color
(Amin, 2009). Relatedly, racism was defined as the belief that race is a fundamental determinant
of human capacities, wherein racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular
race–it is the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political
advantage of another (Merriam-Webster).
Over the past few decades, scholars have increasingly examined race relations in
American institutions. For example, drawing from critical legal studies and radical feminism,
critical race theorists postulated that race is ordinary and prevalent in the everyday experiences
of most people of color in America (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). As exemplified throughout the
global history of western conquest and slavery, eurocentrism starkly exemplified the ways white
individuals received societal benefits that were not equally extended to people of color on a
systemic level (Harris, 1993). Institutions still maintain whiteness as the foundation for structural
racism, as evidenced by the systems, laws, and policies implemented to marginalize people of
color in society, restricting their access to healthcare, housing, education, and financial security
(Bailey et al., 2021).
Arabs and the White Racial Category
Physical proximity to whiteness provides certain societal benefits to white and whitepassing individuals. However, this privilege may not necessarily be the case for people of Middle
Eastern and North African (MENA) descent (otherwise known as Arabs), who were federally
categorized as white in the United States Census but identify as majority-Muslim (Pew Research

20
Center, 2017). Scholars have argued that MENA-identifying individuals are depicted as nonwhite in western countries for a variety of different reasons related to religious identity, and
therefore, the benefits of whiteness do not extend to them (Aziz, 2021; Maghbouleh et al., 2022).
It is important to note that not all individuals of MENA descent are Muslim, but all face the
consequences of institutionalized Islamophobia, regardless. Lipsitz (2006) stated that this reality
was because whiteness reinforced immigrant exclusion as a form of structural racism. In
immigration policies, for example, there were historical connections between Arab identity and
whiteness in America since racial classification as white was crucial for immigrants who were
seeking naturalization in the U.S. (Gualtieri, 2001). Early 1900s policies essentially demanded
whiteness as a foundation for granting citizenship to immigrants, leading to multiple instances
such as the persistent denial of citizenship to a Syrian man until a 1915 U.S. court decision
granted him citizenship due to the federal classification of Syrians as white (Gupta, 2006). In
another case, Indian immigrants were only naturalized as U.S. citizens in 1923 by arguing in
court that they were white to gain access to fundamental rights (Gualtieri, 2001; Gupta, 2006).
As exemplified by these instances, whiteness may seem to benefit individuals who appear to be
demographically white. However, for Muslims, their religious freedom in the west has always
been racially circumscribed by the Anglo-Saxon Protestantism that whiteness employs (Aziz,
2021). Consequently, the U.S. government's classification of MENA individuals as white
continues to ignore potential disparities and inequalities this population of individuals face
(Maghbouleh et al., 2022).
Racism in Higher Education
In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that students from
racial/ethnic groups of color in higher education had increased significantly since the 1980s,

21
while representation for white groups stayed the same. Although minority enrollment has
increased significantly over the last few decades, racism remained pervasive in academic
institutions because there were still significant barriers for underserved students accessing
pathways to higher education, which were further exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic
(Rodriguez-Planas, 2022). In response to these challenges, the Biden-Harris administration
announced that it would focus on increasing socioeconomic and racial diversity in colleges,
stating that these efforts would include strategies such as increased investment in targeted
recruitment, outreach, and pathway programs, as well as cultivating welcoming and supportive
environments for students of underserved populations (U.S. Department of Education, 2023).
While this call for action is critical, combating racial discrimination requires higher education to
engage on a deeper level with the fact that universities continue to reproduce oppression in
American society rather than fight it (Baldwin, 2021). A stark example is that while enrollment
rates of minority groups in higher education continue to rise in America, the cost of attendance
and living expenses at universities have also been increasing annually, with little to no support
for the students these institutions claim to serve (Baldwin, 2021). In a recent study, students of
color from a college-preparatory high school in a West coast city of the U.S. who held various
minority backgrounds faced many unique challenges transitioning to college, including barriers
to college retention, financial aid literacy, academic support, and post-college challenges,
including paying off college loans after graduation (Ahmadi et al., 2023).
The above examples highlighted systemic racism by way of more extensive academic
policies and procedures that affected the educational outcomes of students of color. However,
often unnoticed are the daily racist interactions students of color experience, which may result in
adverse psychological and academic outcomes, including lower academic achievement, lower

22
educational attainment, and a diminished sense of belonging (Museus & Maramba, 2011; Smith
et al., 2007). Faculty, staff, and students on college campuses had the ability to play a vital role
in perpetuating these instances of racism by subjecting students of color to unwelcoming campus
culture (Barber et al., 2020). As a result, students of color looked to their communities to
mitigate the racism they experienced (Lu & Newton, 2019). Consequently, students of color may
feel that their needs are unseen and overlooked within their institutions. In a study of Latinx
students by Call-Cummings and Martinez (2017), findings suggested that racist
microaggressions were persistent in students' everyday interactions with their white teachers.
While they were tired of these experiences, they shied away from speaking out because they
feared facing retribution. In another study, Lu and Newton (2019) found that even in the context
of racially and ethnically diverse Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving
Institution (AANAPISI) and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) settings, Black college
students experienced racism and feelings of invisibility even among their Asian and Latinx peers.
These studies highlighted the need for a disaggregated, intersectional approach to understanding
how racism occurs for different student groups rather than treating one solution as a "lump-sum"
that works in favor of all student populations.
The value of white dominance, even in supposedly diverse education settings, was upheld
in various spaces at the expense of students' well-being, as exemplified in the studies mentioned
above. Realistically, while many institutions may name racial equity as their top priority in
mission statements or institutional strategies, whiteness prevails as dominant in higher education
(Evatt-Young & Bryson, 2021). One reason was that institutional leaders lacked a raceconscious, asset-based approach to their proposed solutions (Ash et al., 2020). In the following
section, I contextualized the Muslim college student experience as instances of racism as they

23
relate specifically to Muslim college students. The following section begins by examining how
anti-Muslim racism in politics and media continues to reproduce Islamophobia consistently.
Racialization of Muslims in Politics and the Media
Though at first glance, issues of race and racism do not appear to be relevant to religious
experiences, the fluid nature of racism did indeed influence Muslims and Arabs due to cultural
and religious traits that contributed to their "othering" (Moallem, 2005; Modood, 2005). This
was due to racialization, defined as a process of racial formation and "a socially constructed
identity, where the content and importance of racial categories are determined by social,
economic, and political forces" (Omi & Winant, 2014). Furthermore, racialization (or racialized
experiences) can be understood as a unique process by which groups of people become
delineated as being a part of a particular "race," and racialized groups are created in place of race
(Dalal & Race, 2002; Hochman, 2019). In his seminal work, Edward Said claimed that in the
case of Muslims and Arabs, their racialization as "others" was originally an ontological effort by
Europeans to determine who could submit to the power dynamics of European colonization
(Said, 1978). Said argued that, in essence, Orientalism, or the style of thought that separated the
"Orient" (eastern cultures) from the "Occident" (western cultures), was a deliberately constructed
form of geopolitical, sociological, and historical knowledge production to "hold down the
Oriental world", an epistemology that purposefully positioned Arabs and Muslims in the
discourse of always needing to be saved, backward, and oppressive when compared to those who
lived in the west (Said, 1978). Orientalism is a critical framework for better understanding how
Muslims were racialized long before 9/11 as a purposeful scheme to advance western
imperialism. To this day, Islamophobic stereotypes perpetuated by relevant social, economic,
and political forces often paint Muslims negatively. As a result, Muslims have been racially

24
constructed in a manner that is distinct from other religious and ethnic groups (Aziz, 2021).
Often, the stereotypes they encounter may result in discrimination and unequal treatment based
on their perceived race (Aziz, 2021).
It is important to note that, as Edward Said argued, the racialization of Muslims did not
happen overnight or without purpose. Instead, it was a calculated western effort to justify state
surveillance of Black and Brown communities (Hilal, 2022). Following 9/11, former President
George W. Bush and his administration mobilized the term "War on Terror" to justify both
national security and American intervention in Muslim countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
Whether known as the "war on terror" or "war against terrorism," the War on Terror was a media
frenzy, causing a shift in public opinion regarding Islam and Muslims that often did not question
or challenge the assumptions or the built-in worldviews of this framing (Lewis & Reese, 2009).
Consequently, tens of thousands of news reports, features, and editorials described, justified, and
normalized anti-Muslim policies ranging from national security to the Iraq war (Lewis & Reese,
2009). In media and films, deliberate myth-making tactics were employed to promote
misrepresentation and stereotypes of Muslims, delineating them as anti-feminist, lacking
ordinary lives, and somehow associated with terrorists (Akram, 2002; Raja, 2019). Media
discourse played a very specific, pivotal role in the way Muslims were delineated, utilizing a
"brainwashing" effect on viewers and creating archetypes of Muslims that were both inaccurate
and dangerous to the safety and welfare of Muslims globally (Bakali, 2016). A study that looked
at more than 900 Hollywood films found that Muslims were portrayed in such a way that people
were led to believe that the Arab identity was synonymous with the Muslim identity (Shaheen,
2003). Moreover, people viewed Arabs as heartless, brutal, uncivilized, and religious fanatics,
expressing hatred against Christian and Jewish groups (Shaheen, 2003). In the same study, it was

25
found that only 5% of Arab film roles depicted “regular” and “human” characters. Consequently,
western society continues to perceive Muslims by way of the stereotypes depicted on TV rather
than forming perceptions of Muslims the way they live (Abbas, 2011). Americans have only
come to know Muslims through prisms of terrorism and barbarism, thus birthing the concepts of
"us" vs. "them" and "fundamentally good" vs. "evil" when comparing the United States and the
Muslim population (Jamal & Sinno, 2009, p. 207; Mamdani, 2004). Lajevardi's study further
confirmed that the media stigmatized Muslims more negatively than other American groups in
major news, leading to powerful negative implications on public opinion and policy support for
Muslim freedoms in the United States (2021).
Though Islamophobic sentiment is omnipresent in western society and surged after the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two recent events marked another stark resurgence of antiMuslim bigotry in recent years–firstly, through the persistent negative depictions of Muslims
during the 2016 Donald Trump campaign and presidency, and secondly, through the anti-Muslim
rhetoric surrounding the recent events in Israel and Palestine, which recently escalated again in
October 2023. Due to these political and global events, Muslims have been subjected to a wide
range of adverse outcomes, such as increased anti-Muslim hate crimes, bias, and profiling by law
enforcement agencies (Ahmadi et al., 2021; Ellis & Duster, 2023; Muller & Schwarz, 2018).
When it came to the 2016 presidential election, Trump raised anti-Muslim sentiment that
continued to remain a hot topic through campaign season (Kazi, 2017; Khan et al., 2019). During
his presidency, Trump implemented policies that targeted Muslims, such as Executive Order
13769, otherwise known as the "Muslim Ban," which sent a clear message: Muslims never have
and never will belong in America because they cause bad things to happen (TIME Staff, 2015).
This Muslim Ban was titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United

26
States," ultimately exemplifying what scholars defined as "Islamodiversion," or the act of
blaming Muslims to divert the inevitability of dire economic and political parties (Louati, 2016).
Despite facing legal challenges, the Supreme Court upheld the ban, which temporarily banned
immigrants from entering the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran,
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. However, notably, despite many claims that
Saudi Arabia was involved with the terrorist attacks on 9/11, it remained missing from the list of
countries, mainly due to America's imperial foreign interest in oil (O'Brien, 2018). Evidently,
while the U.S. government sought to ban Muslims from entering the country, this deliberate
omission of Saudi Arabia from the Muslim Ban list highlighted America's ongoing efforts to
vilify Muslims while also ensuring their imperialist interests in the Middle East were not
compromised.
Against the backdrop of blatantly xenophobic immigration policies in recent years, the
Pew Research Center found that in 2017, 68% of Muslims in the United States were worried
about their place in American society due to Donald Trump and his policies. For example, Ngo
(2017) posited that Trump's successful presidential campaign to "Make America Great Again"
barely veiled the intentions to "Make America White Again," which was centralized on
criminalizing immigrants in the process by generalizing Mexicans and Middle Easterners as
"bringing crime, bringing drugs, and [being] rapists" (TIME, 2015). As a result, Muslims in the
U.S. found themselves at the forefront of political affairs once again, whereby their identities
were targeted and safety was compromised (Kazi, 2017; McCaw, 2016). Following the
presidential election in 2016 and the anti-Muslim legislation enacted in 2017, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation reported 307 anti-Muslim hate crimes, indicating the highest number of
discrimination and racist crimes against the Muslim population since the 9/11 attacks (FBI,

27
2017). In 2018, the midterm political elections led to a peak in the number of assaults against
Muslims, a 19% increase from the previous year, primarily targeting American children, youth,
and families perceived to be Muslim (Arain, 2018).
Muslims have experienced an increase in Islamophobia following October 7th, 2023, and
the escalation of the Israeli occupation in Palestine (Council on American-Islamic Relations,
2023). Wadea al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American-Muslim boy in Illinois, was
fatally stabbed while he slept in the comfort of his bed because his white landlord believed that
"Muslims must die". Al-Fayoume's death shook the Muslim, Arab, and pro-Palestinian
communities, solidifying that tensions were heightening in response to October 7th. Additionally,
Jewish and Muslim activists advocating for a free Palestine reported fearing that their speech
would endanger their well-being (Paquette & Wax-Thibodeaux, 2023). CNN reported that the
rampant fear and anxiety that Muslims felt sparked a fear of a second coming of a "9/11-era
Islamophobia" (Ellis & Duster, 2023). In November 2023, the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) received a record number of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents
following the start of the war, representing a 216% increase in reported incidents since the
previous year (Ellis & Duster, 2023).
The racialized nature of Islamophobia has had harmful implications for the safety of
other communities of color as well. One such community is the Sikh, which has seen the effects
of Islamophobia since 9/11 (Ahmadi et al., 2021). For example, the U.S. and Canada have seen a
sharp increase in Islamophobic attacks on the Sikh community since 9/11, with many instances
of violence against Sikh individuals occurring because they are mistakenly targeted in racist
attacks that are directed at Muslims and are Islamophobic in nature (Sian, 2017). Following
October 7th, an elderly Sikh man named Jasmer Singh was killed in New York in a hate crime

28
motivated by anti-Muslim bigotry in November 2023 (Nolan, 2023). In a separate incident, a
man brutally beat a 19-year-old Sikh bus passenger in October 2023, stating about the victim's
turban, "We do not wear that in this country!" (Lenthang, 2023). As highlighted by this increase
in hate crimes, the intersections of race and religion have made it so that minority religious
groups like Sikhs have ‘become uniquely subjected to racialized Islamophobic suspicion and
profiling. The next section discusses Islamophobia as it occurs in higher education
Racialization of Muslim College Students
As introduced above, although prejudice against Muslims preceded the events of 9/11,
anti-Muslim stereotypes have evolved in response to global sociopolitical challenges, emerging
xenophobic policy implementation, and media rhetoric that often confuses Muslims with
terrorism or extremism. The way Muslims are racialized in larger society has also had an impact
on how Muslim students, staff, and faculty are perceived on college campuses. For instance,
sociopolitical events caused heightened large-scale tension that threatened the civil rights and
well-being of Muslims in the United States daily (Allen, 2007; Iqbal, 2019). Hence, Ahmadi
(2011) discussed the implications of the PATRIOT Act, signed by former President Bush after
9/11, which infringed on academic freedom by constraining the free speech and knowledge
exchange of international scholars and students in higher education institutions. This
implementation of the PATRIOT Act in 2001 caused Black and Brown communities to become
targets of hate crimes and assault, as well as increased hyper-racialization, policing, surveillance,
and microaggressions (Ahmadi, 2011; Blackwood, 2016). Islamophobia, therefore, is not just an
abstract and discursive concept but has shown up as institutionalized, concrete policies that
resulted in widespread adverse effects on Muslim individuals and, by default, Muslim college
students as well (Mir & Sarroub, 2019).

29
The past two decades have depicted Islam as an adversary in the global media, and the
emergence of globalized Islamist movements has increased the politicized discussions around
Muslim identity (Abukhattala, 2004; Razack, 2008). Islamophobia as a project to racialize
Muslims and Arabs has relied on unrelenting surveillance and a securitized gaze to promote
immigrant exclusion and advance whiteness (Al-Deen, 2023). For example, Trump's political
rhetoric and implementation ultimately had implications for the immigrant and international
student communities in higher education, who increasingly became the targets of violence and
discrimination based on their race, religion, ethnicity, and national origin (Rose-Redwood &
Rose-Redwood, 2017). The continual adverse climate against Muslims post-Trump affected
recruitment, enrollment, employment, curriculum, pedagogy, institutional climate, and student
experiences in American higher education (Ahmadi & Cole, 2020; Anwar, 2020; Mir & Sarroub,
2019). As such, students of color, particularly those relying on student visas for educational
purposes in the U.S., suffered immensely in everyday life, academic work, and travel (Bellmore
& Hacker, 2020; Mir & Sarroub, 2019). Ritter and Roth (2021) further argued that due to
Trump's xenophobic policies, international student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities
dropped by 10%, highlighting the direct implications for enrollment declines. Namely, despite
the U.S.'s longstanding status for international collaboration and diplomacy, immigration bans
from Muslim countries decreased student enrollment of Iranian and Saudi Arabian students
(Bellmore & Hacker, 2020; Redden, 2018; Ritter & Roth, 2021).
Racialization of Pro-Palestinian Advocates in Higher Education
Still reeling from the negative anti-Muslim impacts of the Trump administration, Arab,
Muslim, and pro-Palestinian students once again found themselves at the center of backlash,
hateful messages, and threats to their livelihood for advocating for Palestine. Palestinians and

30
their allies, who advocated for an immediate ceasefire and the end of American military and
financial support for Israel, were frequently at the heart of life-threatening intimidation tactics,
most of which have continued to be accepted and allowed in and around college campuses.
Shortly after October 7, 2023, a "doxxing billboard truck," organized by a conservative
watchdog group, drove near Harvard University's campus, displaying the names and photos of
Harvard students who signed a collective statement calling on Israel to end their violence against
Palestinians while claiming that these students were anti-Semitic. Students displayed on the truck
stated that they felt forced to retract their signature from the statement in exchange for removing
their personal information from the truck (McNamara, 2023). One student recalled that their
mother received calls nonstop at home because her information was displayed on the truck
(McNamara, 2023). In another instance, students affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine
(SJP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, found themselves in danger when they were
verbally and physically attacked by pro-Israeli students who sought out the SJP students to
gather to watch a Palestine teach-in event on campus. In January 2024, Palestinian students and
their allies attending Columbia University were similarly endangered when they gathered on
campus for a divestment campaign to call for an end to university support for Israel when they
were attacked by skunk spray. This illegal, toxic chemical weapon sends victims to the hospital
and can have life-threatening health consequences. Upon further investigation, it was determined
that the perpetrators were two fellow Columbia students who disguised themselves in the crowd
by wearing the keffiyeh (a Palestinian scarf) but were former Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers
who wanted to harm the students, calling for divestment. These examples are only three of
hundreds of similar situations occurring in American higher education institutions that are
damaging to Muslim college students' safety, well-being, and sense of belonging. Following

31
these incidents, Palestinian students and allies argued that this did not occur in a vacuum but in a
hostile environment where Islamophobia was sustained over time as a form of racialized control,
even in education settings, with no consequences for the transgressor (Ertel, 2024). Recent
physical and verbal assaults on Muslim and Arab students expose a distinct double standard,
where the institutionalization of Islamophobia punishes, polices, and monitors students for their
advocacy against the American empire and its involvement in settler colonial violence abroad.
However, those who inflict verbal and even physical harm on them face less severe penalties. As
such, Muslim students feel invisible, their needs neglected, and their safety compromised
(DeCuir, 2023).
The Racial Muslim

Racialization of minority religious groups occurs against the backdrop of a racialreligious hierarchy that protects whiteness (Aziz, 2021). To this point, racial-religious hierarchy
not only racially privileges whiteness but also protects white religious identity–specifically,
Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, stating that "religious identity in certain contexts functions as a
racial marker; the social construction of whiteness is shaped as much by religious identity as it is
by skin color, hair texture, facial features, and other phenotypic characteristics" (Aziz, 2021, p.
5). Selod (2015) confirmed this phenomenon through their study, which argued that when a
white Muslim woman puts on a hijab (religious headscarf), her proximity to whiteness is
diminished, for she is now viewed primarily as a Muslim before she is considered white. The
nuances of the Muslim identity surpass the racial characteristics of one's identity and emphasize
religious expression as a primary means of racialization (Abdul Khabeer, 2017). As a result,
"Racial Muslims" are racialized against the norm of Anglo-Saxon Protestant values, and there is
more aberration in their religious freedoms when compared to other groups (Aziz, 2021, p. 6).

32
Notably, in the United States, the typification of the Racial Muslim developed due to the white
supremacist ideology that functioned through theological myths and symbols garnered from
Anglo-Saxon Protestant nationalism (Aziz, 2021, p. 7; Joshi, 2021; Weed, 2017, p. xvi). This
specific type of nationalism asserted that all aspects of America should remain a "Christian
nation" despite the significant presence of religious minorities in the country (French, 2021).
White Protestant nationalists asserted their superiority and even considered themselves above the
law, a privilege not available to minority religious groups. A recent example of this form of
white religious privilege was the 2021 insurrection when Donald Trump supporters openly
utilized Christian symbols and proudly proclaimed their Christian identities while they executed
violence in the nation’s Capital (French, 2021). In stark contrast, if Muslims engage in political
expression in any form, even engaging in peaceful protest, they are considered the "suspect race"
(Aziz, 2021). Their political expression, regardless of citizenship status and racial appearance,
has the potential to be perpetually anti-American, often even viewed as terrorism and a threat to
the United States (Aziz, 2021; Beydoun, 2019; Kabir, 2023).
Anglo-Saxon Protestant nationalism originated in the twentieth century, when Protestant
European politicians and elites in the U.S. portrayed Jewish Europeans as the rightful owners of
newly occupied Palestine land, today known as Israel. In order to be able to colonize the land,
these European elites relied on Orientalist and Islamophobic tropes to dehumanize Palestinians
and portray them as barbarians with no right to the land they lived on, despite their longstanding
existence on the land (Aziz, 2021). These tactics of dehumanizing Palestinians and empowering
Israelis in political and social western discourse continue to be a political project today
(Alsultany, 2023; Aziz, 2021; Khalidi, 2020). As a result, the quest to protect whiteness can also
be considered exceptionalism. Where the existence of the state of Israel is encouraged,

33
supported, and applauded even at the cost of violently occupying Palestinian land and killing
Palestinians because Israelis were chosen by God to own this land, while Palestinians deserve to
die (Alsultany, 2023; Aziz, 2021). This exceptionalism is the reason why American institutions
continue to silence Muslim, Arab, and pro-Palestinian activism (Aziz, 2021). Thus, since
October 7, many Arabs and Muslims have found themselves at the forefront of the suspect race
classification because of their advocacy and activism for Palestine. As a result, an Islamophobic
smear campaign has targeted Muslims and non-Muslims, jeopardizing their well-being and
safety (Irshaid, 2023). Given America's long legacy of racial oppression, education systems such
as K-12 and postsecondary institutions act as interconnected social enterprises with a profound
impact on racialized individuals (Endo, 2021). Although presented as diverse, welcoming, and
secular spaces centered on the mission of co-learning, minority religious groups continue to be
stigmatized in higher education. Due to obstructive views of the Muslim identity, there has been
a repeat of charges against public K–12 schools that have been intolerant towards Muslim
students, thus damaging their self-esteem and identities (Abbas, 2005; Shaik, 2006). Orientalist
depictions of Muslims being pro-war, oppressive, intolerant of diversity, and supportive of
corrupt politicians negates Muslim students' sense of belonging in their experiences with
American schooling (Abukhattala, 2004). In addition, non-dominant religious groups have been
considered "abnormal" or "deviant" in American life when compared to Protestantism (Joshi,
2021). Joshi (2021) also argued that the origins of white Protestant supremacy are so ingrained in
our society that they often go unnoticed and dominate the rules about who belongs and what is
acceptable in public discourse. For example, Christian prayer is offered at graduation ceremonies
and often opens public meetings, and some significant establishments are closed on Sundays to
observe religious practices (Joshi, 2021). Meanwhile, Muslims struggle to find spaces to offer

34
their prayers while in school, and often, their schedules may not align with prayer times (Cole,
2021; Mutakabbir & Nuriddin, 2016).
Against this backdrop of normative Protestant values in America, minority religious
groups and those who do not identify with religion can face significant challenges with their
mental well-being and overall engagement with religion, even in higher education (Bowman &
Toms Smedley, 2013). Researchers argued that the established Christian symbols, prayer, and
Christian worship spaces, even at secular institutions, may be constant reminders of the
normativity of Christianity in the U.S., which may cause non-Christian youth to disengage with
religion altogether (Gilliat-Ray, 2019). Within this context, Muslim students attending American
higher education institutions may experience similar disengagement, especially at Predominantly
White Institutions (PWIs), where racial exclusion and racialization of students of color occur to
advance whiteness (Jiang, 2020). Although higher education institutions must protect students
from harm, their Eurocentric and Protestant heritage can inherently and even unconsciously
implicate faculty and staff in racism and Islamophobia, stemming from an overall lack of
knowledge about Muslims and Islam (Niyozov & Pluim, 2009). As Racial Muslims, students
continue to be drawn into national security discourse, often under suspicion as security agencies
work with institutions to "prevent radicalization" of "vulnerable" Muslims (Abdul Khabeer,
2017). To this point, Abdul Khabeer (2017) argued that Muslims' status as simultaneously
"citizen" and "suspect" is formed through state surveillance, which relies on Muslims to be
perceived as a racial type (Abdul Khabeer, 2017; Selod, 2015). College campuses reproduce this
racialized surveillance when they ban student groups for speaking out against state violence, or
when faculty, staff, and students face intimidation tactics like doxxing and hate threats. In the
next section, I discuss these phenomena related to Muslim students' sense of belonging.

35
Sense of Belonging and Muslim College Students
Belonging has been conceptualized as a fundamental human motivation to belong in
society, a general feeling of connectedness where one feels that one matters or is necessary to
others (Maslow, 1962; Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981). Understanding the importance of
community support, membership, and overall sense of acceptance as indicators for academic
success, Strayhorn (2018) defined a sense of belonging in the field of education as "students'
perceived social support on campus, a feeling or sensation of connectedness, and the experience
of mattering or feeling cared about, accepted, respected, valued by, and important to the campus
community or others on campus such as faculty, staff and peers" (p. 4). Existing research studies
in higher education have found that students' sense of belonging is statistically significant and
qualitatively salient to their educational experience, transition to college, campus climate, and
academic persistence (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Strayhorn, 2019).
Systemic oppression relating to social identities, such as racism and xenophobia, and the
intersectionality of these types of oppression can negatively impact students' sense of belonging
on college campuses (Strayhorn, 2012). Moreover, because of systemic oppression, students of
color are at risk of being problematically devalued, categorized as "not able to fit in" or
"struggling to succeed" (Endo, 2021). Often, these categorizations come at the expense of
students feeling like they must strip themselves of their cultural, ethnic, and religious values to
fit in (Endo, 2021). For example, a study of Filipino American college students found that
cultural challenges about their race, gender, culture, and climate they faced posed significant
challenges to their adjustment in college and belonging at their respective institutions (Maramba
& Museus, 2011). To better examine the role of academic institutions in reproducing systemic
oppression against marginalized students, education scholars have increasingly begun to use the

36
sense of belonging construct (e.g., Cole, 2021; Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Mohamed & Bryan,
2020; Museus & Maramba, 2011). For example, studies have operationalized a sense of
belonging to examine the experience of different marginalized student populations, such as
Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students (e.g., Cole, 2021; Museus & Maramba, 2011;
Nuñez, 2009; Tachine et al., 2016; Brooms, 2019). Most recently, scholars have begun to explore
the intersectional nature of international and first-generation student group experiences and their
sense of belonging (Glass et al., 2015; Museus & Chang, 2021). The consensus across studies
showed that discrimination and bias against marginalized student populations undermined their
positive psychological connections in college (Cole, 2021; Hussain & Jones, 2021).
Additionally, the level of hostility present on college campuses was a salient aspect of how
students of color perceived their sense of belonging (Nuñez, 2009). When students of color
described the absence of a strong sense of belonging to their college campus, they were more
likely to report dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, depression, substance abuse, and suicide, as well
as decreased academic performance and retention (Hurtado & Ruiz Alvarado, 2015; Museus &
Maramba, 2011; Stebleton et al., 2014).
Islamophobia as a form of racialization has had notable impacts on the Muslim
experience in the U.S. (Cole, 2021; Wang et al., 2020). Rippy and Newman (2006) found that
Muslim students who experienced racialized religious discrimination were more likely to
develop severe paranoia and trauma. Fine and Sirin yielded similar results in their study, which
highlighted that those who identified with the Muslim identity reported higher levels of
perceived discrimination (Fine & Sirin, 2008). Following the 2016 Trump presidency, there was
a considerable decline in the mental health of Muslim students. In contrast, before the election,
22% tested positive for depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder, and 34% reported these

37
symptoms following the election (Abelson et al., 2020). Considering established Christian
privilege and anti-Muslim sentiment at their institutions, Muslims continue to navigate a variety
of challenges that impact their college experience, such as the inability to schedule classes
around daily prayers, the inability to find prayer space, and receiving accommodations for
religious occasions such as the fasting month of Ramadan and bi-annual Eid celebrations
(Ahmadi et al., 2019; Mutakabbir & Nuriddin, 2016). Ahmadi and colleagues (2023) found that
Muslim students, even in the context of racially and ethnically diverse environments at HBCUs,
experienced Islamophobia. However, they found that the cultural congruence of clothing within
the Black community provided a respite, as Muslim students felt that their peers understood the
practice of veiling from a cultural perspective. Although these studies provide insight into how
Muslim students belong to their college campuses, the literature is scarce, especially given
current events in which Muslim individuals are being targeted at an alarming rate. Given these
challenges, I examine existing literature on institutional support mechanisms that postsecondary
institutions currently utilize to support marginalized student groups, such as Muslim students.
Institutional Support Mechanisms and Muslim College Students
Means and Pyne (2017) argued that even after students have successfully transitioned
from high school to college, they may often experience instances of classism, racism, and other
instances of oppression related to their marginalized identities. Although college admissions
materials often depict universities as unified, holistic, and supportive, students from marginalized
backgrounds may often find themselves in friendly, hostile, empowering, or disempowering
environments (Pyne & Means, 2013). For example, in a qualitative study that examined ten lowincome, first-generation college students, intersecting systems of oppression, such as racism,
classism, and sexism, shaped their college experiences. However, institutional support structures

38
provided key sites for disrupting discrimination and bias on campus (Means & Pyne, 2017).
Regarding minority religious group experiences in college, Bowman and Toms Smedley (2013)
observed that non-Christian students and students who did not identify with any religious group
reported lower levels of university satisfaction, parallel to the findings from the literature that
examines and Asian student experiences.
This reveals the impact of campus climate on the experiences of minority student
populations; for example, within a hostile campus climate, students of minority religious or
racial backgrounds may not report high levels of university satisfaction when compared to their
Protestant peers (Bowman & Toms Smedley, 2013). However, some studies reveal ways to
alleviate low levels of education satisfaction and improve the sense of belonging. For example,
students perceived that when their institution supported them, they were more likely to engage
on college campuses, resulting in better psychological well-being and academic performance
(Means & Pyne, 2017). Forms of ethnic identity belonging, which is the extent to which ethnic
minority individuals feel like they belong to their ethnic group, coupled with positive social
experiences on college campuses, also proved to be beneficial for students of color (Cress &
Ikeda, 2003; Phinney, 1992). To this end, this study will employ Means and Pyne's (2017)
definition of institutional support, which encompasses social and academic spaces, such as
departments, programs, residence halls, classrooms, and student organizations, to support the
learning environments of students of color. Collectively, research suggests that college students
might be more resilient against racism when they feel they belong to their own racial/ethnic
groups, experience positive social interactions, and can connect positively with faculty and staff
on campuses.

39
Given the unwavering presence of anti-Muslim sentiment and overall Islamophobia even
in academic spaces, previous findings highlighted the need for institutions of higher education to
support Muslim students to successfully implement diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
(Cole & Ahmadi, 2010). In a study of Muslim college students attending HBCUs, Cole (2021)
found that support from campus administrators and faculty was one type of support that
positively impacted Muslim college students' sense of belonging. This contributes to findings
from a previous study regarding institutional support conducted by Nasir and Al-Amin (2006),
which found that Muslim college students' use of interfaith spaces on college campuses helped
them feel more secure about their religious identity. Moreover, when their campus community
was knowledgeable and welcoming about Islam and had access to physical space for prayer and
wudhu (the Islamic cleansing process before prayer that requires specific washing of face, arms,
and feet), they were more likely to feel like they belonged. Overall, Muslim students felt a more
positive sense of belonging when they had access to halal foods and special accommodations
during the month of Ramadan, as well as a diverse, supportive Muslim student group on campus
(Nasir & Al-Amin, 2006). For many Muslim students, the presence of Muslim Student
Associations (MSAs) nationwide has had a profound impact on Muslim students on college
campuses because they have provided them with the opportunity to meet fellow Muslims and to
come to terms with their identity as Muslims in America (Mubarak, 2007). As a result, campus
organizations, initiatives, and accommodations that promote the Muslim community and
inclusion can also play a critical role in creating a positive college experience for Muslim
students. While these existing studies highlighted the role of faculty and peer interactions in
mitigating Islamophobic incidents, less is known about specific trauma-informed departments or
programs that have been implemented across higher education institutions to address the

40
evolving sociopolitical impact of Islamophobia on Muslim college students. Therefore, in the
next section, I will reiterate critical aspects of this literature and what this research aims to
accomplish.
Strengths and Gaps in the Literature
A review of the existing literature revealed Muslims' historical and current challenges in
the western world. As scholars across disciplinary fields of study have highlighted, Muslims are
often subjected to racism at the intersections of their racial, religious, and ethnic identities.
Furthermore, social and political factors such as anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric have an
impact on the livelihood, well-being, and belonging of Muslims in America. As a result, the
current literature provides insightful empirical evidence that highlights how Muslim racialization
occurs in America as an Orientalist effort to vilify and otherize them. Scholars have also begun
to examine the myriad ways the Trump presidency once again criminalized the Muslim identity,
uniquely contributing to the resurgence of racialization Muslims faced over the past few years.
Although profoundly impactful and relevant to the Muslim experience, many of the
existing race scholarship has historically been studied in a Black/white paradigm due to
America's history with slavery (Selod & Embrick, 2013). Accordingly, scholars have begun to
examine the role of the intersection of race and religion in the racialization process of other
minority groups, such as Arabs and Muslims (e.g., Ahmadi et al., 2020; Ali, 2014; Aziz, 2021;
Hilal, 2022; Mutakabbir & Nuriddin, 2016). While research on these topics is growing, there
remains a lack of research, specifically within the field of education, that investigates the role of
colleges and universities as they continue to operate at the intersections of white-Christian
privilege to uniquely reproduce the racialization of Muslim students. While Muslims continue to
experience an onslaught of anti-Muslim hate crimes, bias, and institutionalized Islamophobia,

41
what remains to be known is how Muslim college students perceive their belonging in college
and whether trauma-informed institutional policies and practices are set in place to address these
concerns. As it stands, much of the literature on Muslim college students' salient institutional
support mechanisms is outdated, dating back to ten or more years ago.
Currently, as this research study is being conducted, Muslim students are being targeted
at an unprecedented rate on college campuses. Despite decades-long empirical evidence and
advocacy efforts to halt the harmful effects of Islamophobia, higher education institutions have
largely ignored the needs of Muslim students. In this moment, as anti-Muslim rhetoric is spewed
left and right under the guise of anti-Palestinian racism, Muslim students have been subjected to
severe Islamophobic racialization. Given the volatile nature of American immigration policies
and the criminalization of the Muslim identity, institutions of higher education must make
tangible efforts to protect Muslim student populations from harm. As such, building on what we
know regarding Muslim college students' sense of belonging, my research engages in a raceconscious, intersectional lens to conduct a phenomenological study of large institutions of higher
education on the west coast of the United States. In doing so, this study seeks to determine their
experiences with Islamophobia, their sense of belonging, and which institutional support
mechanisms are salient to Muslim college students, if at all. In the next section, I present a
conceptual framework that contributes to the dearth of research regarding the racialization of
Muslims in the context of higher education.
Theoretical Guidance
In the first section of this chapter, I presented a literature review exemplifying the
prevalence of Islamophobia in the United States, noting its effects on Muslim college students'
experiences, well-being, and sense of belonging. Further, drawing on existing literature, I

42
discussed how Muslim college students used certain forms of institutional support, such as their
interactions with faculty and their membership in the MSA, to mitigate the damaging effects of
racism and increase their sense of belonging. However, more research is required to determine
which institutional support mechanisms are salient to the college experiences of Muslim students
as Islamophobia continues to evolve. As such, the layout of this chapter is as follows: First, I
briefly review Hurtado et al.'s (1999) Campus Racial Climate model and the subsequent
development of Bryant et al.'s (2009) Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey as
foundational for the development of Ahmadi and colleagues' (2019) Minoritized Religious and
Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) framework. Next, I introduce Sahar Aziz's Racial Muslim
framework (2021), which explores the intersections of white dominance, American empire, and
racial-religious hierarchies that construct five different types of "Racial Muslims": a) religious
dissident, b) religious, c) secular dissident, d) secular, and e) former Muslim. Finally, I combine
aspects of the MRSCC and Racial Muslim frameworks to examine how Muslim college students
are racialized based on a) their demographic and religious characteristics (i.e., skin color,
Muslim-sounding name, observance of religious headscarf or growing a beard) and b) their
political views that are considered to be "anti-American" to discuss the role of institutions
education to foster a welcoming campus climate for minority groups whom Islamophobia
impacts, ensure their academic freedom is not differential, and support their sense of belonging
and wellness.
Campus Racial Climate
Campus climate is a term that refers to the views, attitudes, psychology, behaviors,
standards, perceptions, and expectations that define higher education institutions and their
campus community (Hart & Fellabaum, 2008; Peterson & Spencer, 1990). Scholars noted that

43
campus climate is critical to students' college experiences because it encompasses the dynamics
of diversity in student interactions (Chang et al., 2011). In higher education, Hurtado et al.
(1998) posited that central to this diversity was "the concept that students are educated in distinct
racial contexts." Further, these contexts are shaped by external and internal forces, such as the
impact of governmental policy, programs, and initiatives and sociohistorical forces on campus
racial climate (Hurtado et al., 1998). For instance, financial aid and affirmative action are
examples of government policies that uniquely interact with sociohistorical events occurring
outside the institution to impact student learning outcomes within the institution (Hurtado et al.,
1998). Ultimately, these interactions influence how people view diversity in society (Hurtado et
al., 1998). Hurtado et al. (1999) argued that policy environments regarding diversity suggested
that states would continue to play an essential role in determining the events and happenings of
the nation's public campuses. Even twenty years later, Hurtado et al.'s claim is salient to the
Muslim student experience due to the institutionalized Islamophobic, xenophobic, and antiimmigrant policies that assail the Muslim experience in America (Ahmadi et al., 2019; Hurtado
et al., 1999).
Hurtado et al.'s (1999) campus racial climate model specifically developed four
dimensions to their work: a) historical legacy of exclusion/inclusion, b) compositional diversity,
c) psychological climate, which were the perceptions and attitudes of the campus climate and d)
behavioral climate, which were the formal and informal interactions between groups. Building
from Hurtado et al.'s racial climate model, Bryant et al. (2009) developed the Campus Religious
and Spiritual Climate Survey to center religious and spiritual climate. In the next section, I
provide a brief overview of this effort.

44
Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey
To assess the past campus climate, researchers tended to focus on the racial/ethnic
identity of students in the campus community. While this area of focus was necessary, the
Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey (CRSCS) was developed by Bryant et al. (2009)
to understand further students' perceptions of campus climate dimensions about religious and
spiritual campus climate and their worldview diversity. According to Bryant et al. (2009), a
worldview is a guiding life philosophy based on a particular religious tradition, spiritual
orientation, non-religious perspective, or some combination thereof. Thus, utilizing Hurtado et
al.'s (1999) model on campus racial climate, Bryant et al. (2009) utilized the CRSCS to
specifically assess structural worldview diversity (the perceptions of representation of various
religious and non-religious groups on campus), psychological climate (perceptions and attitudes
between and among different worldview groups) and behavioral climate (the formal or informal
interactions among students of different worldviews). To understand the relationships between
religious/spiritual life and campus climate, researchers have begun to utilize the CRSCS in their
work (Mayhew et al., 2014; Rockenbach & Mayhew, 2013; e.g., Mayhew et al., 2016).
Development of MRSCC
In addition to Hurtado et al.'s (1999) and Bryant et al.'s (2009) work, Ahmadi and
colleagues (2019) argued that the CRSCS could be further expanded to include Milem et al.'s
(2005) work as a fifth dimension, which accentuated the organizational and structural dimension
of the academic institution. This organizational and structural dimension referred to the "faculty
and administrative support that students receive, curriculum taught, resource allocation, and
campus policies that govern students' religious and spiritual diversity" and student centers or
organizations that "are either cultural or dogmatic in their religious affiliation…such as Muslim

45
Student Association (MSA) or Muslim Student Union (MSU)" (Ahmadi et al., 2019, p. 180;
Cole et al., 2020, p. 303). Thus, Ahmadi and colleagues (2019) developed the Minoritized
Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC), which expanded on this proposed fifth
dimension of the CRSCS to "acknowledge the external and internal forces that affect the
capacity of an institution to accommodate religious differences and foster a positive, welcoming
learning environment for all students" (Cole et al., 2020, p. 303).
The five dimensions of MRSCC are as follows:
1. Religious or faith-based institutions are likely to have a different influence than nonreligious or secular institutions.
2. The amount of religious diversity within an institution
3. Perceptions and attitudes regarding the campus's religious and spiritual climate
4. Informal and formal inter-religious interactions between individuals and groups
5. The extent to which an institution's organizational and structural aspects facilitate or
support religious and spiritual diversity, including the norms, practices, and policies
driven by institutional agents.
Below, I explain each of these dimensions.
Religious or Faith-Based Institutions and Differential Influence
Cole et al. (2020) described this dimension as the historical legacy of religious affiliation,
arguing that religious or faith-based institutions are likely to have a differential influence on
students compared to secular institutions. This dimension specifically expanded on Hurtado et
al.'s (1998) notion that a college's inclusionary or exclusionary past is relevant to students'
experiences in that institution because it can determine and influence current diversity practices
(Ahmadi et al., 2019). Further, Ahmadi et al. (2019) argued that students' experiences are

46
impacted twofold: 1) by the institutional type (public vs. private) and 2) by the institution's
religious affiliation (i.e., whether it was historical vs. current). Additionally, this context is
essential because it is "likely to impact the embedded nature in which cultural values and
traditions are recognized or become implicit as the normative practices" (Ahmadi et al., 2019, p.
180). For example, if secular universities practice Christian privilege, admissions processes and
university holidays are affected, thus resulting in a differential influence on students' academic
experiences.
Religious Diversity Within an Institution
Structural diversity was defined as the number or representation of individuals from
diverse backgrounds, which is significant because it conveys whether maintaining a multicultural
environment is an institutional priority (Hurtado et al., 1998, 1999). Subsequently, Milem and
colleagues (2005) expanded the concept of structural diversity to consider the "compositional
diversity" of campus, which provided clarity regarding institutional support mechanisms that
were explicitly implemented to advance religious diversity on campus. Notably, Milem and
colleagues (2005) argued that compositional diversity should be viewed as an educational
process that can enhance learning outcomes rather than exclusively focusing on increasing
marginalized student populations as a method for diversity itself. Within this line of inquiry,
Cole and Ahmadi (2010) indicated that Muslim students were more likely to interact with peers
who identified differently than them when compared to their Christian and Jewish peers. Further,
compositional diversity encompasses the intersections of one's identities. For example, Ahmadi
and colleagues (2019) noted that "diversity in terms of ethnicity can also include representation
of different religious traditions on campus." Moreover, when studying Muslim students, Cole

47
and colleagues (2020) considered student characteristics such as race, gender, and international
student status.
Perceptions and Attitudes Regarding Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate
The third dimension of the MRSCC focuses on the psychological climate of the
institution, namely the perceptions and attitudes regarding the campus's religious and spiritual
climate (Cole et al., 2020). As Hurtado and colleagues (1998) defined, the psychological climate
encompasses individuals' views of group relations, how institutions respond to diversity,
perceptions of discrimination, and attitudes students hold toward groups of different racial and
ethnic backgrounds. Thus, external forces such as sociopolitical events and governmental
policies impact students' perceptions and future interactions with racial and ethnic groups
(Hurtado et al., 1998). Ahmadi and colleagues (2019) expanded on this notion by including the
religious values and social dispositions that students bring to college. In their 2020 study, Cole
and colleagues conducted a study to determine if there were significant differences in Muslim
students' experiences with insensitivity on campus, coercion on campus, and negative
interworldview engagement based on differing race, gender, and international student status.
Overall, their findings showed that Muslim students were less likely to report negative
interactions with faculty, staff, and peers in their campus community when faculty and staff
engaged in religious and interfaith-related diversity training or when an institution emphasized
religious diversity (Cole et al., 2020).
Informal and Formal Inter-Religious Interactions
The fourth dimension of the MRSCC examines the behavioral climate of the institution,
which circumscribes the status of social interactions, the nature of interactions between
individuals from different racial/ethnic backgrounds, and the quality of intergroup relations

48
(Hurtado et al., 1998). Furthermore, this dimension of the MRSCC focuses on who students
interact with while in college and how those interactions can provide insight into the institution's
campus climate. Ahmadi and colleagues (2019) expanded this to examine the interfaith
involvement that students pursued in college, both in and out of the classroom. These types of
involvement can look like Muslim students' engagement with interfaith action student groups,
community service opportunities, and the religious diversity or cooperation included in
mandatory student events (Cole et al., 2020).
Organizational and Structural Aspects to Support Religious and Spiritual Diversity
Milem et al. (2005) expanded Hurtado et al.'s (1998) campus racial climate model. They
proposed a fifth dimension of campus climate, specifically examining colleges' organizational
and structural aspects, such as student services, racial/ethnic community centers, and
racial/ethnic student organizations. Ahmadi et al. (2019) further expanded and argued that an
institution's organizational and structural aspects could also facilitate or support religious and
spiritual diversity (Cole et al., 2020). These aspects can include, like–but are not limited to–the
establishment of an interfaith supportive space on campus, whether the institution has mandated
required religion/religious diversity courses for undergraduate students, institutional policies
regarding religious diversity and accommodations for religious holidays, and optional campus
diversity training for faculty and staff (Cole et al., 2020). Furthermore, college organizational
aspects are represented through religious-oriented student centers and student organizations, such
as the Muslim Student Association or Muslim Student Union (MSA or MSU) (Ahmadi et al.,
2019). In addition, these types of organizations are salient because they offer religious minority
students the structural and organizational representation to support services specific to their
religious engagement on campus (Ahmadi et al., 2019).

49
The Racial Muslim
Against normative Protestant values in America, the Muslim identity has always been
viewed as deviant from society. In 2004, Mahmoud Mamdani posited that this discernment of the
Muslim identity by the west was based on the Orientalist notion that Muslims have always
lacked any form of culture, are incapable of any form of creativity, and always need to be saved
from the outside (Mamdani, 2004, p. 767). Based on this assertion, Mamdani presented the
dichotomy of the "good Muslim, bad Muslim," a framework that asserted that in the eyes of the
U.S. government, the "good Muslim" aligned geopolitically with the U.S. In contrast, the "bad
Muslim" did not. Building on Mamdani's framework, Aziz developed the Racial Muslim
framework, arguing that religious freedom has always been bound by race in American society.
For example, Christian conservatives who actively spew hate speech against Muslims do not
believe they are infringing upon religious freedoms. Instead, they "reconcile the contradictions
by redefining Islam by placing it outside the purview of religion… [by claiming that] Islam is not
holy; it is man-made by savages" (Aziz, 2021, p. 14). Consequent to this form of racial-religious
discrimination, Aziz posited that Muslim immigrants who come to the U.S. are racially
categorized for their religious identity and ultimately must "Protestantize" their faith, such as
stripping their culture, foreign language, lifestyle, and dress not only to blend into society but to
access socioeconomic privileges and legal rights of first-class citizenship (Aziz, 2021, p. 11).
Furthermore, Aziz asserted that the racialized Muslim identity subsumes physical appearance,
even though physical traits like skin color, hair color, and facial features are part of the
racialization process (Aziz, 2021, p. 7).
Socially, Racial Muslims are not afforded the full religious freedoms that are supposedly
granted to religious minorities in the U.S. Aziz argued that Muslims have been considered the

50
"suspect race." Regardless of citizenship status, Muslims can never fully be American and, even
further, are a threat to national security (Aziz, 2021, p. 6). These findings are homogenous to
Ali's (2014) study, which found that Muslim students on college campuses felt that they were
viewed as "perpetual suspects" no matter how much they contributed to or were active on their
college campuses. With this in mind, a central factor of the Racial Muslim framework is that
Anglo-Protestant values of whiteness dictate which Muslims are "too Muslim" in the U.S.
Therefore, Aziz argued that the racialization of Muslims occurs due to white-Christian
dominance, America's hegemonic relationship with the Middle East, and how the Muslim
identity has imputed racial attributes. In this context, it is crucial to understand that the dominant
group that is racializing Muslims determines their level of racialization and what they deem
acceptable. As a result, the treatment that Muslims receive from their peers, neighbors,
colleagues, and even the American government is dependent on how those individuals perceive
them (Aziz, 2021, p. 10). Aziz noted that Muslims who consistently pray, wear the hijab
(religious headscarf), and speak out against harmful American politics experience greater
racialization than those who engage in drinking and premarital sex and remain silent on relevant
political issues (Aziz, 2021, p. 6). Within this framing of the Racial Muslim, then, the extent to
which the state racializes Muslims in the U.S. is dependent on two factors: Muslim individuals'
levels of religiosity and their political expression (Aziz, 2021, p. 7). While acknowledging that
this framework cannot capture the essence of every single individualistic experience, Aziz
offered insight into how the religious practices and political beliefs of Muslims influence the
degree to which they are racialized. Furthermore, Aziz breaks these "types" of Racial Muslims
into five categories: 1) religious dissident, 2) religious, 3) secular dissident, 4) secular, and 5)
former Muslim. Below, I provide an overview of each of these categories.

51
Religious Dissident Racial Muslim
A "dissident" disagrees with an established religious or political system, organization, or
belief (Merriam-Webster). A Racial Muslim who is a "religious dissident" is therefore defined by
Aziz as someone who "vociferously challenges the American empire abroad and racism at home"
(Aziz, 2021, p. 8). As a result of the intersection of their political views and religious identity,
the religious dissident is the type of Racial Muslim who experiences Islamophobia most
frequently and is subject to the highest degree of harm from national security practices (Aziz,
2021, p. 9). In addition, this specific category of Muslims is depicted in the media and political
discourse as barbaric, uncivilized, terrorist, and a threat to U.S. national security. An effort by
mainstream U.S. media to acclimate these types of Muslims into Protestant normative culture,
paired with the fear of discrimination if they voice their opinions about American politics, results
in immigrant and religiously devout Muslims remaining silent on policies that are harmful to
their communities.
Religious Racial Muslim
Aziz described this next type of Racial Muslim as one who engages in ritual religious
practice, such as "praying five times a day, fasting during Ramadan, socializing with other
Muslims, wearing a hijab or growing a beard, and attending the mosque regularly" (Aziz, 2021,
p. 8). Without political dissidence, while this Muslim is considered "less dangerous," their
participation in Islamic rituals is enough for them to be scrutinized by the U.S. government. Due
to their visibility as Muslims, coworkers and peers may be influenced by Islamophobia and
believe that these Muslims are "waiting to Islamicize America from within" (Aziz, 2021, p. 8).
Secular Dissident

52
Aziz identified secular dissident Racial Muslims are those Muslims who are secular in
lifestyle and do not engage in religious practices. These individuals, however, hold political
dissident views about American politics. Aziz asserted that people still attribute their political
views to their Muslim identity, even if they may not appear religious. For example, Muslims who
oppose American imperialist occupation in Muslim-majority countries or are starkly against the
Israeli occupation of Palestine are considered national security threats. As Aziz stated, Muslims
like these are considered disloyal, even though they may not necessarily be practicing the Islamic
faith. As a result of this form of racialization, Muslims who engage in domestic and foreign
activism against American politics, such as taking part in the Black Lives Matter or Palestinian
rights movements, are suspects who "should be investigated, deported, and prosecuted for
challenging white supremacy at home and American imperialism abroad" (Aziz, 2021, p. 9).
Secular
"Secular Muslims" are those Muslims who neither identify as religious nor do they
oppose American policy (Aziz, 2021, p. 9). Secular Muslims are those who are close to
whiteness because they do not outwardly identify as Muslim, and their lack of religious practices
allows them to avoid racialization by peers or colleagues. As an example, a secular Muslim may
engage in drinking alcohol, eating non-halal meat, and having premarital sex (Aziz, 2021, p. 6).
Again, whether these actions align with Islamic teachings is not the focal point of this
typification of the Racial Muslim, but rather how these Muslims are perceived within white
normative beliefs. In addition, secular Muslims are those who pose no national security threats
because they support American imperialism and foreign policy and believe America is
colorblind. Within Mamdani's framework, the secular Muslim would, therefore, be considered a
"good Muslim" through the lens of whiteness. Aziz further posited that the media and political
discourse use secular Muslims as a positive example to assert that not all Muslims are terrorists.

53
Former Muslim
Lastly, Aziz identified the "former Racial Muslim" as one who has completely
abandoned their Muslim identity and fully conformed to whiteness– typically those who convert
from Islam to Protestantism. These types of Muslims appear in media and news outlets to
"validate claims that Islam is violent, evil, misogynist, and antithetical to western civilization"
(Aziz, 2021, p. 10), thus advancing misconceptions and stereotypes about Muslims. In particular,
Aziz argued, former Racial Muslims mobilize gendered Islamophobia to validate the western
belief that Muslim women need saving (Aziz, 2021, p. 10). According to Raja (2019), gendered
Islamophobia consists of "the ways the state utilizes gendered forms of violence to oppress,
monitor, punish, maim and control Muslim bodies" (p. 278-279). Gendered Islamophobia is
utilized to view Muslim women who veil as a form of control, therefore perpetuating the
stereotype that Muslims who veil are often viewed as submissive, uneducated, and oppressed; at
the same time, they are perceived as "terrorist sympathizers, supporters and potential terrorists
who pose a threat to the security of the state" (Raja, 2019, p. 279). Aziz stated that although
Former Muslims can escape the worst consequences of Islamophobia, they are still considered
racial outsiders.
Conceptual Framework
In higher education, academic freedom includes the rights of faculty, staff, and students
to engage in intellectual debate without fear of censorship or retaliation (Nelson, 2010).
However, due to their "Racial Muslim" identity, these religious freedoms often do not extend to
Muslim students in America (e.g., Ahmadi, 2011; Anwar, 2020; Aziz, 2021). As discussed in
earlier sections of this dissertation, while academic institutions often operate as secular entities,

54
many still reproduce white-Protestant privilege, often at the expense of academic freedom and
the sense of belonging of non-Christian students.
The MRSCC and Racial Muslim frameworks jointly highlight the impact that various
systems have on the racialization of Muslims, thereby affecting the experiences of Muslim
students in higher education. The Racial Muslim framework, which discussed the Orientalist
notions that paint Muslims as deviant, barbaric, and uncivilized compared to Protestant values, is
crucial to understanding Dimension 1 (the historical legacy of religious affiliation) of the
MRSCC. For example, against the normative backdrop of white, Christian-centered practices,
Muslim students may feel pressured to strip their cultural, religious, and spiritual practices to
"Protestantize" their faith. Moreover, the intersections of whiteness and Christian privilege,
combined with the American government’s imperialist actions in Arab and Middle Eastern
countries, justify the surveillance and policing of Muslim students who dissent from American
politics. In this context, Dimension 2 (structural diversity) of an institution emphasized the need
to implement policies that protect Muslim students from rising anti-Muslim hate crimes and
speech, and from being labeled as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers when engaging in political
activism critical of the government.
As Aziz noted in the Racial Muslim framework, the racialization of Muslims depends on
the dominant group's perceptions of "acceptable" practices. Thus, external factors such as
policies, media, laws, and global events also influence how non-Muslim individuals and groups
view and interact with Muslims. These factors impact the experiences of Muslim college
students, as highlighted in Dimensions 3 (psychological dimension) and 4 (behavioral
dimension) of the MRSCC. External influences affect individuals' views on group relations,

55
institutional responses to diversity, perceptions of discrimination, and attitudes toward different
racial and ethnic groups.
Considering the various systems and external factors informing the Racial Muslim
identity, along with the dimensions mentioned above, Dimension 5 of the MRSCC
(organizational/structural aspects) underscored the institutional role in implementing policies,
practices, and resources to support religious and spiritual diversity on campus. This can be
achieved through the establishment of interfaith supportive spaces, religious-oriented centers,
mandatory religious diversity courses for students, and institutional policies that address
religious and spiritual diversity, such as accommodations during religious holidays. Below,
Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework that integrates both the MRSCC and Racial
Muslim theories.

56
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework: MRSCC and Racial Muslim
As Milem and colleagues (2005) and later Ahmadi and colleagues (2019) argued, an
institution should consider successful diversity initiatives as more than just representing different
racial, ethnic, and religious groups on campus. Instead, effective diversity initiatives should
examine how organizational and structural aspects such as diversity in curriculum and
institutional policies of colleges benefit some groups, which then become embedded into that
institution's organizational and structural processes (Milem et al., 2005). This research is
especially interested in the types of support that Muslim college students self-identify as salient

57
to their sense of belonging, such as (but not limited to) faculty, staff, and peer interactions, faithbased organizations, and mental health services. Furthermore, keeping in mind that the context of
anti-Muslim racism and Islamophobia is conspicuous to the Muslim student experience, this
research engaged Muslim participants to better understand whether or not their experiences with
institutional support mechanisms were culturally relevant and sufficient to support their sense of
belonging. For example, hypothetically, if Muslim college students identified mental health
services as salient for mitigating the harmful effects of discrimination, were the counselors at the
institution trained on the multitude of ways that Islamophobia marginalizes Muslims? Further,
did the institution recognize the need for diversity-related training so that counselors can support
this population within the current campus climate? In addition to these questions, the effect of
Muslim students' political views on their experiences was examined within their higher
education experiences. For example, did Muslim students shy away from actively engaging in
politics for fear of retaliation by institutional agents on their college campuses? As was in the
case of the Irvine 11, Muslim students who spoke out against the Israeli speaker to protest
Israel's occupation of Palestine were punished in the court of law, therefore highlighting the
myriad ways Muslims are often racialized even within their academic institutions not only due to
their physical or religious appearance but because of their political views (Anwar, 2020; Aziz,
2021). In conjunction, the MRSCC and Racial Muslim frameworks helped construct a research
study design that provided meaningful empirical evidence on the impacts of Islamophobia on
Muslim students' sense of belonging. They will additionally examine the institutional role of
higher education in combating Islamophobia.
Although Muslims face racialization in all facets of western society, not all Muslims
experience it in the same or even comparable ways (Aziz, 2021; Hilal, 2022). To this point, this

58
research investigated the degree to which each Muslim is racialized within their individual
college academic and social communities, which is contingent on various factors such as the
intersection of one's identities, whether or not they appear to be "visibly Muslim" (i.e., wears
hijab or is growing a beard), their proximity to whiteness, the impact of their political views on
the way they are racialized in college, their college campus climate, and the amount of
institutional support offered within their institution to encourage Muslim students' sense of
belonging in the face of anti-Muslim racism and Islamophobia. Therefore, to avoid the
essentialization of the Racial Muslim experience, qualitative methods, which is dicussed further
in the following chapter.

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Chapter 3: Research Methods
Positionality
Brittney Cooper wrote, "We live in a nation that does everything to induce our rage while
simultaneously doing everything to deny that we have a right to feel it" (Cooper, 2018).
Embracing, practicing, and being a Muslim always feels like it is in contention with living in
America, particularly when our communities are constantly reminded of rampant Islamophobia
in the news, media, and politics. Muslims are no strangers to feeling like we are "deviant" from
"normalcy" for our religious practices, traditions, and dress. However, to take it a step further,
our people have been subjected to western imperialism, war, and colonialism in the Middle East
for decades. Then, when we try to express our dismay with systems that are actively in place to
marginalize our communities, we are met with hate crimes, microaggressions, a hypersecuritized environment, and even laws and policies that further try to silence us. Regrettably,
despite publicly proclaiming their commitment to diversity, colleges and universities persist in
maintaining these disparities, as evidenced by the recent experiences of Muslim students who
have expressed feelings of isolation, despair, and a lack of protection from their institutions.
Growing up in a post-9/11 era, I, too, can attest to the constant feeling of fear, otherness,
and hypervigilance that I have experienced as a Muslim American woman. I began wearing the
hijab, or headscarf, at the tender age of 19, when I noticed a shift in how people interacted with
me. On the one hand, I loved the sense of community and belonging whenever any fellow
Muslim exclaimed "Assalamualaikum, sister!" to me at the grocery store, a phrase Muslims use
to greet and wish blessings on one another. On the other hand, I grew impatient and felt belittled
whenever a stranger stared at me with curiosity or disgust as I walked past them. Growing up, I
internalized several instances of Islamophobic microaggressions that I witnessed at a young age.
I have heard comments such as, "Go back to your country!" and "Tell your terrorist aunts and

60
uncles to stop bombing us!" to which I have never found the proper words to respond in fear of
being further verbally (or even physically) assaulted. Even as I entered professional roles in
institutions where diversity was outwardly welcomed and encouraged, I constantly received
comments from my male colleagues mocking my hijab, with comments such as, "I can see a
little bit of hair coming out of your scarf" and "you must be so beautiful when you are not
covering all of your hair." Such instances have impacted me deeply, and as a result, I find myself
constantly thinking that the title of my identity as a "Muslim-American" is a disjunction.
Knowing I am not alone in these sentiments, I intensely empathize with my community,
especially with my fellow Muslim peers and youth who are navigating the reality of living in a
diaspora state. There is always this lingering feeling of being too Muslim for the west but not
being Muslim enough for our communities.
I am deeply proud of my identity as a Muslim woman who has had to navigate many
spaces that were designed to uphold whiteness. I engage in this research not with the primary
intention of awakening the oppressor's conscience but to tell the stories of Muslims as an act of
resistance to stop internalizing the stereotypes against us (Freire, 1970). While being Muslim in
America is deeply challenging, I acknowledge my privilege as a non-Black, South Asian woman
identifying with the Sunni sect of Islam (a sect that has had a history of marginalizing Muslims
who identify with other minority Islamic sects). As hard as we may try, our research is never
entirely free of our biases. Given this absence of complete neutrality, the best we can do is be
aware of our biases (Rose, 1985). As such, while I appreciated that my own identity as a Muslim
woman gave me the "insider perspective" within this research study, I recognize the necessity to
gather data with my "eyes open"--that is, assuming that my experiences will never be entirely
and wholly similar to other Muslim student experiences, in which case I am responsible for

61
engaging in practices that centered the narratives of my participants, and not my own (Asselin,
2003). Moustakas's (1994) bracketing technique proved helpful in this sense, as it allowed me to
note my pre-judgments and biases so that I would be sure to remove them from my interpretation
of what my participants were expressing.
Rationale for Qualitative Methods
Generally, qualitative methods are invaluable for two specific reasons: 1) it is a method
used to understand peoples' beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behavior, and interactions, and 2) it
allows the researcher to look beyond numeric values to gather rich, empirical data through a
"humanist" approach (Pathak et al., 2013; Tetnowski, 2015). Historically, the monolithic
conceptualization of Muslims has often misunderstood, minimized, and even ignored the myriad
complexities and intersections of their identities (Ahmadi & Cole, 2020; Ahmadi et al., 2023).
This study employed phenomenological methodology and narrative methods to collect empirical
and anecdotal data, with the aim of challenging the common essentialization of the Muslim
identity. This method aligned with the humanist approach because it called for a race-conscious,
intersectional inquiry to understand this population to advocate for social justice and challenge
dominant narratives, rather than for the purposes of hegemony and power (Said, 1978). The
purpose of this study was to challenge the rampant anti-Muslim narratives that are dominant in
western society, which continue to marginalize and silence Muslim students and their
communities. To my knowledge, there were limited studies that examined Muslim students'
experiences through a qualitative approach to inform the Minoritized Religious and Spiritual
Campus Climate framework, and no studies that informed the Racial Muslim framework.
Within the last few years, studies have examined the impact Islamophobia has had on
Muslim students in higher education (e.g., Ahmadi & Cole, 2020; Ahmadi et al., 2021; Chaudry,

62
2022; Gholami, 2021; Saeed, 2018). Although the existing research helped uncover Muslim
students' perceptions and opinions about hypervisibility, microaggressions, and belonging as
they attend college, external factors such as politics and media narratives are ever-changing and
can have an impact on the types of institutional support Muslim students need about religious
and spiritual campus climate at institutions (Ahmadi et al., 2019). For instance, in contemporary
times, the racial categorization of Muslims has emerged with great force, leading to the
dehumanization and threat to the well-being of Muslims in America, as demonstrated by the
significant rise in Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment in recent years (Ahmadi et al., 2021).
Considering this, qualitative methods were best suited to gain a contextual and in-depth
understanding of Muslim students' experiences and how institutions can support them. While
trends and statistics regarding Islamophobia are essential to highlight, this study was designed to
amplify and center the voices of Muslim students' perceptions and their detailed narratives about
essential resources that help them minimize the harmful impacts of Islamophobia.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided my research study:
1. How has Islamophobia shaped the experiences and sense of belonging of Muslim
college students?
2. How do Muslim students utilize institutional support mechanisms for their sense of
belonging on college campuses, if at all?
Phenomenological Methodology
Phenomenological research engages multiple individuals to understand the lived
experiences of a phenomenon (Creswell & Poth, 2018). To accomplish this goal, qualitative
researchers identify a phenomenon, collect data from individuals who have all experienced the

63
phenomenon, and finally, develop composite research findings based on the experiences the
individuals describe (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Within the aims of the phenomenological research
design, this study sought out Muslim college students attending institutions on the West Coast of
the United States to engage them in discussions about Islamophobia and how it shaped their
sense of belonging so that they would be able to identify which institutional mechanisms were
most salient to them. In doing so, the aim was to better inform higher education about how to
support Muslim students' social-emotional needs and religious/spiritual identity development in
college. This research inquiry helps build an in-depth, contextual understanding of a particular
phenomenon within its real-life context (Yin, 2003). While other research designs, such as
narrative or case study methodologies, are also helpful for this line of research inquiry, a
phenomenological approach encompasses a deep understanding of the experiences of Muslim
college students as they define terms and describe phenomena for themselves. For example, the
interviews and surveys asked Muslim students to define what Islamophobia and sense of
belonging meant to them. In essence, rather than using a predetermined umbrella term to
encompass all their identities and experiences, this approach was helpful because it allowed
students to reflect on their identities and how they informed the definitions they provided.
Research Design
This study was guided primarily by the narrative aspects of the phenomenological
methodology to inform perceptions of Islamophobia, sense of belonging, institutional support,
and campus climate. For the open-ended questions on the informational survey, I utilized content
analysis, an analytic approach, to identify keywords and themes from the responses expressed by
participants (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). In conjunction with this approach, interviews guided by
narrative inquiry are considered a method that encourages and stimulates interviewees to tell

64
stories relevant to their lived experiences (Bauer, 1996). This research study design combined
these two data collection and analysis techniques to increase the triangulation of data and to
consider the reality that Muslims face hostile forms of surveillance and profiling, which may
hinder them from sharing information directly with researchers (Amer & Bagasra, 2013).
Understanding that stories are not told without situational context, elements such as campus
politics, overall social climate, and culture were explored within surveys and interviews to
provide meaning to Muslim students' environment described in their responses (Creswell & Poth,
2018).
As a methodology, phenomenological research encompasses individuals' lived
experiences and told stories (Creswell, 2007). The origins of this method are rooted in
transdisciplinary fields such as literature, history, anthropology, sociology, and education, where
different fields of study have adopted their approach, thus deeming it to be aligned with critical
race methodology and centering the experiential reality of the study's target population
(Creswell, 2007). Creswell (2007) argued that this method is best used to capture the life
experiences of a small number of individuals based on shared phenomena. It also aligns with a
post-positivist research approach because participants' stories can be analyzed according to the
study's guiding theoretical frameworks. Accordingly, I formulated the qualitative section of my
informational survey to be open-ended and my interview protocol to be semi-structured.
Informational Surveys
The informational survey was my first point of contact with the study participants. The
informational survey served several purposes, such as to gain informed consent from study
participants, present screening questions to ensure that participants met the study inclusion
criteria, gather preliminary relevant demographic data and responses from open-ended questions

65
from participants as another method of qualitative data collection, and finally, ask participants
whether they would be interested in participating in a follow-up interview. The majority of the
demographic data questions were closed item, with the exception of a few that asked participants
to specify their preferred pseudonym, age, race or ethnicity, field of study, and sexual
orientation. These questions were explicitly left open to allow participants to define the
responses in the most relevant ways, which can also better reflect participants' thoughts and bring
specific identities to light that I may not have been aware of. The open-ended questions were
intended as another form of preliminary data collection from participants. These questions were
categorized into three significant aspects addressed by the research question: 1) Racial Muslim,
2) Sense of Belonging, and 3) Institutional Support. The questions also inquired about the
participants' definitions of Islamophobia, their experiences of Islamophobia in their personal and
college lives, their definitions of a sense of belonging, their perception of being a connected part
of their campus community, their belief that their institution offered sufficient support for them
and other Muslim students, and finally, what additional institutional resources could foster a
sense of belonging for them and their communities in the event of encountering Islamophobia.
While there are limitations and challenges to open-ended questions, such as item
nonresponse and the inability of the researcher to clarify the meaning of questions or probe for
more information, studies also indicate that this method of qualitative research can help
institutions gather information that is relevant to participants and their concerns (Geer, 1991;
Krosnick, 1991). Additionally, participants with more recommendations regarding their
institution have a higher chance of responding with detail and meaning to open-ended survey
questions because they may consider it a platform for expressing their concerns (Miller &

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Lambert, 2014). In a setting where students were experiencing a contentious campus climate, I
found the informational survey to be very beneficial for students to express their concerns.
Semi-Structured Interviews
As Kallio and colleagues (2016) argued, rigorous data collection is essential to
maintaining quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research. Interviews are a data collection
method, and the semi-structured interview design is the most common (DiCicco‐Bloom &
Crabtree, 2006; Taylor, 2005). The benefits of semi-structured interviews are that while they
require researchers to develop a predetermined set of questions to ask participants, probing
questions are an acceptable and beneficial technique to elicit in-depth responses, highlighting the
contextual details that participants deem necessary to share (Bernard, 2017). Thus, within a fastpaced, time-efficient environment, a semi-structured protocol worked best because, while I
maintained discretion throughout the interview, I could also probe participants on stories they
considered essential to their identity and experiences (Bernard, 2017). Each interview lasted
around 30-45 minutes. In these interviews, I began by introducing myself and the purpose of the
study, emphasizing the voluntary nature of the interview. The interview was then structured to
address four categories, three of which were similarly categorized in the open-ended section of
the survey. The categories were as follows: 1) Introductory Questions; 2) Racial
Muslim/Islamophobia/Identity; 3) Sense of Belonging; and 4) Institutional Support. The
questions within these categories addressed their perceptions of Islamophobia, sense of
belonging, and institutional support. Probing questions helped clarify participants' statements to
ensure I comprehended their thoughts.
Data Collection
Data collection can be considered a relationship between the researcher and the data

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that is being collected for analysis (Tetnowski, 2015). Thus, my role as a researcher was
instrumental in the data collection and analysis process. My responsibilities within this role were
twofold: to formulate relevant research questions and an interview protocol grounded in the
MRSCC and Racial Muslim frameworks, and to ensure that I remained an open, objective
observer throughout the process (Creswell, 2007; Tetnowski, 2015). As Bauer (1996) posited in
their discussion of the narrative research method, the researcher asking the questions is
considered to dominate or control the situation within which participants respond. Conceptually,
this means that narrative interviewing within research depends on a question-response schema,
where the interview questions are predetermined by the researcher selecting the theme and the
topics for the research participants to answer (Bauer, 1996). While this predetermination was
salient for me as the researcher to be able to develop thematic data after the interviews were
complete, centering the perceptions and narratives of my participants remained my top priority
(Alvarez & Urla, 2002; Bauer, 1996).
Due to time constraints and my overall research design, I did not find the opportunity to
build extensive rapport with my participants outside of interacting with them through email to
thank them for taking the survey to schedule interviews and speaking to them during the
interviews. Thus, since Muslim students may not have felt comfortable discussing these topics
with me in an interview, I found that the open-ended questions in the survey were another
efficient method to receive insightful responses regarding their experiences without taking too
much of their time. Once participants expressed their interest in a follow-up interview to discuss
these topics in-depth, I was able to connect with them by contacting them via email.
Sampling and Recruitment Phase 1: Criterion Sampling

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Participants in this study had to identify as Muslims and enroll in a degree-granting,
undergraduate, or graduate program in a state on the West Coast. Therefore, when I initially set
out to conduct data collection, I relied on criterion sampling to identify potential participants,
which Patton (2002) defined as a purposeful sampling method that required researchers to
predetermine inclusion criteria for participants to be able to take part in the study. Criterion
sampling was also the most tailored to answer my research questions and ensure that participants
shared similar characteristics of identifying as Muslim while also aiming to uncover their diverse
experiences and perceptions (Patton, 2002). In the early stages of data collection, I utilized
criterion sampling by pre-identifying all academic departments and identity-based social
organizations at the institutions where I conducted my research and then conducting outreach by
emailing individuals who were publicly named as faculty, staff, and student leadership in those
respective departments and organizations with information and fliers about my study. For
recruitment, I created a digital flier that presented a brief overview of the study, the inclusion
criteria, a link to the informational survey, information regarding compensation and my contact
information should participants have any questions or concerns. The flier listed a link to the
study, which participants used to complete the informational survey. This survey included
questions about informed consent, demographics, and, finally, open-ended questions that allowed
participants to share their thoughts on my predetermined questions about Islamophobia, sense of
belonging, and institutional support mechanisms.
Sampling and Recruitment Phase 2: October 7th and the Impact on Data Collection
Soon after outreach for this study began in October 2023, tensions in the Muslim and
Arab communities everywhere began to rise. In response to an influx of doxxing incidents
occurring in and around institutions of higher education and increased hate crimes motivated by

69
anti-Muslim bias nationally, Muslim students became increasingly hypervigilant and aware of
the consequences of speaking out against Islamophobia, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab laws and
policies, since there was a heightened sense of surveillance and no tangible support from
institutions for students speaking out against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Students faced
threats, harassment, and even physical assault for expressing any opinion about Palestine, as
detailed in Chapter 2. These events took an emotional toll on many Muslim individuals,
especially in the U.S., as they once again watched imperialist powers, including their own
government, assault the livelihood of Arab people overseas. Moreover, there was minimal
tangible support for students, especially if they became targets for expressing their dismay and
disapproval of the Israeli and U.S. governments’ actions. As a result, it became apparent that
finding Muslim participants willing to participate in the study was difficult. As Saira Rao stated
about watching violence of Palestinians unfold for the first time in history being broadcasted live
and uncensored over social media, "many of us are deeply unwell… [we are] walking, sitting,
sleeping dead" (Rao, 2024, n.d.). As a researcher who could deeply relate to these feelings of
diminished well-being and inability to focus on everyday tasks while also noting the uptick of
Islamophobia across campuses, I understood that the community of research interests was
suffering mentally, emotionally, and physically. Keeping this in mind while also understanding
the need for time, access, and resource efficiency to complete the study, I finally utilized
convenience sampling, which is defined as a last-resort method to selecting participants that are
"easy to access" (Patton, 2002). This method was employed by contacting friends, colleagues,
and mosques in the local area to send the study information and fliers to their networks and
posting the flier to my social media. Finally, at the end of every interview conducted, snowball
sampling was utilized to encourage participants to send the study to their Muslim peers (Patton,

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2002). While I had initially set out to collect 50 survey responses and 15 interview responses, I
ended up with 23 surveys and 10 interview responses, all of which inform the findings of this
study. Despite not reaching the initial goal of 50 surveys and 15 interviews, the study's findings
hold significant relevance in the social and political context of a post-October 7th world, where
many Muslim students have expressed feelings of isolation and fear at their institutions.
Participants
Twenty-five students informed us of the findings of this study: 23 survey participants, 8
follow-up interviews from the surveys, and 2 interview participants who only participated in an
interview and did not complete a survey. These numbers are presented in Figure 2 below. To
protect their confidentiality, participants' names have been pseudonymized. All participants
currently attend an institution of higher education: 17 enrolled as undergraduate students, 6
enrolled in doctoral/professional programs, and 2 enrolled as graduate students in a master's
degree program. 15 of the participants were women, 10 were men, and most of the study
participants were South Asian. 19 Muslim participants were U.S. citizens, four were international
students, one was a permanent resident or green card holder, and one had AB 540 or
undocumented status. Table 1 presents these demographics below.

71
Figure 2: Survey and Interview Responses Flow Chart
Table 1: Study Participants and Relevant Demographics
Pseudonym Institution Interview Survey Gender Age Race/Ethnicity Year Citizenship Hijab?
Calamari
Flower
University Y Y Woman 21 Pakistani
4th year
undergrad U.S. citizen Yes
Tanner
Rose
University Y Y Man 20 Pakistani
3rd year
undergrad International No
Ladybug
Rose
University Y Y Woman 19 Egyptian-American
2nd year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
AK
Rose
University Y Y Man 20 Chinese Muslim
3rd year
undergrad International No

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Ali
Rose
University Y Y Man 27 Irani
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD)
Permanent
resident or
green card
holder No
hijabi18
Rose
University Y Y Woman 18 Pakistani American
1st year
undergrad U.S. citizen Yes
Sakinah
Rose
University Y Y Woman 25 Indian
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD) U.S. citizen Yes
Sab
Flower
University Y Y Woman 19 Bangladeshi
2nd year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
Steve
Lilac
University Y N Man 25 Afghan
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD) U.S. citizen No
Maryam
Marigold
University Y N Woman 27 Bangali-American
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD) U.S. citizen Yes
Potato
Rose
University N Y Woman 21 Bangladeshi
4th year
undergrad
AB 540 or
“undocument
ed” No
Pablo
Abdelmajee
d
Rose
University N Y Man 21
Palestinian and
Colombian; Race:
White
3rd year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
Chad
Rose
University N Y Man 22 Indian
Master's
degree
(e.g.,
M.A.,
M.S.,
MBA,
MPH) U.S. citizen No
SK
Sunflower
University N Y Man 22 Indian
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD) U.S. citizen No
William
Anemone
University N Y Man 19 Indian
4th year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
Sarah Rose N Y Woman 20 Bangladeshi 2nd year U.S. citizen Yes

73
University undergrad
Jacky Jain
Rose
University N Y Woman 20
Latinx (Dominican,
Mexican, Puerto
Rican)
3rd year
undergrad U.S. citizen Yes
Vela Girlie
Rose
University N Y Woman 21 Pakistani
3rd year
undergrad U.S. citizen Yes
Indopak
Rose
University N Y Man 20 Pakistani
3rd year
undergrad International No
supersofia
Rose
University N Y Woman 20 Pakistani
3rd year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
Bo Khili
Rose
University N Y Man 20 Saudi Arabian
2nd year
undergrad International No
Mahers
Daisy
University N Y Woman 26 Bangladeshi
Master's
degree
(e.g.,
M.A.,
M.S.,
MBA,
MPH) U.S. citizen Yes
Natasha
Tulip
University N Y Woman 20 Bangladeshi
3rd year
undergrad U.S. citizen No
Ams
Southweste
rn Law N Y Woman 26 Pakistani
Doctoral or
professiona
l degree
(e.g., Ph.D,
Ed.D, JD,
MD) U.S. citizen Yes
Sofia
Lavender
University N Y Woman 20 Pakistani
4th year
undergrad U.S. citizen Yes
Institutional Settings and Context
Students were enrolled in a degree-granting program at a west coast institution of higher
education at the time of survey and/or interview participation. To further protect the identities of
participants and maintain the anonymity of institutions, the real institutional names have been
pseudonymized. Participants in the survey came from 10 institutions on the west coast. Notably,
Flower, Rose, Lilac, Lavender, and Anemone Universities are institutions that have the most
diverse student populations in terms of race/ethnicity. Most participants in this study were from

74
Rose University. Table 2 breaks down the institution names and corresponding numbers of
participants from these institutions.
Table 2: List of Participants in Institutions by Type
Pseudonym Institution Type Number of Participants
Rose University 4-year, private 15
Flower University 4-year, public 2
Tulip University 4-year, public 1
Sunflower University 4-year, private 1
Lilac University 4-year, private 1
Daisy University 4-year, private 1
Peony University Private, law school 1
Lavender University 4-year, public 1
Marigold University 4-year, private 1
Anemone University 4-year public 1
Data Analysis
Data analysis requires the organization and structure of data from an early age (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2015). Considering the theoretical framework and methods that guided the types of
data I received, I utilized a combination of Lichtman’s (2006) coding process, Moustakas (1994)
bracketing technique, and Merriam and Tisdell (2015) analysis methods to ensure the quality and
validity of the findings emerging from this research study. After completing each new survey
response and interview, I initiated the memoing and bracketing process. This process involves
the researcher critically analyzing and interpreting the data, taking reflexive notes, and
documenting the progression of the research process (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
Simultaneously, I utilized the Moustakas (1994) technique, known as bracketing, which calls for

75
researchers to note their preliminary judgments and assumptions as they read through the data.
While this process may vary across research designs, it is crucial for minimizing researcher bias.
In this study, the bracketing process involved reflexive journals to uphold the significance of my
participants' narratives and assess if emergent categories and codes from participant anecdotes
aligned with the codes I had established, in line with the MRSCC and Racial Muslim
frameworks (Charmaz, 2006).
To develop the surveys, I utilized Qualtrics software. When I began data analysis, I
exported the data from Qualtrics into an Excel spreadsheet, then filtered responses by
completion. There was a total of 47 surveys, but only 23 were completed and used for analysis
purposes, while 24 were ones that participants began but did not complete after reading the
informed consent. Using the master Excel spreadsheet, I separated each response into a Word
document, then uploaded the Word documents to a coding analysis software known as Dedoose.
For the analysis of the interviews, I recorded each interview to ensure authenticity and the
verbatim responses of participants. The interview recordings were then transcribed using a
transcription service known as Ottr.ai and pseudonymized to ensure the accuracy and privacy of
the participants. These transcriptions were also uploaded for analysis into the Dedoose software.
While software is useful for organizing codes to develop them into larger concepts and
themes, developing codes is the researcher’s responsibility (Lichtman, 2006). The coding process
that I completed was therefore guided by Lichtman’s three-C process for coding, which entailed
organizing the interview data into codes, categories, and finally, concepts (2006). Subsequently,
the emerging concepts from the data were utilized to develop codes for thematic analysis, which
included six steps: 1) initial coding, 2) revisiting initial coding, 3) developing an initial list of
categories, 4) modifying the initial list based on re-reading, 5) revisiting categories and

76
subcategories, and 6) moving from categories to concepts. In my initial codebook, I developed
25 codes, adding 12 codes based on participants' responses. These codes are listed in the
appendix. The data analysis of this study, using the narrative method design, encompassed a
broad interpretation of the findings by deriving meaning from the interviews and other data
sources used.
Trustworthiness
To maintain the trustworthiness of the study’s data collection and analysis methods and
portrayal of the findings, I incorporated three main approaches: epoche, or bracketing, data
triangulation methods, and member checking. As I mentioned earlier in Chapter 3, I also identify
as a Muslim woman. While I appreciated that I was able to negotiate my identity to build rapport
with my participants, I wanted to make sure that I was ultimately centering their perspectives as
they were sharing them with me. Thus, I first utilized the common method within a
phenomenological study called bracketing, which is a series of setting aside personal biases and
assumptions throughout the data collection and analysis processes (Creswell & Poth, 2018). To
did this by taking notes after every survey response I reviewed and interview I conducted to
make sure that I was engaging in a constant process of reflection to set aside my own views and
biases. I also stayed open-minded by limiting my reactions or responses to students’ anecdotes
when speaking to them in interviews. Finally, I sought feedback from my doctoral advisors to
ensure that the findings shared were not indicative of my beliefs. Next, I used data triangulation
methods, relying on both survey and interview data, to help answer the research questions from
multiple data sources. Lastly, given the nature of open-ended survey responses and not being
able to interact with a majority of students to clarify what they had written in the surveys, I

77
utilized member checking to ensure that the findings I shared were accurately representing the
perceptions and perspectives of students.
Limitations
As I argued throughout this dissertation, the Muslim identity is highly misunderstood
because they are monolithically stereotyped in western society. Therefore, it became even more
imperative that this research does not essentialize the experiences of one Muslim college student
to the other. Furthermore, while there may be similarities between experiences, one’s unique
interactions and the institutional support necessary to sustain their sense of belonging, contingent
on a variety of factors such as gender, class, student status, citizenship, visibility as being
Muslim (i.e., their name, race, whether they are growing a beard or wearing hijab, etc.), and
other factors that are uncovered by interviewing participants. As with all qualitative research, a
limitation arises as to whether the findings can be generalized to a larger population of Muslim
college students. Adelman and colleagues (1980) stated that although partial generalizability may
still be present, generalizations produced are no less legitimate when they are about a single
finding.
Given the participant demographics of the study, there are a few major limitations that
should be addressed. First, most participants in the study identified as South Asian, Middle
Eastern, or Arab, with a few exceptions. While the findings are critical in exemplifying the
Muslim college student experience, they cannot be generalized to all racial and ethnic groups
who identify as Muslim. For instance, the experiences of South Asian and Arab Muslims are
starkly different than those of non-South Asian and non-Arab Muslims due to the presence of
racial hierarchies and power dynamics. Thus, while some of this study's findings may resonate
with the experiences and needs of Muslim students, it cannot be assumed that these findings will

78
effectively address the lived realities and experiences of the entire Muslim student population in
higher education. Secondly, this study briefly examined the experiences of one participant who
had recently embraced Islam (commonly known as ''converts'', or more commonly in the Muslim
community known as ''reverts''), however, there are many social and cultural dynamics that play
into the experiences of these individuals. Many of those who embrace Islam later in life may face
challenges in terms of navigating familial support and receiving adequate support from Muslim
communities. Further research is required to examine the needs of these populations using an
intersectional approach.

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Chapter 4: Findings
This chapter presents the findings of the study, which is based on 23 surveys and 10
interviews with current Muslim undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in nine institutions
of higher education on the west coast of the United States. The findings are captured within three
overarching themes and corresponding sub-themes that highlight the narratives and experiences
of the students: 1) Racial Muslims in College; 2) Muslim College Students’ Sense of Belonging;
and 3) Institutional Support for Muslims in College. This chapter begins by discussing Racial
Muslims in college.
Racial Muslims in College
To consider the experiences of students as Racial Muslims, three sub-themes are
presented below, which detail their experiences with Islamophobia at their institutions. The first
sub-theme is “Defining and Experiencing Islamophobia”, an exploration of each students’
personal definitions of the term Islamophobia, informed by their own understanding and
individual interpretations, the second sub-theme is “Gendered Islamophobia”, which details
students’ experiences with Islamophobia at the intersections of their gender identities, and
finally, the third sub-theme is “On Advocating for Palestine”, which takes into account current
global events that impact how students are considered Racial Muslims.
Defining and Experiencing Islamophobia
While the word “Islamophobia” is broad and can be used as an umbrella term to capture
differing forms of discrimination Muslims face, the intent for this study was to empower Muslim
students to define terms themselves that may be salient to their experiences, rather than assume
that one blanketed definition would enclose the multitude of their realities. As such, the survey

80
and interview questions were developed with a specific question that asked students to define
Islamophobia based on what it meant to them. In response, over 75% of all participants across
surveys and interviews utilized one or some combination of four specific words: fear, hatred,
prejudice, and/or discrimination against Muslims based on stereotypes. Table 1 of the appendix
lists the students' verbatim responses. One student, Pablo Abdelmajeed, a third-year
undergraduate at Rose University, mentioned:
Islamophobia, to me, means the discrimination of Muslim people solely due to their
beliefs and culture. It is also used as a form of racism that is used against Middle Eastern
and Arab people. Its form of racism has greater extents that affect Muslims and Arabs in
the long run, specifically when applying for jobs and employers are hesitating to even
look at an application with an Arabic or Muslim-sounding name or even when
interviewing Muslim women who wear the hijab.
Pablo described Islamophobia as rooted in the discrimination of Muslims due to their
beliefs and culture, which he believes has larger impacts for Muslims and Arabs, for example,
when seeking employment. He states that Islamophobia is a type of discrimination that can
manifest in how employers choose to look at job applications, and the presence of implicit biases
towards hijab or a Muslim-sounding name may impact Arabs’ and Muslims’ chances at
employment. Pablo expressed that although he did not personally encounter Islamophobia, he
noticed a significant lack of understanding about his Muslim identity among the administration,
faculty, staff, and peers at his institution. This ignorance extended not only to implicit biases
when seeking employment as a Muslim, but also to receiving accommodations or recognition
during Ramadan and Eid.
Vela Girlie, also a third-year undergraduate at Rose University, described Islamophobia
to be “negative behavior through actions or words that demonstrate false biases against
Muslims”. Alongside providing this definition, she expressed that she experienced Islamophobia
directly from a faculty member at her institution during the month of Ramadan. She shared:

81
I had a professor, who after agreeing to provide religious accommodations during
Ramadan, gave me a bad grade, saying he never agreed to any such thing, and he needs to
treat everyone the same.
Vela Girlie expressed that while this professor had previously communicated
accommodations, he later changed his mind on the basis that it would not be fair to the rest of the
class. Vela Girlie shared that this incident made her feel sad and ultimately led her to rethink her
religious choices. Among the 23 students who completed the survey, 8 shared that they too had
experienced Islamophobia in college by their campus faculty, staff, and/or campus community.
Tanner, a third-year undergraduate at Rose University, recalled his Islamophobic interaction with
a faculty member. Firstly, he defined Islamophobia:
When someone is irrational, hateful, and prejudiced against Muslims…and believing that
Muslims are related to Hamas or different terrorist organizations, which is very much
based on stereotypes and can be quite dangerous to Muslims and non-Muslims alike…I
think it expands to not just Islamic stuff, but also anti-Arab hate and anything basically to
do with Islam.
Tanner expressed that he experienced Islamophobia when a faculty member of the
institution used “threatening and demeaning language” to speak to fellow Muslim and nonMuslim students at an on-campus memorial honoring martyred Palestinians. Tanner added that
while he was not personally engaged in this interaction with the faculty member, it had an impact
on him because of the way his community and their values were targeted. Subsequently, he had
to take a course with the faculty member the following semester, which made him lose trust in all
professors on campus. As a result, as a Muslim student, he expressed feeling unsafe engaging
with non-Muslims in his campus community due to a contentious campus climate. Similarly,
Ams, a graduate student at Peony University, shared that to her, Islamophobia meant,
Perpetuating negative stereotypes about Muslims as well as actively harming Muslims
physically, verbally, emotionally, psychologically, etc.

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Although Ams did not share details about the Islamophobic incident she experienced on
campus, she shared that when it happened, “it made [her] feel angry, like Muslims are somehow
lesser than other students on campus.” The physical dangers of Islamophobia, as Ams chose to
define it, are not uncommon in her experience. For example, Chad, a graduate student at Rose
University and a recent graduate of another public university on the West Coast, defined
Islamophobia as a “deliberate misinterpretation of the religion”. He indicated that he had
experienced Islamophobia by his campus community in his undergraduate institution:
At my undergrad college, I had a guy chase me and my roommate telling me we do not
belong in America.
While some instances of Islamophobia were more forthright and easier to identify, 4
students who took the survey mentioned that they were unsure whether they experienced
Islamophobia on their college campus because the motivation for the incidents was unclear.
Relatedly, there was also a subtle nature to Islamophobia that students discussed. Sakinah, a
doctoral student at Rose University, elaborated on her thoughts regarding how the subtlety of
some Islamophobic comments took place:
While I haven’t experienced outright hatred for Islam, I have heard negative commentary
about religion in general, such as some weird comments about Ramadan and Eid, but
some of them stem from ignorance rather than malice.
Sakinah discussed that these “weird comments” were not motivated by bad intentions,
but rather from the ignorance that stems from stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam.
Hijabi18 also shared this sentiment, stating that while she did experience Islamophobic
comments, she took them as a teaching opportunity because her peers simply did not know and
were not attempting to speak maliciously.
According to the above definitions, there was a racial-religious aspect of Islamophobia
that was harmful not only to Muslims but to non-Muslims as well. While students identified past

83
incidents as Islamophobic when they generally involved more direct anti-Muslim or anti-Arab
comments or behaviors, others remained unsure about whether their experiences were
Islamophobic per se, due to unclear motives for those interactions. The next section continues to
discuss the nuanced ways Muslim students identified Islamophobic experiences, but this time at
the intersections of gender identity.
Gendered Islamophobia
In addition to the racial-religious aspects of Islamophobia that students identified, many
also discussed gender as relevant to the types of Islamophobic incidents they experienced.
Muslim women in this study brought these topics up more, discussing ways in which their
gender played a role in their experiences with misconceptions and stereotypes. Of the 25
participants in the study, 15 identified as women, 10 of whom observed hijab and 5 of whom did
not.
As previously discussed, Pablo, although identifying as a man and not observing hijab,
believed Islamophobia was especially prominent and harmful for those with a Muslim-sounding
name and/or for Muslim women who observe hijab. His perspective was one that was a common
emerging point of discussion when students were asked to provide their definitions of
Islamophobia, share common misconceptions about Islam and Muslims they heard and/or
encountered personally, and if they were women, why they chose or chose not to wear hijab. For
example, when asked to name a few common misconceptions about Islamophobia that they were
familiar with, Ladybug, a second-year undergraduate student at Rose University who does not
currently observe hijab, mentioned:
I mean, there's a lot of obvious misconceptions that you'll see online about people asking,
‘oh, was it your decision to wear a hijab? Or did somebody make you do this?’, and that
is obviously one that is super big. That is really important to talk about because of current
events. For example, I recently saw this picture on Twitter of somebody posting of a

84
mosque in Palestine, and there was a female wearing a hijab in the mosque. And
somebody had replied to that saying, ‘oh, they're gonna kick her out of the mosque
because she's female or something like that’, and it was so crazy to hear that people think
that Muslim women are treated so poorly.
In this example, Ladybug referred to the emerging misconceptions, particularly those
based on current events, that surfaced in her life and online discussions. Ladybug discussed the
prevalent western stereotype that portrays Muslim women as oppressed and dictated by
patriarchy. This stereotype presumes that Muslim women lack the autonomy to choose whether
to wear the hijab and that their gender prevents them from entering spaces such as mosques.
According to Ladybug, these stereotypes of women imply that Muslim women are generally
treated very poorly, which she believed was inaccurate. With conviction, Ladybug elaborated on
her thoughts, stating that people should focus on how Islam “really is”, which has many positive
qualities, such as practicing peace, kindness, and honesty. She stated,
As Muslims, we are not forced to do anything; these are things that we believe in and
represent our own relationship with God. And that is not something for other people to,
you know, say whatever they want–this is our choice.
Ladybug described that though people may have negative assumptions about Islam and
how Muslim women live, these were merely assumptions and did not capture the actuality that
Muslims do have a choice about their decisions and how they choose to engage in their
relationship with God. Sakinah, a doctoral student at Rose University, provided another example
of how Muslim men and women are misrepresented and misunderstood:
To me, the term Islamophobia means thoughts and actions, that are anti-Muslim or antiIslam, that individuals have or do…and one misconception people have are the typical
“terrorists” for men, and for women, they are sort of uneducated and submissive who do
not speak English, and do not know how the world works.
Sakinah shared that these misconceptions commonly showed up in her doctoral program
and lab. In fact, she recalled several instances where individuals expressed their surprise that, if

85
she truly did have a choice, why she even chose to stay with Islam and how she could possibly
enjoy that choice. Sometimes, she said there were individuals who viewed her presence as a
surprise:
I think those are the biggest misconceptions and I do find that people find me surprising
because I am opinionated, I am in higher education, and a Muslim woman.
Much of what Ladybug and Sakinah shared included the thoughts of other Muslim
women who participated in this study. For example, touching on the common misconception
Ladybug mentioned–that women are forced to wear hijab–hijabi18, a first-year undergraduate at
Rose University who currently observes hijab, shared,
I received a lot of misconceptions about being forced to wear a hijab, and just a lot of
weird questions surrounding it. I always just try to answer instead of putting down that
person for not knowing, kind of framing it in a way of like, oh, let me educate you, this is
what hijab is actually about. And this is why I started wearing it. I have been asked
multiple times if my dad forces me to wear it. And I would say no, my dad was against
me wearing hijab because he feared for my safety.
Hijabi18 went on to share that while this was only her first year at Rose University, her
hijab was generally met with positive interactions. She felt comfortable and empowered to wear
the hijab around campus every day. However, there were some instances on campus where she
was asked questions about her hijab, like the ones she described above, like whether her father
forced her to wear it rather than it being her own choice. In general, she believed these
individuals were curious rather than acting on ill intentions, so instead of approaching these
questions with negativity, hijabi18 believed that it was important to educate them on what the
hijab really symbolizes for women in Islam. Elaborating more on the misconception that her
father forced her put on the hijab, she mentioned,
I choose to wear hijab, because it makes me feel closer to God and it feels like I am
incomplete without it.

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While hijabi18 shared that she felt empowered and generally positive in her experience
with the hijab at her institution so far, she also shared that there were times, while walking with a
group of other hijabi peers, that their group was approached more frequently than other students
by Christian groups on campus. She said,
I get a lot of people promoting Bible study or the Christian narrative, like being stopped
when we are walking to class, they ask us, ‘you want to hear about his Bible Study
Club?’ or ‘let me tell you about Jesus.’ I get a lot of that, and I've noticed that when I am
with my hijabi friends, it happens more often.
Hijabi18 shared that because the hijab was automatically a marker of her and her friends’
identities as Muslim women, these Christian groups felt the need to approach her group with
more frequency and intensity, as if to possibly recruit and convince them to embrace Christianity
instead of Islam. Hijabi18 felt generally confused and a little uncomfortable about these
interactions she had with Christian groups. Comparably, Calamari, a fourth-year undergraduate
at Flower University who recently began wearing hijab, shared that her experiences wearing
hijab were also generally positive, but there were still times when she did not know what to make
of the situation. She mentioned,
Sometimes, non-Muslim men come up to me and start saying ‘Assalamualaikum’, and I
feel like those are instances where you do not know if this person is saying it to be
respectful or if they're trying to make fun of you or for you to say something back. So,
there have been a couple of things like that. But for the most part, it has been generally
positive.
Assalamualaikum, meaning “peace be unto you” is a common phrase that Muslims use to
greet one another. Calamari expressed uncertainty about whether the greetings she received from
non-Muslim men were intended to respect her Muslim identity or to mock it. Moreover, overall,
Sakinah, hijabi18, and Calamari expressed that while there were some challenging experiences
being a hijabi woman, they felt generally positive going about their day on their campuses.
Nonetheless, there were still some participants who brought up an element of safety when it

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came to their experiences of wearing and keeping the hijab on. For example, as hijabi18 alluded
to, her father actually did not want her to put on the hijab because he feared for her safety.
Similarly, Sab, a second-year undergraduate student at Flower University who currently does not
wear the hijab, mentioned that her parents would prefer for her not to wear the hijab for a variety
of safety-related reasons:
One reason I do not wear hijab is that my parents are protective, and they're afraid that if
I do wear hijab, then maybe I might get excluded from certain job opportunities or be
discriminated against or be like a scapegoat when there's a rise in Islamophobia.
Sab’s choice for not wearing hijab and her parents’ fear of what may happen if she did
choose to wear it in the future also shed light on Pablo’s earlier definition of Islamophobia,
which stated that Islamophobia is harmful for Muslim women who wear hijab, for example,
because they may be discriminated against in the employment process. Furthermore, when asked
how she would define Islamophobia, Sab mentioned it was “an intolerance against Muslims or
Islam”, and that a specific example of this is when a woman chooses to wear a hijab, and people
have a very negative reaction to it. Relatedly, Ladybug shared an example that can be connected
to Sab’s definition, reiterating that even though she currently does not wear the hijab, her mother
does, and there were times where she and her family felt a sense of fear because of how others
viewed them. Ladybug shared that one day she and her family, including her mother, were
waiting for a parking spot when a man tried to take it from them. When they ended up getting
into the parking spot before him, Ladybug recalled that he was very angry, especially because
her mother was wearing a hijab. While she recalled that she could not be certain if the man said
something outright about her mother’s hijab, they knew instantly from his demeanor that it
played a role in his anger. Although it occurred a couple of years prior, Ladybug said that
moment stayed with her. She shared,

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That day is something that I have thought about a lot about. Because in the future, I think
I might wear a hijab. So, it is something I've thought about in terms of when I start
wearing hijab, these are things that I could experience. I was also just feeling so bad
because it is like, we didn't do anything!
As identified by both men and women in this study, some common elements surrounding
gendered Islamophobia included misconceptions about hijab, patriarchy, resistance, feminism,
empowerment, and safety. In the following section, participants persist in shedding light on
gendered Islamophobia, confronted with the challenge of engaging in activism and advocating
for Palestine.
On Advocating for Palestine
When asked if they had experienced Islamophobia, students discussed the impact of
current events on their realities. In general, students described a heightened sense of fear and a
need to heed caution when engaging in campus politics, particularly because they felt that if they
took part in activism, there would be consequences that would harm their basic rights and safety.
As previously mentioned, Tanner, an undergraduate student, experienced a faculty member
targeting his community at a Palestinian memorial on campus, but in the following semester, he
had to take a course with this professor. As a result of these events, he described a deep mistrust
in professors on campus overall. Steve, a graduate student at Lilac University, described a
similar mistrust in his university, stating repeatedly throughout the interview that he felt the
university was trying to silence him and his community and that he wasn’t sure if, at some point,
he would encounter backlash for raising awareness about Palestine. He said,
I feel like I am kind of on edge. They always lecture us about professionalism, and, you
know, keeping a professional appearance in our private life, on social media, and in our
public life. So I guess, in a sense, I do not even know if posting about Palestine, raising
awareness, and all this stuff would fall into their criteria of professionalism. Nobody said
anything to me, but that's probably because they do not even know about the posts I make
on my private social media, and they can't silence my own social media stuff. But there’s
kind of a sense of, ‘how far can I go before they say something?’ Because at the end of

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the day, you know, my name is attached to the school. So they try to do what they can to
stay within their boundaries and keep us within those limits.
Steve believed that there was an underlying tension between advocating for Palestine
while simultaneously maintaining professionalism within his graduate program, and he was not
sure how much he could vocalize his advocacy for Palestine before his university would consider
his actions as a violation of that professionalism. Although exercising his freedom of speech, he
felt a sense of uncertainty about whether his activism would get him in trouble with the
institution. As Steve discussed these uncertainties, Indopak, a third-year undergraduate at Rose
University, shared his perspective on voicing opinions on Islamophobia and laws that promote it:
In general, I choose to ignore Islamophobia. I understand that the media is what makes
people think the way that they think. Over time it began to affect me though…I am afraid
to voice my opinion on current events in fear of how that will affect my career
opportunities.
In an earlier discussion, Muslim women feared that their hijab might negatively impact
their future employment and career opportunities. This fear was like Indopak’s, the only
difference being that Indopak believed that if they spoke about current events, their career
opportunities might be affected. Like Indopak, Ali, a doctoral student at Rose University, shared
that while he sometimes attended campus protests, he generally did not get too involved because
of his status as an international student and not wanting to face any negative backlash or
consequences that could harm his studies. While the realities of Steve, Indopak, and Ali highlight
the impact of speaking out against Islamophobia and feeling fearful for the consequences it may
have on professionalism and career, other students described feeling unsafe to be outwardly and
visibly Muslim outside of being present in spaces of protest and activism altogether. For some
students, while they felt generally safe before, they experienced a heightened sense of
hypervisibility following October 7th. AK, a third-year undergraduate at Rose University,

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discussed his thoughts, stating that he was afraid to wear his thobe, an Arab traditional dress for
men.
I do not “look Muslim”, but I have experienced Islamophobic sentiments from people
that know me. Especially with the events happening recently in Palestine, there are lots of
physical manifestations of those types of bigotry…and I think before October 7th
happened, I didn’t feel unsafe, I felt comfortable. For example, when I went to Friday
prayers, I could wear my thobe. But after the whole attack on Palestine, I've been more
hesitant in dressing up for Friday prayer and wearing Muslim garments and stuff like
that. So, I would say it is definitely brought me some concerns like, how should I present
myself as a Muslim? Like whether I should or shouldn't be proud of my identity.
AK shared that this widespread fear amidst a contentious campus climate also had an
impact on the prevalence of gendered Islamophobia on campus. For Muslim women and
individuals who chose to wear hijab on campus, AK stated,
While manifestations of bigotry are not happening towards me on a physical level, they
are happening to my friends. For example, people that wear a hijab have been attacked.
They had their car broken into; they've been harassed in gyms on campus. So, it is quite
hard for me to see and I try my best to speak and stand up against it.
AK mentioned that his institution was aware of these incidents, but there had not been
any safety measures taken, leaving students feeling afraid for their safety. Steve, a student at
Lilac University, expressed similar sentiments, revealing that his friends often requested him to
accompany them and pick them up from campus, fearing potential harassment if they walked
alone. Steve described,
There are aspects of safety, like I've had close female friends of mine who are Muslim
activists and on the front lines who came to me and asked me if I minded picking them up
sometimes or just walking with them because they do not feel safe on campus, especially
after a student was targeted with no institutional response for the incident.
Anecdotes of Muslim women in the study confirmed similar perceptions of gendered
Islamophobia. According to Ladybug, current events led to a deeply contentious campus climate
at Rose University following October 7th, so much so that Muslim students, especially Muslim

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women and individuals observing hijab, felt afraid of how they might be perceived and possibly
harassed by members of their campus community. She recalled a day when she was walking on
campus,
So, after the October 7th situation, I remember there was a day where I was walking to
one of my classes in a building at my school. And it was in front of the building with a
few tables, and there were some people who had the Israeli flag, hanging it up and
showing it and everything. I remember at that moment I was thinking, if I was wearing a
hijab, or if I, you know, looked more outwardly Muslim, what these people would do or
think, as I was walking by them and stuff.
To keep each other safe, Ladybug shared that Muslim women began to use a “buddy
system”, making sure to check in with each other especially at night and walking home together
to protect each other’s safety, fearing that if they were alone, they may be harassed or attacked
for their Muslim identity. She expressed,
I was with another Muslim friend who wears a hijab. She asked me if I wanted to walk
back to our building. She took it as a safety thing. And I thought about how that related to
the fact that she is a woman with a hijab after October 7. But it is something I still think
about in relation to current political stuff. When I am doing anything, like attending any
events or anything in support of Palestine, I think about how I am fortunate enough to not
have to think about as much about the perception of me as a Muslim person, because I do
not wear hijab.
Furthermore, Ladybug stated that while she and her peers were attending protests, they
took extra precautions and made sure that they wore face masks to protect themselves and their
identities. She stated:
There’s been a few walkouts and protests and things like that on campus, and it is very
much advertised to anybody who is going to attend them to wear masks because with
revealing your identity, there’s a lot of people who are Islamophobic or just who oppose
Palestine, so once they see your identity and see that you're supporting Palestine, there
will be negative things that may happen with that, such as online harassment.
Ladybug further discussed doxxing incidents and threats that were present on campus, so
it was imperative for her and her peers to make sure they were protecting themselves. Regardless

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of the option of masking, Calamari, who currently observes hijab, continued to feel hesitant
about speaking out:
As a hijabi woman, putting yourself out there, especially in this climate right now, can be
kind of scary. And I think a lot of times, it is kind of hard to get politically involved in a
lot of things, especially when you're at like a very liberal institution, because a lot of
things just do not align with common views and stuff like that. So, I always feel like
there's that fear of coming into a situation where you're gonna have to compromise in
some way, whether it be in your solid beliefs or the people that you're working with or
something like that. So, I think there's always that hesitancy there as well.
Across surveys and interviews, students indicated that while engaging in activism for
Palestine was important for them, they were also aware that their actions could possibly result in
harmful consequences, which could not only impact them as they navigated the institution, such
as attending courses with professors who had differing political views, but also on a larger scale,
when seeking employment and career opportunities. The next theme, sense of belonging,
presents students' descriptions of the term and their perception of themselves as a connected,
valued member of the campus community.
Sense of Belonging
One aspect of the first research question asked how Islamophobia shaped Muslim
students’ sense of belonging, if at all. The first theme of Racial Muslims depicted the numerous
instances of Islamophobia that students have encountered, some of which became more
prominent after October 7th. Consequently, many students expressed feeling disappointed,
isolated, and affected by media and political rhetoric, while also feeling that institutions were not
providing adequate support. Ultimately, this impacted students' sense of belonging. AK, who
identified as a Chinese Muslim student, described feeling extremely disappointed because, even
though Rose University has a large Asian student population, he did not feel his Asian peers had
any awareness of what was happening in Palestine. In fact, he experienced instances of
Islamophobia and racism from Asian-centered cultural groups on campus, which left him feeling

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“disgusted”, as it came from a community, he thought to be his own. Other students, such as
Potato, shared that they felt “emotionally drained, upset, helpless, and feelings of dissociation”
after experiencing an Islamophobic incident. As previously shared, hijabi18, a student at Rose
University, shared that, as a Muslim student, she felt generally upset and unsafe. Similarly, Sofia,
an undergraduate at Leaf University, shared that messages from the chancellor were one-sided
and did not address the concerns of the Muslim student population, which left her feeling
frustrated, mad, and upset. The following sections discuss students' definitions of sense of
belonging and their perceptions of whether they felt like they belonged to their institution as
Muslim students.
Defining Sense of Belonging
Both surveys and interviews asked students to define what a sense of belonging meant to
them and whether they believed they belonged to their institution as Muslim students. AK
provided an insightful definition of the term. He said,
I think it is a sense of being at home, whether it is a land, a country, or like a community,
someone that you can feel comfortable with. Home for me is being in a familiar
environment where you can relax, be yourself, and you can be comfortable…and be
around people that support you…it is like a place that makes you feel secure.
As mentioned above, AK did not believe that the institution adequately supported his
sense of belonging, but there were some organizations where he felt like he did belong to support
his religious identity, especially considering current events. Building on AK’s discussion point
about the importance of familiarity and comfort for sense of belonging, Sakinah highlighted that
it was important for students like her to have access to people who do not question one’s identity
and faith practices and/or may share similar values. She shared,
A sense of belonging is a feeling of comfort and content that is felt when people feel seen
and understood in a space. People feel a sense of belonging when they do not have to

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explain their identity and their faith constantly, and when they have access to other
people with their values.
Sakinah mentioned that she felt a sense of belonging when she spent time with her peers,
who were from a combination of the Muslim Student Organization on her campus and her lab
group within her graduate program. However, she expressed that her sense of belonging
depended on how people viewed her identity:
I feel like I must explain myself a lot. Instead of just existing, I explain a lot, and a lot of
that is because a lot of people do not know the way of life that is Islam. They do not
know a lot of things, whether it is regarding, you know, what’s halal meat? Or just rules
or practices that I engage in. But personality-wise, people are generally trusting of my
opinion and give me the space to grow as a student.
Sakinah shared that while she was willing to engage in conversation about the teachings
of Islam and practices of Muslims similar to her, it was also burdensome to have to explain all
the time and justify why she chose to even stay with Islam in the first place, as mentioned
previously. Even though she mentioned that some people in her program took her presence as an
opinionated Muslim woman in higher education by surprise, she generally felt that people trusted
her academic work and opinions.
Maryam, a doctoral student studying clinical psychology at Marigold University,
provided her thoughts about sense of belonging, sharing,
I think a sense of belonging would mean somewhere where I feel comfortable and
peaceful enough to feel like I am part of a group or program. I do think I belong, because
I like that I am representing my community and the skills and the information that I am
able to pass on. I also feel that it is harder because I wish there were other Muslim
students in my cohort. I know there are other Muslim students on campus, but it would be
nice to have at least one Muslim friend. But with that being said, even if my friends in my
cohort are not Muslim, they are the epitome of understanding and wanting to learn and
unlearn. So that's nice, too.
For Maryam, while she felt that she did belong because she was surrounded by
professionals who were understanding and willing to learn, she did mention that there were no

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other Muslim students in her program, and it would have helped to have at least one student who
was Muslim like her.
When asked to define a sense of belonging, students often used comfort and acceptance
as prominent descriptors. SK, a participant, shared that for her, a sense of belonging was “feeling
that you are where you belong and a sense of comfort”. Similarly, Sarah, a participant, shared
that belonging meant to her “a feeling of community and acceptance within a group or a place”,
while Ams shared that it was “knowing that I always have somewhere to go”. Furthermore, a
sense of belonging meant that for Muslim students, they were part of a community where they
felt comfortable and were not required to change any parts of their identity–including cultural
and religious–to fit into different spaces on campus. In the next section, Muslim students’
perceptions of these communities and spaces are presented.
Fostering Belonging as a Muslim Student
Building on their definitions of sense of belonging, this sub-theme explores whether
Muslim students believe they belong to their institution. As previously mentioned, AK shared his
disappointment with not receiving adequate institutional support. Upon delving deeper into this
topic, he revealed that the needs he was referring to were verbal and tangible support from his
campus administration, including physical and verbal forms of protection in light of increased
anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents. AK spoke of his thoughts with conviction, as well as a
hint of pain and frustration. Despite loving his institution where he spent the past three years of a
very developmental period of one’s life and wanting it to be his “home”, he felt that this was
simply not the case because the institution was neglecting the pain and concerns of his
community. For Muslim students, AK mentioned that while the presence of a Muslim

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community helped to minimize any feelings of discomfort that he experienced, a true sense of
comfort in the larger context of the institution was hard to come by. He mentioned:
I would say we have a great community of Muslims on this campus. And I do feel like I
belong within the Muslim community. But as a Muslim on my campus, I just cannot say
the same. I just do not think that the school makes an effort to make Muslim students feel
comfortable and take an active stance to combat Islamophobia…it is disheartening for me
because I love my campus, it is my school environment that I've been in for almost three
years. And just to see the things happening on this campus and like this neglect towards
our community and voices is horrible. So I just cannot say as a Muslim student, that I feel
like I belong at the school.
Notably, AK mentioned the lack of understanding or awareness within the Asian
community on his campus with regard to what was happening to the Muslim community,
specifically identifying the current conditions of the detained Uyghur Muslims in China. He said,
I am Chinese, but my experience with the Asian community isn't too great, as well.
Because there's just this difficulty to reconcile my identity and I just feel more
comfortable with my Muslim peers, rather than with the Asian community. I think there's
a big gap between those communities. And I am just not sure how to connect myself as a
Chinese Muslim; I do not really feel that strong connection because it is a country that
doesn't really want to preserve the things that make us unique, and is actually trying to
also destroy Muslims. So for me, with cultural organizations, I am really just involved
with the Muslim Student Organization. And I connect more with students who identify as
Middle Eastern or North African.
Similar to AK, Tanner mentioned that he felt he also did not belong to his campus outside
of the Muslim community:
I think a sense of belonging is more of a community-driven thing where you're able to be
with a community that you will get on with and has similar values to you at this
university level…I do feel like I belong because a lot of my friends are from the Muslim
Student Organization and I even live with a lot of these people now. In terms of general
campus, however, I do not feel a great sense of belonging as a lot of the events on
campus do not align with my values.
On the general campus, as previously shared, Tanner felt a general sense of mistrust in
the administrators and faculty at Rose University based on their responses to current events,
which left him and other Muslim students feeling isolated. However, Tanner felt a sense of

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community with his Muslim peers, some of whom he was now living with. Ladybug shared that,
while there were many issues and concerns with how her institution supports Muslim students,
the Muslim community acted as a counter to feeling isolated. She believed the community, in
fact, acted as a source of meaningful friendships and connections. She described,
The Muslim organization here is so nice and so welcoming, and it is where I've met and
gotten a lot of friends at my school, and I am really thankful for it. I am looking forward
to engaging with them more when I have time, because school is too busy, but it is
something that gives me a feeling of placement in that sense. I do not feel that I am an
outsider that much in that setting.
Sab at Flower University shared the importance of the Muslim Student Organization on
her campus, not only for faith-based reasons but also because they partnered with other
community service organizations on campus that helped her make meaningful connections and
ultimately feel like a connected member of her institution, stating,
The Muslim Student Organization is an important organization for me. I'll go with my
friends and meet other people as well. And then other than that, our Muslim Student
Organization also has projects under it that do community service work, like with mental
health, for example. That one is a big one. And then there's also an organization which
provides academic and peer support to local middle school kids. So I think being
involved in those helped me make a lot of friends with similar interests. That has helped
me feel connected to my institution.
While AK, Tanner, Ladybug, and Sab shared the importance of the Muslim student
organization to their sense of belonging in college, some students discussed the challenges they
faced with feeling a sense of belonging at all. Some examples of these challenges included
experiencing Islamophobia, even from fellow Muslim members of the Muslim organization
itself. While Muslim student organizations exist across colleges and universities in the U.S.,
many center on the teachings and practices of the Sunni sect, the largest Islamic sect for Muslims
globally. Due to the majoritarian nature of Sunni-identifying individuals in Muslim student
organizations, Muslims who recently converted to Islam and students from other minority

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Islamic religious sects may experience feelings of isolation and an inability to fully belong. Ali, a
Shia-identifying Muslim student, discussed this, stating that while he did not think there should
be any additional organizations that would help serve him as a Muslim student on campus, he did
believe that the current established Muslim student organization could increase their activities to
better include students identifying with other religious sects. Similar to the challenges Ali raised
as a Shia student within the Muslim community on campus, Jacky Jain, an undergraduate student
at Rose University, also shared her experiences as a student who recently embraced the Islamic
faith. She shared,
Sense of belonging is unconditional love and comfort you receive from a community, but
my sense of belonging is in the middle, because as someone who recently embraced
Islam, sometimes it can be hard to find community.
In some cases, a combination of academic spaces, diverse communities, and social
organizations was beneficial for Muslim students to feel like they belonged on their campus.
Indopak shared that at Rose University, they relied on professors and classmates for their sense
belonging. Sofia, an undergraduate student at Lavender University, shared a combination of
support systems. She expressed,
I do not necessarily rely on one person per say, but usually when I am overwhelmed, I
talk to girls from the Muslim student organization or friends I intern with for SWANA to
get a refresher from the trauma that takes place on campus.
SWANA, as Sofia identified, stands for Southwest Asia and North African, a term that is
sometimes used in place of “Middle East”, and encompasses different ethnic groups from the
region. Sofia’s comfort in SWANA is similar to that of AK, who, as previously mentioned, relies
on his Middle Eastern and North African peers for support.
For some, academic spaces were also sources of support. As mentioned before, Sakinah
shared that she relied on both her Muslim friends and her peers in her lab group to support her

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sense of belonging. Maryam at Marigold University similarly indicated the importance of peer
support in her department, sharing that while there were no known Muslim or cultural
organizations she utilized on campus to support her sense of belonging, fellow students within
her psychology program deeply valued diversity in their professional practice, which she
believed was a prime reason people respected and positively viewed her identity, especially as a
Muslim woman who recently started wearing hijab.
While most students identified positive interactions and spaces that supported their
belonging, some students shared challenges they faced with feeling connected and valued on
campus at all. Natasha, a third-year undergraduate at Rose University, expressed that a sense of
belonging involves knowing that you have a place to go where people accept you for who you
are. Yet, thinking of whether she belongs to her campus, she shared,
I do not think there is someone I rely on most on campus to make me feel valued. I have
gone to the Muslim Student Organization meetings a couple of times but I do not feel as
connected to the other people there because they are more religious than me so
sometimes there is a feeling of not belonging.
Natasha further described feeling there was a level of required religious and/or spiritual
engagement to feel like a connected and valued member within her Muslim student organization.
Like Natasha, Ams at Peony University also shared,
I do not feel I belong, partially due to my identity as a Muslim, but also because the
campus does not make an effort with students outside of their traditional programs to
provide us with opportunities and connections.
As a graduate in a professional program, Ams found it difficult to connect to her campus
community, sharing that she would benefit from more acknowledgment and opportunities to
connect with other students on campus, something her institution is not currently implementing.
This theme highlighted Muslim students' perspectives as they defined a sense of
belonging for themselves and their communities, and then discussed whether they felt they

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belonged at their institution. While many participants described their Muslim community and
student organization on campus as being a vital part of feeling connected, there were still some
challenges to connecting to the institution. In the next theme, students illustrate their thoughts on
institutional support.
Institutional Support
Speaking with Muslim students revealed the ways in which they did or did not feel a
sense of belonging on their campus. This theme, titled “Institutional Support” further uncovers
whether students believed there was adequate institutional support for their positive sense of
belonging in light of experiences they shared with regard to Islamophobia and anti-Muslim
sentiment. Findings indicated that an overwhelming majority of Muslim students believed that
their institutions did not provide support. Based on survey and interview data, the three subthemes within this larger theme are: responding to Islamophobia in real time, resources for
Muslim students’ sense of belonging, and finally, freedom of speech and expression.
Acknowledging Muslim Students: Responding to Islamophobia in Real Time
Many students indicated that in current times, their institution could do a better job of
providing support to them and their communities, so they feel safe, heard, and respected. As it
stands, Muslim students often felt like they were being targeted, with no specific person they
could turn to or speak with. They shared that one-way institutions could address these challenges
is to respond and connect with the Muslim student population regarding current cultural, social,
and political events that manifest the prevalence of Islamophobia in real time. Pablo
Abdelmajeed at Rose University believed institutions can provide support by acknowledging
tragedies taking place around the world:

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As a Muslim student, this institution can better support me and my fellow Muslim
classmates by advocating for and recognizing the devastating tragedies that happen to our
people all around the world in current events, as many of us have families and relatives in
those regions of the world.
Ams at Peony University also believed that there should be more acknowledgment for
Muslim students:
Institutions should be more acknowledging of Muslims overall, including of our holidays
and traditions, our pain due to global events, our joys, and just directly acknowledging
that Muslims students do exist on campus though we may be few.
Ladybug at Rose University also provided insight, stating that she did not believe her
institution currently provided support.
There needs to be more acknowledgement of the Muslim community in terms of who we
are and the way we struggle with Islamophobia, which can be provided by increasing
support towards the Muslim community when it comes to real-life events and hosting
events that create safe spaces for Muslims to state their opinions and also de-stress from
hardships.
Pablo, Ams, and Ladybug share the unseen effects of global devastation that can take a
toll on Muslim college students' social, emotional, and mental well-being. While Pablo tried to
connect to his campus as much as possible by going to events on campus and meeting new
students, he ultimately believed that “there should be more recognition and advocacy from the
staff and faculty towards Muslim students so that they feel like they actually belong on campus”.
Similarly, Ams called attention to the importance of the institution acknowledging Muslim
students, including responding to the pain associated with global events as well as understanding
the important Islamic traditions and holidays that Muslim students observe. Finally, Ladybug
believed that more acknowledgement of Muslim students means creating events that are
considered “safe spaces” for Muslim students to openly discuss their feelings, thoughts, and
concerns in response to the increase of global Islamophobia. Ams, building on Ladybug's
suggestion to create more spaces for Muslim students, noted that at her institution, other

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organizations have received campus-wide messaging and events centered on discussion and
healing spaces, while Muslim organizations have not received the same resources.
Sakinah at Rose University also discussed the importance of acknowledgment, sharing
that she did not believe the institution had thus far provided adequate support for students,
especially Palestinian students, at this time:
The institution could start by acknowledging the genocide in Gaza which affects their
Palestinian students, who are both Muslim and non-Muslim. For Muslim students, they
could connect Muslim students with Muslim therapists and faculty for support.
Sakinah shared that Rose University centers a lot of their work on diversity, equity, and
inclusion, which includes initiatives to recruit counselors of diverse backgrounds, but they falter
in providing lasting, tangible support to those counselors and ultimately fail to retain them.
Sakinah believed that this lack of resources prevents many Muslim students from meaningfully
connecting with administrators, staff, and counselors who can guide them through challenging
times, particularly when global tragedies trigger them. Instead, Muslim students end up relying
on each other and the community for support, she said.
AK from Rose University also believed that additional communication, accommodations,
and counselors could be beneficial for Muslim students like him. He mentioned that his
institution was not doing enough to address the concerns of his community:
I think when the school addresses our concerns, it is always bundled up with other
concerns. I do not think that the school has ever treated Islamophobia as an issue. But
more like a subcategory of a broader issue. And I think this concern is a lot like the whole
movement around the Black Lives Matter movement and how there's a need to amplify
Black voices in contrast to the narrative around “all lives matter”, right? So especially at
a time like this, I think Muslim students deserve that same attention from the school. But
unfortunately, [Rose University] has not made the effort yet. And it just hasn't taken an
active step against bigotry and hate. I think I will even go as far as to say that a lot of
statements on schools are actually fueling elements of hatred. So, I think I would
definitely want to see [Rose University] do more, but I doubt that they will.

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Alongside increasing communication with Muslim students and the Muslim Student
Organization to offer necessary support, AK discussed his belief that his institution should also
engage in active, meaningful dialogue that acknowledges and amplifies the needs and voices of
Muslim students on campus. Yet he said his institution had not yet done so in light of what was
happening in Palestine and the increased targeting of Muslim students. Instead, he stated that the
institution’s silence not only neglects Muslim students but also further exacerbates the bigotry
and hatred that were targeting his community. Even though he believed the institution should do
more, he did not think that it would ever come to fruition.
Sofia at Lavender University shared similar sentiments as AK, saying that the chancellor
of the university had engaged in divisive comments regarding Israel and Palestine:
[Lavender University] students are very liberal in demanding freedom in Palestine. We
hold protests and demonstrations every day. In protests there are Islamophobic people
who contribute to Zionism there. In one event a Muslim student was harassed and called
a terrorist while he was just walking to get somewhere. Nothing was posted about this
incident. However, when the roles were switched and the person getting attacked was a
Zionist, the chancellor sent out an email regarding it. This was frustrating to see. I felt
mad and also upset. Despite the impact on students, the administration continues to turn a
blind eye against genocide.
Referencing the incident where the Muslim student was targeted with no institutional
follow-up response, Sofia shared that Lavender University could improve their practices of
addressing Islamophobia by increasing security, which may prevent Muslim students from
getting targeted or harassed, and for the chancellor of the school to “acknowledge that Muslim
students exist on campus and mitigate situations that jeopardize their protection”. In the next
section, students discussed institutional support they identified as currently be salient for their
sense of belonging and their perceptions and suggestions on additional support institutions
should implement.

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Resources for Muslim Students’ Belonging
As discussed above, Muslim students identified some resources that were salient to
finding community, comfort, and support. When asked to provide more examples of how their
institution could better serve them, if at all, students shared varying responses. Some believed
that their institution was already providing adequate forms of support. Natasha at Tulip
University provided some insight, sharing that while she did not feel connected to members of
the Muslim student organization on campus due to feeling like her peers were “more religious”
than her, the resources offered by the organization, such as Jummah prayers, which were weekly
Friday prayers, as well as iftars to break fast and suhoor to eat before starting the fast during
Ramadan were salient to her belonging as a Muslim student. Bo Khili, a second-year
undergraduate at Rose University, expressed her belief that her institution should not only
maintain its support for the established Muslim student organization on campus, but also explore
the creation of numerous spaces that cater to the cultural, religious, and spiritual needs of those
who subscribe to Islam. Chad at Rose University also believed that his institution provided
adequate support because it has a dedicated prayer space for Muslim students to be able to
engage in prayers. Overall, prayer and meditation spaces were salient in discussions about
institutional support. Tanner indicated that his institution could provide more support by offering
quiet places during Ramadan where students could possibly rest and pray during the day.
Similarly, Maryam at Marigold University felt that while she belongs to her institution, Muslim
students like her could benefit from a prayer space.
Most Muslim students, however, indicated that their institution did not provide adequate
institutional support. For example, to Natasha’s point about having access to iftars, suhoors, and
Friday Jummah prayers, Sab at Flower University made a point to mention that while she also

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received these accommodations on her campus as well, they are a benefit that was provided to
students because of Muslim student organizations’ advocacy and hard work over the years to
make sure that these resources are put into place. In other words, Sab questioned whether the
institution could fully claim credit for the presence of these resources, as she doubted that these
support systems would exist without the collective efforts and advocacy of Muslim students. She
also shared that while her institution recently established a meditation space on campus, this is a
win that could not have been possible without the tireless advocacy of Muslim students over the
years to have this space made available to the Muslim student population.
In reference to receiving accommodations during Ramadan and Eid, Pablo Abdelmajeed
at Rose University shared,
As for the holidays that Muslim students observe, they are not even recognized by the
university. We observe the whole month of Ramadan and Eid during the academic
semester, and we do not get any recognition or accommodations for it.
Pablo discussed the importance of being recognized by the university, especially for
important holidays and traditions. His perceptions highlighted the previously mentioned notion
of “acknowledgement” and “acknowledging Muslim student presence” on campus to support
their sense of belonging. In an analogous example, Ali, a doctoral student at Rose University,
recalled that during Ramadan:
My advisor knows about Ramadan, but I do not think the meaning of knowing is that
they give any accommodations. In fact, they expect that we coordinate or adjust the time
that we are working. So if we are fasting from day to night, it is our problem that we
cannot stay awake during the day time and need to work more during the night time to
make up for it, so I do not feel that they support.
Ali shared that during his time at Rose University, his advisor has not been significantly
understanding or accommodating during Ramadan and Eid, which resulted in him having to
figure out a schedule that incorporated both the importance of fasting and Ramadan and

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completing academic tasks in a timely manner. In his case, Ali mentioned having to work late
nights in order to keep up with academic deadlines since he was often tired during the daytime
when he was fasting. Comparably, Sakinah felt that while her colleagues, peers, and advisor are
generally nice individuals, she did not want to engage in uncomfortable conversations when it
came to taking time off for Eid. Instead, she approached the situation by telling her team that she
would be late or not be able to come in that day. Generally, her discomfort stemmed from her
perceptions that faculty are tasked with also being supervisors and managers, but with little-to-no
awareness of how to do so, including being aware of the Islamic holidays and traditions that are
important for Muslim students on campus. In her own words, Sakinah shared that she did not
believe diversity training alone may be sufficient to address these concerns, stating, “the
institution can’t just diversity-train themselves out of these situations.” As previously mentioned,
Sakinah believed diversity initiatives are what drove institutions to hire and welcome counselors
from diverse backgrounds to support minoritized students at her institution, but often, the
institution failed to retain the counselors and thus provide adequate resources to support the
needs of Muslim students specifically. In this regard, other students also mentioned the lack of
counseling support on campus. Potato at Rose University shared that if counseling and healing
spaces were effectively established, they could benefit Muslim students because it would show
that the institution cares about their well-being, especially considering tragedies that occur in the
Middle East and Arab worlds. Tanner also shared similar perceptions, stating:
There are currently no Muslim-specific counselors at my institution, which means I can't
relate to many of the counselors on campus, as they do not know my life experiences and
how to practice and work with Islam in America.
Tanner’s thoughts are analogous to Sakinah, demonstrating that despite the diverse
backgrounds of counselors who were hired at their institutions, there was a specific need for

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those counselors to be able to comprehend and discuss the unique experiences of what it is like
to be Muslim in the U.S. In the next section, students detailed their perceptions about exercising
their freedom of speech and expression on campus.
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Students stated they did not believe they had adequate institutional support for their sense
of belonging, and one related aspect to this was that they also did not believe that their institution
protected or advocated for their freedom of expression, which became more apparent to students
following October 7th. AK said,
I do not think that there's a mechanism that serves Muslim students’ freedom of speech
because I think that when we express our opinions and our needs, it is ignored. So I think
institutionally there isn't a mechanism that safeguards its Muslim students. I think this is
why a lot of people are feeling unsafe, threatened, and helpless in this environment. So I
wouldn't say the school has those facilities in place.
Hijabi18 shared similar thoughts of not feeling like she could share her thoughts with full
freedom:
There’s just like a general sense of disapproval, and then the institution will make a
statement or something and they're very much like, oh, you shouldn't say certain things.
But then I feel like, oh, I thought you supported freedom of speech.
Hijabi18 recalled her institution making statements of disapproval that seemed to be
addressing pro-Palestinian groups on campus, which she then explained as being confusing and
frustrating and contributing to the uncertainty that students were already feeling. Calamari shared
similar sentiments, feeling like her freedom of expression is not completely protected. She
believed speaking with fellow students was safer, but there would potentially be some backlash
from the administration when engaging in religious-political expression:
I think I would receive support from the students if I was using my freedom of speech to
say something, but there would definitely be some backlash from some people in the
administration, because I think there definitely is Islamophobic stuff on campus. So I
think there would be some backlash, from my understanding.

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Calamari shared that while she felt generally comfortable around students in speaking her
opinion, the presence of Islamophobia on campus may emphasize the administration’s interests
to silence and punish Muslim students for expressing their opinions. During a conversation with
Ladybug, she revealed that although certain institutional processes appeared to support her
freedom of expression, she lacked clarity about these processes and the potential consequences
of voicing her concerns. She said,
A little bit after the October 7th situation, my institution sent an email about resources or
who to contact if you experience any negative treatment because of speaking out. On one
hand, I do feel like that helps me to feel like I am able to use my freedom of speech. But
on the other hand, I would have to look more into what the resources accomplish,
because I would have to really trust how much the institution would do if something
negative happens because I was trying to exercise my freedom of speech.
Ladybug further highlighted that institutions made a point to showcase their interests to
protect students’ freedom of speech, often by raising awareness about resources available to the
student population. However, across surveys and interviews, students generally did not know
what these resources entailed, and there was a level of distrust in these established systems
overall. Students also expressed that one way the institution may engage in further suppressing
Muslim students’ political expression is by organizing police presence during pro-Palestinian
events. Whereas the institution stated that the purpose of police presence was to protect all
students from verbal and bodily harm in general, Steve said that his peers at Lilac University,
especially those who were on the front lines of organizing protests and events for Palestine, felt a
level of suspicion due to not knowing whether police were there for their protection or to surveil
them and their conversations. Steve expressed his feelings, particularly when the dean's office
called his organizer peers to clarify their intentions after a heavily policed pro-Palestine protest.

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Sakinah also offered some insight about elements of safety, freedoms, and police
presence. First, she stated that it is much easier to have healthy discussions about U.S. politics
rather than global politics, which was a perception that was also shared with Maryam, who
believed she could easily discuss domestic political events, such as the Islamophobic rhetoric and
actions by the Trump administration. However, when it came to discussions on Israel and
Palestine, Sakinah and Maryam both felt the conversation was much more charged, and they
needed to be more cautious so as not to anger any individuals on campus. Similarly, when it
came to talking about global events, such as what is happening in Palestine, Sakinah had a sense
that people took her opinions less seriously than they might if a white person shared the same
opinion:
I think it is a lot easier to voice things that are happening here, because a lot more people
are aware of what is happening. But when it comes to things that are happening overseas,
I think people take my opinion less seriously than they would a white person. So there's
that to begin with. And then also, people are really scared about having conversations
about things they do not know about, even though it should be a discussion where you
can learn and ask questions.
Sakinah then shared that when it came to global events, she did not think expressing her
opinions was safe due to past experiences where her peers were doxxed for doing so:
I do not think it is safe. A lot of that's informed by my experience in undergrad where a
lot of people that I knew were doxxed for voicing their political opinions specifically
regarding Palestine. I feel like, in general, the Muslim identity is really politicized. And
any expression of a political opinion from a Muslim student, especially a visibly Muslim
student, is usually dismissed. Or, heavily policed, either by tone policing, or actual
police. I've seen protests that have had police presence on campus, not just campus
police, but also actual police.
Sakinah’s perceptions were also informed by gendered Islamophobia, which targets
“visibly” Muslim individuals like her for their political expression (Aziz, 2021). In addition, the
term “tone policing” that Sakinah utilized describes the phenomenon where people in power
monitor and suppress the language and perceptions used by students, which points to an earlier

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discussion brought up by hijabi18 feeling like her institution has making statements about what
students could/could not say and how to/how not to say it. Lastly, Steve and Sakinah depicted the
impact of the presence of the larger county and campus police, which they believed to be
institutionalized forms of Islamophobia that their institutions engaged with to monitor them and
their Muslim, Arab, and pro-Palestinian peers. To counteract these feelings of distrust and
wariness, some shared that they specifically felt more empowered or comfortable speaking out
because of their membership in the Muslim student organization on campus, as Calamari
previously mentioned. This was particularly due to the group's collective beliefs when it came to
political expression. Sab said:
I do feel like I can advocate for my free speech. Because again, Muslim Student
Organization is such a big body of students, that when we go out to talk about our views
and ideas, we go out together and try to keep each other safe. So I think it is a part of why
I feel so safe expressing my freedom of speech. However, if they weren’t there, I would
definitely feel unsafe.
When it came to political expression, Sab believed in the collective power of her Muslim
student organization and her peers. Apart from their Muslim student organization, students
generally lacked trust in their institutions and were unsure of how to respond to instances of
Islamophobia or suppression of their freedoms, particularly when these actions came from their
own institutions or administrators. During specific interviews, students elaborated on their
thoughts, stating that they generally did not know much or anything at all about how to handle
these situations when they occurred, and their institutions provided little resources to advocate
for them. Hijabi18 wished that this process was more well-known to her and the community,
especially considering that Islamophobia was rampant on campus. Jacky Jain also shared that she
thought institutions should protect students' anonymity and freedom of speech when they spoke
out on political topics that may be related to religion. Sakinah specifically mentioned one

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solution the institution can engage with to minimize distrust, disdain, and overall unawareness:
institutions should investigate Islamophobia and violations of freedom of speech and expression
by hiring third-party investigators:
They could properly investigate (using a third party) professors who say Islamophobic
things and make them face consequences. They could connect Muslim students with
Muslim therapists and faculty for support.
The final subtheme revealed that students generally lacked confidence in the existence of
adequate systems protecting their freedom of speech and expression. When their institutions did
make statements, students felt that they were performative at best, but had an underlying
message that suggested they were “tone policing” and were monitoring students and their
political engagement. In the next section, I summarize the findings.
Summary of Findings
As a summary, Muslims indeed do experience the framing of being considered Racial
Muslims, as evidenced by the micro- and macro-levels of Islamophobia that they share within
their institutions. While Islamophobia has always been present in their lives, Muslim students
shared that Islamophobia heightened after October 7th, impacting the level of comfort students
felt in a negative manner, while gendered Islamophobia plagued Muslim women’s experiences
on campus. They also mentioned these feelings, specifically when they engaged in solidarity
with Palestine. Ultimately, this has also had an impact on their sense of belonging, as they felt
that while their Muslim student organization played a significant role in mitigating feelings of
isolation and hypervisibility, institutions largely failed to provide support. In fact, they
perpetuated further stereotypes and misconceptions against Muslims by remaining silent, taking
a one-sided stance, or making statements that suggested Muslim students and their proPalestinian peers should exercise caution in their words and actions. Students believed that

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institutions could better support them by addressing the global tragedies that are taking place
against their loved ones, which have an impact on their social, emotional, and mental wellness.
Institutions could also foster a more positive sense of belonging by addressing the challenges
Muslim students face when seeking accommodations during Ramadan and Eid, and by providing
effective diversity training for faculty, staff, and counselors on these topics, which is currently
lacking. Finally, students expressed a lack of confidence in their institutions' ability to safeguard
their freedom of expression and speech, citing elements of Islamophobia in their intentions. The
next chapter presents the discussion of the findings.

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Chapter 5: Summary, Discussion, and Conclusion
This chapter is the final chapter of the dissertation, which begins by addressing the study
aims, followed by a discussion of the findings in relation to the Racial Muslim and MRSCC
frameworks. The findings from Chapter 4 underscored the impact of Islamophobia on the racial
Muslim experience for students. Additionally, this chapter explores the institutional role in
mitigating any negative interactions that Muslim students may encounter, fostering a more
positive and welcoming campus climate. Furthermore, the findings and discussion aim to
counter the dominant narrative that portrays Muslim students as terrorists, terrorist sympathizers,
and troublemakers for speaking out against imperialism, colonialism, and Islamophobic laws and
policies that harm them and their communities, while also informing institutional praxis that
fosters a sense of belonging among Muslim students.
Summary of the Study Aims
The purpose of this dissertation was to qualitatively explore the experiences of Muslim
college students in higher education today, considering the omnipresence of Islamophobia that,
as evidenced by current events in the Arab world and the western world’s role in it, has caused
an onslaught of violence, hate crimes, microaggressions, and discrimination against Muslims
globally. As colleges and universities continue to implement DEIB initiatives to better support
minoritized students’ sense of belonging and overall well-being, this study serves to center the
challenges, experiences, and counter stories of Muslim students, who continue to experience
marginalization in higher education. These counter stories act to challenge the dominant
narratives that paint the diverse Muslim community into one monolith of perpetual foreigners
and suspects. Moreover, we created this study to identify current systems that perpetuate
privilege and oppression, enabling Muslim students to critically engage with the racism and

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discrimination their communities face. For institutions, this study was created to inform
institutional agents about the positive and negative aspects of college life that make up Muslim
students’ experiences, which can also have an impact on other minority religious groups who are
affected by any and all forms of anti-Muslim racism. Thus, considering current global events, the
two key components of this study were to examine: 1) the demographic traits and the political
expression of Muslims that contribute to the racialized, Islamophobic experiences of Muslim
college students in higher education; and 2) how Muslim college students utilized any
institutional support mechanisms, if at all, to support their sense of belonging in college.
Grounded in the Minoritized Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) and Racial
Muslim frameworks, the study addressed the following research questions:
1) How has Islamophobia shaped the experiences and sense of belonging of Muslim
college students?
2) How do Muslim students utilize institutional support mechanisms for their sense of
belonging on college campuses, if at all?
Discussion
This section discusses the three overarching themes presented in the Chapter 4 findings in
the following order: Racial Muslim, Sense of Belonging, and Institutional Support. To engage
the conceptual framework in Chapter 2 with the findings in Chapter 4, the below Figure 3 is
presented. In this visualization below, the yellow boxes with bolded text represent the findings
from this study that are relevant to the Racial Muslim framework and each dimension of the
MRSCC that is corresponding. Figure 3 will be referenced throughout the discussion below.

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Figure 3: Relating Findings to the Conceptual Framework
Racial Muslims
As mentioned in Chapter 1, there are many ways to define the habitual fear and/or hatred
against Muslims, with the most widely known term being Islamophobia. Accordingly, this
dissertation defined Islamophobia as the institutionalized construction of hate and fear against
Muslims to justify state-sanctioned repression of the Muslim population in the western world and
acknowledged the differing experiences of Islamophobia Muslims may have experienced due to
their varying intersecting identities (Hilal, 2022). Thus, Islamophobia as employed in the study
recognized the role of intersectionality along racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic lines of the

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Muslim identity and addressed the nuanced ways the Muslim religious identity intersects with
their political expression, also considering elements of anti-Blackness, racism, nationalism, and
xenophobia (Hilal, 2022, p. xviii).
To avoid essentializing their experiences with Islamophobia, the survey and interview
protocol asked students to provide their own definitions of the term. In alignment with Hilal’s
definition, students’ descriptions of Islamophobia, as presented in Chapter 4, highlighted the
intersectional and often institutionalized forms of anti-Muslim sentiment that they experienced
within their institutions. For example, descriptions of Islamophobia ranged from subtle, nonverbal microaggressions to the specific, gendered forms of Islamophobia that targeted Muslim
women and those who wear hijab to larger doxxing incidents that physically endangered proPalestinian students, especially following October 7th. For instance, since the start of October 7th
,
students felt as though they and their communities were heavily surveilled, tone-policed, and
treated more negatively than other religious and political groups on campus, stating that their
institutions were doing little to protect them from the racism and overall harm they were
experiencing.
Students also felt that the silence of their institutions sent a message that Islamophobic
rhetoric and sentiment on campus that framed Muslim and pro-Palestinian students as terrorists
and terrorist sympathizers was acceptable, thus leaving Muslim students to fend for themselves
and find their own support within their communities. As exemplified through Figure 3 and in
alignment with the MRSCC framework’s Dimensions 3 and 4, students illuminated that higher
education is not immune from the harmful effects of Islamophobia, and the descriptions and
experiences of Islamophobia shared by participants in this study are succinctly aligned with
Hilal’s (2022) definition of the term. For instance, the constructed hate and fear of Muslim

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students is built even into the structures of colleges and universities that encourage freedom of
expression and productive intellectual discourse. Students described this by sharing that the lack
of institutional response and support for Muslim and pro-Palestinian students isolated and
marginalized their communities, and institutions actually acted as agents of governmental
surveillance by policing Muslim students’ political voice and ultimately allowing Islamophobic
rhetoric and sentiment on college campuses as acceptable. Thus, these forms of institutionalized
Islamophobia were utilized to justify the repression and silencing of Muslim, Arab, and proPalestinian students on campuses.
The Racial Muslim aspects of the conceptual framework presented in Chapter 2 also shed
light on the experiences of participants in this study. For example, Aziz (2021) argued that the
Racial Muslim identity heavily relies on the notion that Islam is a political ideology that is
inherently at odds with western traditions and values, thus deeming it a religion that is not
worthy of basic civil protections and rights in America (Aziz, 2021). Consequently, while
Muslims are vastly diverse and differ in religious and spiritual engagement, they are
continuously viewed as one singular racial group that has historically faced similar Orientalist,
Islamophobic instances of discrimination. The findings indicated three ways students described
Islamophobia: general misconceptions and stereotypes regarding their faith traditions and
practices, gendered forms of Islamophobic violence and discrimination, and provocations they
encountered as they advocated against the genocide occurring in Palestine, as Sakinah and AK
defined it.
First, students shared definitions of Islamophobia and microaggressions they experienced
and thought about in college. In the example definition provided by Pablo, he alluded to the
Islamophobic racialization that has implications for Muslims’ livelihood and social mobility,

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referencing the impact on employment application process specifically, in which the implicit,
Islamophobic biases employers may hold could possibly hinder Muslim applicants’ chances to
gain meaningful employment prospects, primarily due to their “Muslim-sounding” names or
even their observance of hijab. Pablo stated that the manifestation of these stereotypes stems
from misconceptions about Muslim and Arab traditions and practices. Tanner, also a student
from Rose University, similarly discussed the notion that Islamophobia is reliant on stereotypes
that have harmful effects on people of color. Both Tanner’s and Pablo’s definitions of
Islamophobia echo Said’s (1978) claim that Muslims and Arabs were purposefully painted as
always needing to be saved, backwards, and oppressive based on their cultural practices when
compared to the western world.
As students such as Tanner and Sakinah stated, this form of racialization, which Said
(1978) named Orientalism, does not only target Muslims but non-Muslims as well. People often
view South Asians, Arabs, and Middle Easterners as racial Muslims based on their appearance,
attire, and names (Aziz, 2021, p. 6, p. 88). In other words, their identities become blurred and
lumped into a monolithic categorization of being Muslim, regardless of whether they are Muslim
at all. Pablo, Tanner, Sakinah, and other students also discuss elements of being Racial Muslims
that were discussed in Chapter 2, which described the racialization of Muslims as a calculated,
purposeful effort by the western world to justify surveillance and oppression of Black and Brown
communities through the use of media and films, news reports, and an overall brainwashing
effect that shaped Muslim, Arab, and Brown people alike to be uncivilized, brutal, and religious
fanatics. Chapter 2 also discussed how Islamophobia has targeted Sikh-identifying individuals,
particularly Sikh men, based on misconceptions about their appearance and religious clothing. In
terms of higher education systems, these prominent forms of Islamophobia as a racial framing

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has the potential to harm U.S. Muslims and Muslim immigrants, because they may feel the
strong need to strip their own cultures, languages, and choice to adhere to religious-based
appearances (i.e., having and keeping a Muslim-sounding name, observing hijab or keeping a
beard) not only to “blend in” to western society, but also to be able to gain basic socio economic
privileges that are essential for social mobility and survival. Further, Muslims may also feel the
need to disengage with political expression for fear of discrimination if they voice their opinions
about American politics. This is a western, imperial effort that results in immigrant and
religiously devout Muslims to remain silent on policies that are harmful to their communities
(Aziz, 2021). As an example, the presence of Islamophobia can have an impact on prospective
employment and networking opportunities Muslim students seek in their college and postcollege journeys.
Although few studies have investigated this phenomenon as it occurs for Muslim women
specifically in the U.S., Tyrer and Ahmad (2006) found that Muslim women in Europe had a
general understanding that their Muslim identity could negatively impact their prospects for
career and employment opportunities. Therefore, the general treatment of Muslims as secondclass citizens, as evidenced by their access to certain spaces, led to their racialization (Aziz,
2021). The findings indicate that these phenomena often came up for students when they
discussed their experiences in college. As exemplified in Figure 3, dominant group’s biases
towards Muslim students in higher education institutions can negatively impact their sense of
belonging and basic civil rights. This is because external factors like government policies and
geopolitical events can influence the diverse interactions of students on campus (Ahmadi et al.,
2019; Chang et al., 2011). Furthermore, MRSCC’s fifth dimension, the organizational/structural
aspects of a university, indicate that Muslim students are less likely to report negative

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interactions on campus when non-Muslim faculty, staff, and peers actively participate in
religious and interfaith-related diversity training or when an institution emphasizes diversity,
thereby minimizing the presence of implicit biases on campus that may hinder their opportunities
(Cole et al., 2020).
Generally, regarding experiencing racial-religious discrimination in college, Muslim
students expressed that their interactions with faculty, staff, and peers were mostly positive. They
felt that their professors were generally aware of Islamic traditions and holidays, such as
Ramadan and Eid. However, some instances demonstrated the racial-religious presence of
Islamophobic microaggressions, shedding light on the current challenges that students continue
to face. For example, when asked if they had experienced Islamophobia on their campus,
students mentioned a few instances that specifically took place during Ramadan, an Islamic holy
month of fasting, and Eid celebrations, which occur bi-annually.
Ramadan takes place annually for a month-long duration, and most Muslims observe
fasts, refraining from food or drink daily, from dusk until sunset, for approximately 30 days.
Typically, since the month of Ramadan is a time where Muslims may choose to increase their
ibadah (acts of worship to God including–but not limited to–offering multiple prayers
throughout the day, reading the Qur’an, and increasing charity to the less fortunate, for example),
engaging in spiritual and religious practices may be especially important for Muslims during this
time. However, since the timing of Ramadan depends on the Islamic lunar calendar, Muslim
students often face challenges where they may need to choose between practicing their religion
and attending to the demands and pre-scheduled deadlines of academic courses, such as being
present to take midterms and finals and complete assignments on time. As a result, many Muslim
students rely on their faculty, staff, and peers to understand and accommodate the importance of

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this month to be able to attend to both religious and spiritual practices without having to
compromise academic and social life. Findings suggest that there is often a lack of this
understanding. To avoid the possibility of encountering awkward conversations altogether,
Sakinah mentioned that while she thought her doctoral advisor was a nice person, she never felt
comfortable enough to ask them for time off during Eid. Instead, she shared that over the years,
she has called in sick or taken time off in order to be able to celebrate Eid.
Similarly, Ali shared that he faces challenges during Ramadan every year because, even
though he has continued to share with his advisor that he will be observing fasts during the
month of Ramadan, his advisor expects him to finish tasks and projects in the same manner as
normal, not showing any type of accommodation or understanding of the often physical and
mental effects of tiredness while fasting through the day. Furthermore, he expressed that his
advisor fails to comprehend that Ramadan encompasses more than just fasting, as it also involves
attending increased prayers and family gatherings to break fast daily, which could potentially
impact his ability to complete work. As a result, Ali felt that even though his advisor may let him
work independently during Ramadan, the expectation was that the work assigned to him would
get done as expected. Often, this meant Ali had to dedicate late nights to completing work during
Ramadan to meet both religious and academic expectations, yet his genuine efforts to complete
tasks never received positive recognition. Ali did not want to create too much trouble in this
aspect, continuing to abide by his advisor’s expectations even if it was at the cost of being able to
focus on Ramadan, and he wished that there were stronger policies in place that protect graduate
students and allow them to take time off for religious events or holidays. Ali’s suggestion is one
way that institutions can address religious and spiritual diversity, as indicated by the fifth

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dimension of the MRSCC to allow students to take time off for their important religious holidays
and events without fear of consequences or repercussions.
In a similar anecdote, Vela Girlie recounted an instance where she had an agreement with
a professor to receive religious accommodations during Ramadan. However, upon receiving a
bad grade, the professor informed her that he had never provided such accommodations and
could not take any action due to the need to treat everyone equally. While one could argue that
this instance may not illustrate a direct hatred or prejudice towards Vela Girlie, the professors’
unwillingness to reconcile a bad grade after previously having agreed to religious
accommodations highlighted a lack of consideration and understanding of the student’s needs as
they related to their religious practices. Situations like this exemplify the often-subtle ways
Islamophobic microaggressions may present themselves on college campuses when it comes to
religious traditions and holidays.
The findings above are in alignment with Joshi’s (2021) argument presented in Chapter 2,
which said that white Protestant supremacy is so ingrained in our society that it often goes
unnoticed and dominates the rules about who belongs and what is acceptable in public discourse.
For example, while Christian prayer can be offered at graduation ceremonies and spring breaks
often align with Easter celebrations, Muslim students struggle to receive similar accommodations
for their religious practices. As highlighted below in Figure 3, the organizational and structural
dimension of an institution, as discussed by MRSCC, can address these concerns by
implementing institutional policies regarding religious diversity and accommodations that would
benefit Muslim students who are in need of accommodations and support during Ramadan
and/or Eid, especially (Ahmadi et al., 2019; Cole et al., 2020).

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The intersectionality of Muslim students' experiences illustrated the second aspect of
being a Racial Muslim, emphasizing how Islamophobia interacted with gendered forms of
discrimination to further marginalize them. In a concrete definition, Darakshan Raja (2019)
defined gendered Islamophobia as "the ways the state utilizes gendered forms of violence to
oppress, monitor, punish, maim and control Muslim bodies while depicting them as terrorist
sympathizers, supporters and potential terrorists who pose a threat to the security of the state"
(Raja, 2019, pp. 278-279). Gendered Islamophobia affected both men and women in the study,
manifesting in their definitions and experiences of specific events. For example, Chad recalled
being chased and told by a stranger to go back to his country on his undergraduate campus, a
type of Islamophobic interaction that is rooted in the violent effects of Orientalist tropes of
“looking Muslim”. Even though Chad is indeed an American citizen, the demographic
appearance of him and his friend was reason enough for a random stranger to verbalize the root
of the Racial Muslim typology–that the mere existence of Muslims is considered suspect and unAmerican. Chad’s interaction with this man is one of many stories that highlights the harmful
effects of Islamophobia–without even verifying whether Chad was Muslim or an American
citizen, internalized Islamophobia led the man to target two Brown men who were otherwise just
going about their day.
Notably, for Muslim women in this study, gendered Islamophobia was a shared
experience that highlights the intersectionality of simultaneously being considered both
oppressed and terrorists (Aziz, 2012). Ladybug shared a prevalent misconception about Muslim
women she has come across, portraying them as oppressed by patriarchal regimes, lacking
education, incapable of independent decision-making, and compelled to conform to oppressive
dress standards. These notions, rooted in both Orientalism and white feminism, portray Muslim

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women as victims of violent oppression, ignoring the numerous forms of queer and feminist
resistance that women and other people of color have led against patriarchy (Ahmadi et al., 2023;
Aziz, 2012). Contrary to the negative Orientalist and white feminist framings of Muslim women,
women in this study described the choice to wear hijab as being deeply empowering and a step
towards connecting to God on a more intimate level, one that was their personal decision to
make. Sakinah discussed aspects of her experience wearing hijab in a doctoral program, sharing
that peers and colleagues were often “surprised” by her presence as a Muslim woman pursuing
graduate studies.
Hijabi18 also shared her experiences of receiving comments and questions about her
father's pressure to wear the hijab, which she refuted and attributed to widespread
misconceptions about women. Thus, without truly understanding how Muslim women embody
feminism in accordance with Islamic values and teachings, claiming that all women are
oppressed because of their modest dress is simply ill-informed. However, as the findings suggest,
being subjected to stereotypes about hijab is not uncommon for Muslim women in higher
education. Ahmadi and colleagues' (2023) recent study, which examined the veiling experiences
of students at HBCUs, revealed that despite generally positive experiences with their hijab,
students still encountered gendered Islamophobia on rich, racially and ethnically diverse
campuses. Institutions must examine the interreligious interactions among students on campus
and implement diversity initiatives that tackle Orientalism and the targeting of Muslim men and
women based solely on their appearance, attire, cultural and religious traditions, and practices.
Further, regarding the organizational and structural dimensions of a university, mandated
religious diversity training could specifically emphasize elements of feminism and the longstanding contributions of Black and Muslim women to leadership to counter misconceptions

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about Muslim women. In doing so, institutions can effectively and tangibly dismantle existing
stereotypes that plague Muslim students’ experiences, thus fostering equitable learning
environments for minority students.
While Muslims and Muslim students have historically engaged in activism for Palestine
on college campuses, following October 7th, colleges and universities began to double down on
pro-Palestinian students, often punishing and silencing them for their involvement in protests and
activism on campus, as discussed in the literature review in Chapter 2. Despite the possibility of
facing consequences for speaking out against U.S. imperialism and policies, Palestine was in the
hearts and minds of students, as they shared in surveys and interviews. Muslim students
expressed collective sadness and mistrust against their institutions because of the way they felt
their institutions continued to silence and neglect their needs. Tanner described an incident when
an esteemed faculty member walked by the memorial that students had organized to
commemorate lost Palestinian lives and made antagonistic comments that left students feeling
uncomfortable and ultimately unsafe. Tanner felt like he could not trust his professors because of
the incident, and he was distrusting of the institution’s handling of the situation.
Whereas members of the campus community who held opposing views received
accommodations and support, pro-Palestinian faculty, staff, and students felt they did not receive
the same treatment or concern. Sofia discussed that the chancellor at Lavender University was
quick to make one-sided comments that left Muslim and pro-Palestinian students feeling
frustrated and isolated. Steve also shared that at his institution, his peers who were heavily
involved with organizing efforts for Palestine on campus were called in by the dean to discuss
their intentions. Steve and Sakinah felt these types of incidents were intended with to “tone
police” pro-Palestinian and Muslim students for expressing their voices. Aziz (2021) described

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this phenomenon as a form of “exceptionalism” --one that grants Israel and its supporters the
opportunity to control the narrative, while simultaneously silencing Muslim political activism
and expression.
Despite the deep importance of advocating for Palestine among Muslim students, there
was a general understanding that doing so could potentially expose individuals to physical
violence, surveillance, doxxing, threats, and other forms of fear tactics aimed at silencing them.
This understanding informs real-life experiences of the consequences Muslims face when labeled
as religious dissidents (Aziz, 2021). To recap, a “dissident” is defined as someone who disagrees
with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief. A Racial Muslim who is
considered to be a “religious dissident” is therefore defined by Aziz as someone who
“vociferously challenges the American empire abroad and racism at home”, and as a result of the
intersection of their political views and religious identity, the religious dissident is the type of
Racial Muslim who experiences Islamophobia most frequently and is subject to the highest
degree of harm from national security practices (Aziz, 2021, p. 9).
As they shared, students were frustrated and concerned with the ways their institutions
remained silent or one-sided on the topic, often neglecting to protect Muslim students, even
considering increasing hate crimes, bias, and discrimination with Islamophobic motivations
following October 7th (Ellis & Duster, 2023). In some cases, students were upset by the way
faculty, staff, and administrators chose to address the topic. For example, Tanner shared that
following the incident with the professor, they continued to “feel unsafe to be openly Muslim
with non-Muslims due to the current climate on campus.” Many students who filled out the
survey or spoke in an interview referenced similar thoughts about October 7th in their response
to whether they were experiencing Islamophobia on their college campuses. Much like Tanner,

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students stated that they felt a sense of hypervisibility and a heightened sense of fear being on
campus, like they might face confrontation or hostility at any moment. However, as AK
discussed, students felt that their institutions hardly acknowledged nor acted in response to
protect their Muslim student population.
Steve shared that it was eye-opening for him to attend a prestigious university with highly
educated scholars yet still witness the ways the administration continued to ignore the needs of
Muslim students. As discussed previously, Steve said that his peers who were involved in
organizing peaceful protests and educational teach-ins on the history of Palestine were called in
to the dean’s office and questioned for their motives, which left him and his community on edge.
Yet, at the same time, his institution had not tangibly addressed a previous incident where an
Arab student was targeted and attacked on campus. Within this environment, Steve mentioned
that his Muslim female friends feared walking alone and frequently asked him to walk with them
for safety reasons, which was also a common occurrence across various campuses. For example,
AK’s recollection of his hijabi friend being attacked on a campus gym indicated one example of
many where Muslim women and those who appear “outwardly” Muslim due to their hijab were
being targeted, regardless of whether they were engaging in political activism and speaking out
for Palestine at all (Raja, 2019). Ladybug also shared the impact on fellow Muslim peers who
wore hijab, explaining that they had created a buddy system so that students could walk home
together, especially at night. Students talked about adopting safety precautions during protests,
like donning masks from the COVID-19 pandemic to hide their faces and avoid potential
photography or identification by pro-Israeli watch groups.
Students' experiences underscore the detrimental effects of labeling and viewing Muslims
as racial, even in college environments. For one, Muslim individuals may experience a fear of

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discrimination if they voice their opinions about American politics, resulting in their
communities remaining silent on policies that are harmful to them (Aziz, 2021). Students
reported participating in pro-Palestinian protests on campus, yet they felt uneasy because they
were unsure if their institutions would provide necessary protection. These findings echo
discussions in chapter two, which highlight several instances of danger, such as the presence of
doxxing trucks at Harvard as well as physical assaults against pro-Palestinian students at UCLA
and Columbia, to name a few. Students from this study also expressed a sense of isolation and
doubted their institution's ability to provide necessary support, mirroring the feelings of
abandonment they experienced from a lack of institutional support and response, even when
targeted and attacked.
Sense of Belonging
Although Strayhorn’s (2018) definition is widely utilized in the field of education, survey
and interview questions sought to determine what “sense of belonging” meant to Muslim
students as a means to gather a deeper cultural and social context of how they conceptualized
belonging, including sub-questions that addressed whether or not they felt like they belong as a
Muslim student at their current institution, if they relied on any organization, department, to
support for belonging, if at all, and which resources they believe would further foster their sense
of belonging at their institution. In response, students defined a sense of belonging by including
elements of comfort, security, and being accepted as they were. These definitions of sense of
belonging call attention to the psychological dimension of an institution, as outlined by MRSCC,
which encompasses the campus’s quality of group relations, perceptions of discrimination, and
attitudes students hold toward groups of different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds
(Ahmadi et al., 2019). A study by Ahmadi and colleagues (2023) found that at HBCU campuses,

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Muslim students who veil experienced Islamophobia, but the racial and ethnic diversity, coupled
with non-Muslim students’ understanding of veiling practices from a cultural perspective, helped
minimize negative interactions Muslim students had with their peers on campus.
Like the findings in the study, students expressed that when they are surrounded by a
campus community that makes them feel seen, understood, and like they do not have to address
misconceptions, they are more likely to feel like they belong to their institution. Ladybug’s
perspective sheds light on the importance of the Muslim organization, not only to engage with
faith but also to connect with the community and develop meaningful friendships. In some
institutions, Muslim student organizations may also act as an umbrella organization, overseeing
and partnering with additional organizations on campus to engage Muslim students with
community service as a faith-based practice. For example, at Sab’s institution, the Muslim
student organization partners frequently with other organizations that focus on mental health or
education mentorship programs in the Muslim community to encourage more Muslim students to
pursue mental health and education fields.
While a large portion of students identified the Muslim community and student
organization as a vital source of their belonging, resources outside of the Muslim student
population to support their sense of belonging were nonexistent. In fact, their institutions’
administrations hardly interacted with Muslim students, especially considering current events,
which left them feeling isolated and unsupported. However, often, there appears to be a
differential treatment of how these resources are offered across different religious organizations.
For example, considering the increase in doxxing incidents and Islamophobic hate crimes, Ams
felt that Muslim students needed more acknowledgement, but it never came. In this context, Ams
was referring to personal interactions, specifically campus-wide messaging, discussion, and

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healing space events that other student groups received from the institution’s administration. In
contrast, Muslim student groups never received the same treatment.
It is worthy to mention that while they felt that they did not receive adequate support from their
institutions to help foster a sense of belonging, Muslim student organizations helped most
Muslim students to lean on one another and find a sense of community, especially during
difficult times. However, Muslim student organizations that are heavily centered on religious and
spiritual engagement are not always enough to address the needs of every student. For example,
Arab and South Asian students, who were born into Islam, run most Muslim student
organizations nationwide. Consciously and unconsciously, Muslim student organizations still
engage in anti-Black behaviors and practices that marginalize and ignore the experiences and
needs of Black Muslim students. Similarly, queer Muslim students may not find comfort in
spaces where their sexuality is seemingly always in contention with their religious identity.
Notably, while most of the participants who completed surveys and interviews received
the study information from their campus’s Muslim student organization, there are no Black or
queer-identifying Muslim student responses, which is a reminder that there are still many
unaddressed challenges and needs these populations face within the Muslim community itself.
And as Ali and Jacky Jain pointed out, most Muslim student organizations can subconsciously
center on the experiences of Sunnis and those who were born into the religion, posing challenges
for those who identify with minority Islamic sects or those who have recently embraced Islam.
Some students mentioned that to address these concerns, it would be beneficial to have a
designated office where students could go to voice their concerns and utilize it as a space without
feeling judged. To facilitate a supportive environment for Muslim students, as outlined by the
MRSCC, institutions must take on the responsibility of establishing religious and spiritual

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engagement in college that emphasizes the diverse nature of the student population and
emphasizes intersectionality to provide access to resources, opportunities, and connections
relevant to the minority religious groups on campus. In absence of these resources, institutions
will continue to neglect and silence minority religious student populations while performatively
claiming to support strong DEIB initiatives.
Institutional Support
Building further on the sense of belonging, this study aimed to understand whether
Muslim students felt they had adequate institutional support. Based on survey and interview data,
most students indicated that, at this moment, they do not believe that their institutions provide
enough support. Firstly, they believed that institutions could do a better job of acknowledging the
Muslim student presence on campus. Particularly, students shared that acknowledgement means
recognizing the impact of global tragedies on students’ well-being—specifically, the pain and
sorrows they felt witnessing tragedies that harmed—and even took—the lives of their loved ones
overseas. Students wanted to see more of a response that was centered on action, not words. Yet,
students felt that the actions they needed, such as hiring more counselors with awareness of
current events, educating faculty on how to create safe spaces for open dialogue, and making
strong statements in support of Muslim student well-being and support, would never come. In
fact, students felt that the silence of their institutions and their lack of initiating conversation with
Muslim students were doing more harm than good. Given the surge in harassment, violence, and
discrimination targeting Muslim students across the country, institutions' silence on these issues
conveyed an endorsement of hatred and bigotry towards the Muslim student community.
Under the term “acknowledgement”, students also expressed a need for institutions to
recognize the holidays, traditions, and practices that Muslim students observe, because in

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absence of these recognitions, Muslim students experienced challenges to receiving
accommodations, such as not being able to coordinate alternative times for academic deadlines
and experiencing uncomfortable interactions with faculty when trying to speak to them one on
one about the support they needed. As previously discussed, some students remained silent about
their needs, despite their desire for support, as they feared rejection or negative perception from
their professors and classmates. Acknowledgement was also important for students to be able to
offer their daily prayers. These findings align with a previous study by Nasir and Al-Amin
(2006) which argued that Muslim students experienced a more positive sense of belonging when
they had access to halal foods, special accommodations during Ramadan, and a diverse,
supportive Muslim student group on campus. At institutions where prayer spaces did not exist,
students believed that they would benefit from the establishment of these spaces, not only for
prayer and meditation but also to be able to connect with the community and utilize them for rest
during the day, especially throughout the month of Ramadan.
Students who were fortunate enough to have prayer spaces on their campus recognized
that this support was not solely from the institution's goodwill, but rather stemmed from the
decades-long efforts of student activists and advocates, who tirelessly and repeatedly advocated
for the provision of prayer spaces for students. While a meditation space had recently become
available for students at her institution, Sab shared that her experience there was somewhat
uncomfortable, as she perceived some students using it solely for socializing. She described a
day where she went to offer a daytime prayer and felt like she was being watched by a male
sitting in the space, and since then, she has been hesitant to go back.
Similarly, while halal food and non-pork accommodations have recently become more
available in dining halls and food spaces on campuses, they come with a unique set of

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challenges. For example, students across different institutions mentioned that while halal food
was available, there was confusion about which foods were exactly halal and which were not.
Hijabi18 at Rose University and Sab at Flower University shared that sometimes, chicken in the
dining halls would be labeled with a “halal” sign, but when students asked chefs about it to
verify, they were picking up the right item, the chefs told them that none of the options were
halal. In another instance, while Muslims are not able to eat pork due to religious rules, halal
chicken was combined with pork meat in a dish that was offered in the dining halls, which left
students confused and generally distrusting of the food options available to them.
Students also shared that while the institution had recently begun to provide food
accommodations for students in Ramadan, the options were not always the best. For example,
during Ramadan, students must eat before the first prayer of the day in a meal commonly known
as suhoor. The first prayer of the day, known as fajr, typically begins an hour before sunrise,
marking the end of suhoor (for example, one might wake up at 5 in the morning, eat a meal, pray
fajr at the designated time, which is usually an hour before sunrise, then begin fasting for the
remainder of the day until it is time to break to fast at sunset). While not everyone eats during
suhoor, those who do often face limited food options unless they plan ahead, as most, if not all,
of the campus's dining halls and restaurants remain closed during this time. Recently, Flower
University began to address this need by allowing students to use their dining hall swipes during
dinner time to pick up an additional box of food meant for suhoor. Calamari shared that while
this initiative was positive, the food contents were typically very minimal, including an apple or
a banana and maybe a small snack. Although a very appreciated resource, Calamari mentioned
that these contents felt like the institution was doing the bare minimum to address suhoor
accommodations.

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A final sub-theme of institutional support addressed students’ perceptions of freedom of
expression and hate crime reporting on campus. In accordance with previous findings that
highlighted students’ general distrust and frustration with their institutions, no students in the
study felt that their institution supported their freedom of expression on campus when it came to
addressing laws and policies regarding the Middle East and Arab worlds. Students reported that
their institution used tone policing to silence them, instructing them both directly and indirectly
on how to discuss issues, particularly those related to Gaza. Steve at Peony University pointed
out that the very little rhetoric of his campus’s administration in reference to Palestine implied
that speaking about Gaza went against maintaining professionalism as a graduate student.
However, Maryam at Marigold University made a noteworthy point, stating that although she did
not feel comfortable discussing Palestine with her cohort, she felt more comfortable openly
criticizing Trump's laws, policies, and rhetoric due to the more welcoming reception she
received. Generally, Maryam shared that in her experience, students had similar disdain of
Trump’s policies and rhetoric, which made it easier to discuss these issues, and in cases where
there was an absence of similar viewpoints, students were more easily able to cordially agree to
disagree.
In terms of physical safety when engaging with religious-political expression, students
generally felt that they were unsafe. Similarly, they reported a heavy police presence at protests,
yet they remained uncertain if law enforcement was there to monitor protesters or to ensure their
safety from harm. These findings illustrate the current level of fear and justified paranoia
students are experiencing at their institutions, and ultimately, they do not think that if they were
to engage in religious-political expression, their institutions would advocate for their freedom.
These findings highlight the Racial Muslim typology, which argued that Muslims are not

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afforded the same religious freedoms as other religious groups because of their “suspect” status.
Additionally, when it came to reporting hate crimes, students had some awareness of the
processes that were in place, but it was not a strong awareness. Some students stated that they
were aware of some processes, some wished there was such a process in place, and some
indicated that they outright did not feel comfortable at all reporting hate crimes because they felt
like their identities would be revealed in the process. As Ahmadi and colleagues (2021) have
highlighted, all institutions of higher education that receive federal funding are required to
submit hate crimes reports to the Department of Education. However, the federal government
does not consider hate speech and microaggressions motivated by religious bias as hate crimes,
thereby excluding them from data that highlights the prevalence of hate and discrimination
Muslim students may face (Ahmadi et al., 2021).
Recommendations for Policy and Practice
Based on the findings from this study, there are several recommendations for policy and
practice that institutions of higher education can implement to better support Muslim college
students' sense of belonging. Students in this study shared discussions and definitions of
Islamophobia, emphasizing the need for institutions to first understand the vast diversity of
Muslim realities and experiences of Islamophobia. As students mentioned, many of the
interactions they encountered depended on a variety of factors, such as their gender, whether
they wore hijab, the way they dressed (i.e., when AK mentioned feeling afraid to wear the
thobe), and the way they overall presented as Muslims on their college campuses, which
highlights the need for an intersectional approach to institutional practice that supports Muslim
students. With this in mind, I provide four recommendations for the policy and practice of
institutions of higher education to implement: 1) mandatory diversity trainings for the campus

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community, 2) hiring counselors with training to address Islamophobia, 3) providing
accommodations for Muslim students, and 4) protecting Muslim students.
Mandatory Diversity Trainings
Misconceptions and stereotypes—from comments about hijab to fears that their religiouspolitical expression would harm their chances of securing future employment and career
opportunities—shape the experiences of students who identify as Racial Muslims. In accordance
with the MRSCC’s organizational and structural dimension, institutions of higher education have
a responsibility to support religious and spiritual diversity, and one way to do so is to implement
mandatory training courses that counteract common Islamophobic misconceptions and
stereotypes and promote diversity. This religious and spiritual diversity training, which may
include elements of combating Islamophobia, can be a collaboration between the institution,
Muslim leaders, chaplains, faculty, staff, and Muslim-centered student organizations to be
effectively established as a subsection of larger institutionalized DEIB-focused trainings that are
mandated for students to complete annually as they return to campuses in the fall. These courses
would not only allow the distinct opportunity for Muslim students and groups to take up
leadership roles at their institutions, it would also inform the rest of the campus community about
ways to dismantle and disrupt common Islamophobic stereotypes that can have a harmful impact
on all students. Furthermore, mandated training that is focused on religious and spiritual
diversity can help students to engage in reflection on their own biases and intersectionality, as
well as how to implement a culture of understanding and respect for one another on campus. As
an example, a mandated diversity training regarding the impact of gendered Islamophobia on
Muslim women that addresses gender equity, as well as cultural and religious sensitivity, has the
potential to promote an inclusive campus climate and educate the community about the

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intersectional nature of Muslim women’s experiences. While this may not completely eradicate
Islamophobia on college campuses, implementation of these courses can immediately inform
student populations of the presence of Islamophobia and how to effectively foster solidarity with
the Muslim student population, thus supporting Muslim students’ sense of belonging.
As Cole (2021) found, faculty and staff were important sources of support for Muslim
students’ sense of belonging. Therefore, for faculty, staff, and administrators, similar types of
mandated training can serve as a continuous reminder of their power as institutional agents to
either encourage equity or perpetuate oppression. Even a simple interaction that a faculty and/or
staff member has with a Muslim student can either diminish or support their sense of belonging.
Thus, diversity training has the ability to help faculty and staff acknowledge and reflect on their
biases so that they can be aware of how to foster safe spaces for Muslim students to come to
them for support. Further research regarding the impact of these initiatives can help inform
previous research findings from Cole and colleagues (2020), which found that when faculty and
staff engaged with religious and interfaith-related diversity training, or when religious diversity
was emphasized in an institution, Muslim students were less likely to report negative interactions
with faculty, staff, and peers in their campus community (Cole et al., 2020).
Counselors to Address Islamophobia
Islamophobia can have daunting effects on the well-being of students who are exposed to
it, as evidenced by the findings in this study. For instance, students expressed feeling a
diminished sense of belonging, isolation, awkwardness, and discomfort when they experienced
Islamophobia, and counseling served as a site for minimizing these negative interactions and
feelings. While many students identified their Muslim student organizations as important for
well-being and fostering community, this was not the case for everyone. Given that students

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expressed the negative impact of global tragedies on their well-being and sense of belonging,
culturally and religiously sensitive counseling is an immediate need to address Muslim students’
social-emotional well-being. The implementation of counselors to address Islamophobia is one
way that institutions can adhere to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although Title VI
does not explicitly address religious discrimination, it does prohibit discrimination on the basis
of race, color, or national origin, which has the capacity to protect Muslim students from the
intersectional forms of racialization they experience. For example, if Muslim students experience
discrimination due to their national origin, or if they experience discrimination because they are
perceived to hold national origin of a Muslim-majority country, Title VI can be applied to protect
them. Thus, the institution’s role of hiring informed counselors addresses the fifth dimension of
the MRSCC, which is the institution’s organizational/structural dimension to supporting
minoritized religious and spiritual student groups. As it stands, students described that while
their institutions had hired counselors of diverse backgrounds as part of their existing DEIB
initiatives, they had failed to provide adequate training that informed counselors of the culturally
and religiously relevant traditions, practices, and challenges that Muslim students encounter
daily. While institutions focus on increasing diversity in accordance with DEIB initiatives, it
must also consider whether and how institutional agents, such as counselors, may continue to
replicate conditions that may be alienating to certain non-dominant student groups (Kohli et al.,
2022). As such, in alignment with the MRSCC’s second dimension, while compositional
diversity of an institution is an important step to foster sense of belonging and increase students’
positive satisfaction with their institutions, diversity must also include an intersectional nature
that engages students’ ethnic, religious, and spiritual identities to be able to efficiently address
the multilayered nature of oppression Muslim students face. This aligns with the findings of AK,

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who, as a Chinese-Muslim, found that even spaces that welcomed his Chinese culture were
insufficient to address his Muslim identity. He felt that both his fellow Asian peers and the
established cultural center on campus lacked the necessary knowledge to do so effectively.
Despite the presence of diversity in cultural centers, the absence of an intersectional
understanding of Muslim students' struggles underscores the necessity for institutions to take an
intersectional approach to address the challenges and global events that may have an impact on
Muslim students’ well-being. Additionally, they must regularly provide resources and training
tailored to the needs and perceptions of Muslim students who use these services.
Accommodations for Muslim Students
Although Muslim students in this study generally reported positive interactions with
faculty and staff, they still described facing challenges related to proper acknowledgment on
campus. Specifically, they mentioned difficulties in receiving accommodations during Ramadan
and Eid. Often, students felt that they had to choose between academics and religious practices
because they either did not receive accommodations for Ramadan or Eid, or because they did not
want to face the potential of having an awkward conversation with their professors and
administrators. According to the MRSCC's fifth dimension, the organizational/structural
dimension, institutional policies can support religious and/or spiritual practices. Despite the exact
timing of Ramadan and Eid changing each year due to the lunar calendar and moon sightings, the
general dates and timelines of these Islamic religious holidays are well-known in advance. This
allows institutions to provide resources and support ahead of time. For example, by informing
faculty and staff of this important period and accommodating deadlines, finals, and midterms,
Muslim students have the possibility of feeling accommodated as much as necessary while

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minimizing any challenges. This enables Muslim students to balance both academic and
religious commitments effectively.
Accommodations also require institutions of higher education to address any form of
hate, bullying, harassment, or targeting that Muslim students might face. For example, colleges
and universities can establish tangible support systems that promote religious accommodations
for all students. As discussed in Chapter 4, Muslim students noted that some other groups had
received attention and support from campus administrations following October 7th, yet similar
resources were not extended to Muslim students. While Title VI does not specifically address
religious discrimination, it mandates that institutions of higher education provide equal access to
all students, which is relevant for Muslim students who experience racialization due to their
perceived national origin, race, or color. As students in this study highlighted, “equal access”
included having support spaces where they could engage in safe, meaningful discussions with
campus administrators, and have the possibility to process the rising rates of discrimination and
harassment their communities faced, yet they were not given this opportunity outside of the
community they had built in their Muslim student organizations. Thus, under Title VI,
institutions must ensure that Muslim students have access to the facilities and resources needed
to accommodate their religious practices with ease, and Muslim students should be given the
equal opportunity to hold meaningful discussions with administrators about discrimination and
harassment they may face without fear of retaliation.
Protecting Muslim Students
In Chapter 2, the literature review outlined the deeply political nature of the Muslim
identity, which was also highlighted by students throughout the study. As students described,

141
being Muslim in America means being constantly under political and public scrutiny, as well as
being subjected to vilification as a politically and racially rooted, imperial project by the west.
Over the past few decades, especially after 9/11, this imperial project has been the cause of
sustained and increased state-sanctioned violence and war in the Middle East. It has not only
demolished many Muslims’ homelands in the Middle East and killed their loved ones, but it has
also painted Muslims in America as somehow responsible for all acts of terrorism. As a result,
Muslim students in higher education encounter Islamophobia in the form of daily
microaggressions, such as misunderstood comments and behaviors, as well as larger,
institutionalized forms of Islamophobia, such as the suppression and silencing of their political
opinions when they express disdain for the violence committed by the western world against
their homelands and families abroad.
In the face of what is currently happening in Palestine, Muslim students expressed feeling
isolated, on edge, and distrusting of their institutions because they felt that the institutional
administrations were trying to silence them. While students found it easier to discuss
Islamophobia during peer-led discussions about domestic laws and policies, such as the Trump
administration's anti-Muslim rhetoric, they felt unsupported by their institutions when it came to
global politics, particularly the United States' financial and political involvement with Israel and
the resulting impact on Palestine. Despite institutions' claims to foster free discussions for
learning and academic engagement, Muslim students receive unequal treatment, often
characterized as suspects, terrorists, or sympathizers. As Muslim students expressed in the study,
as a start to fostering a positive sense of belonging and trust in their institutions, they would like
to be simply acknowledged as a group that is going through emotional and mental turmoil as
they witness the horrors happening to their people overseas. Here, similar to the recommendation

142
above to follow Title VI and provide tangible accommodations, institutions can work on
cultivating collaborations with Muslim students, groups, faculty, and advocacy groups to ensure
that these concerns are addressed in a way that offers tangible support and representation.
Furthermore, institutions must continue to review and update policies to ensure that they are
being inclusive to the needs of Muslim students.
For Muslim women in this study, gendered Islamophobia had an impact on Muslim
students and how comfortable they felt dressing in religious attire. Given that their hijab acted as
a visible marker of their faith, the heightened tensions and rise in Islamophobia after October 7th
left them feeling hypervisible and fearful about their physical safety. To protect Muslim students,
and particularly, Muslim women, from harm, institutions must act swiftly and efficiently to
dismantle the harmful effects of gendered Islamophobia. In accordance with Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972, sex-based discrimination is prohibited for any institution that
receives federal assistance. According to new Title IX regulations announced by the Biden
administration, beginning August 1, 2024, institutions can consider sex-based discrimination and
harassment as encompassing of not only a person’s sex identity and sexual orientation, but their
gender identity as well. Within this context, institutions should take an intersectional approach to
understanding how their gender, sex and religious identities can impact Muslim women’s
experiences, and implement a robust reporting system that addresses the intersectional nature of
harassment, bullying, and intimidation that they face.
In addition to addressing gendered Islamophobia, Muslim students should be encouraged
by their institutions to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression,
and they should be able to participate in academic and intellectual discourse without the harmful
pretext of “national security concerns” (Ahmadi, 2011). A majority of students in this study

143
attended private institutions, with some attending public institutions. While the First Amendment
and freedom of speech protections bind public institutions, private institutions have a slightly
more nuanced approach to implementing these rights. For example, private institutions may
establish their own policies and guidelines regarding free speech and expression but may
generally adopt policies that are in alignment with anti-discrimination, freedom of speech, and
First Amendment rights. Muslim students attending private institutions in this study expressed
that their institution's administrations did not adequately protect the Muslim student population
from hate speech and violence, which in turn exacerbated racialized and Islamophobic incidents
against them. In that regard, under Title VI, there should be a zero-tolerance policy implemented
within both private and public institutions that safeguard Muslim students from hate speech and
crimes that are rooted in violence, especially when this violence is exhibited by members of the
campus community. For instance, institutions should not allow members of the campus
community to make derogatory remarks with no repercussions, such as the professor who made
threatening and demeaning remarks to students at the Palestinian memorial, as described by
Tanner. Allowing these events to occur with no real consequences for the perpetrator has deeply
negative implications for the well-being and sense of belonging of Muslim students. In the
absence of providing tangible, actionable support, institutions continue to send a blatantly clear
message that engaging in racialized depictions of Muslims and subjecting them to Islamophobia
is the norm.
Future Research
It has been an honor to communicate the findings of this study. While this
phenomenological study uncovered how Islamophobia operates daily for Muslim college
students and its impact on their sense of belonging at their institutions, I would like to further

144
engage in research that takes an intersectional approach to understanding the impact of gendered
Islamophobia on the sense of belonging of Muslim women and Muslims who observe hijab
specifically. Since the hijab has become a symbol of Muslim identity, higher education
institutions have historically done little to protect Muslim women who face daily attacks and are
targeted for their identity. Thus, utilizing the “gendered Islamophobia” perspective, I’d like to
delve deeper into topics of feminism, empowerment, stereotypes, and experiences of Muslim
women. Furthermore, my future research interests related to this dissertation study are to utilize
the transdisciplinary perspective to understand the institutional role of protecting Muslim
students and addressing Islamophobia, considering the upcoming 2024 election, in which Trump
may have the potential of being re-elected for a second term. Finally, with a background in
public health and education, this study has highlighted the impact of Islamophobia on the wellbeing of Muslim students. In the field of public health, it is known that education and the social
context of people's lives are social determinants of health. Adverse educational and social
experiences can have a negative impact on one’s life, their overall well-being, and their status in
society. Therefore, my future research will prioritize investigating the harmful effects of
Islamophobia (and all types of racism) that pose an immediate threat to the health of minority
student populations. As such, I hope to engage future projects to address Islamophobia in higher
education as it relates to the overall health of Muslims in the United States, as well as center
Muslim students’ experiences as a form of resistance against the dominant narratives that have
historically framed them as “other”.
Conclusion
There are several salient discussion points for this study. Muslim students are faced with
extremely difficult times, as exemplified throughout the chapters presented. Not only do they

145
face daily rampant misconceptions, stereotypes, and microaggressions as Racial Muslims, but
they also encounter gendered forms of Islamophobia, as well as institutionalized forms of
surveillance and silencing, simply for exercising their right to religious and political expression.
Given the geopolitical and social context within which systemic and institutionalized forms of
Islamophobia are becoming more apparent, it is more important now than ever for colleges and
universities across the nation to create spaces where Muslim students feel safe and can engage
with institutions, especially if they claim to value DEIB efforts (Ahmadi et al., 2019).
Alternatively, by continuing to neglect and even engage in institutionalized forms of silencing
students, higher education is actively engaging in the normalization and reproduction of the
endless and vicious cycle of Islamophobia, which diminishes the well-being and sense of
belonging of Muslim students (Baldwin, 2021). Institutions should confront the reality that
Muslim students are often treated as second-class citizens by their own colleges and universities
because they are subjected to surveillance, scrutiny, and dangerous situations when they are
merely exercising the rights this country purports to grant to all individuals. Yet, as students
stated in this study, administrators have taken little action to address these challenges. As such,
institutions of higher education have a powerful opportunity to engage in meaningful
conversations and actions that emphasize the importance of religious diversity to their student
population, thus acting as a tool to dismantle the systemic racism of minority religious student
populations. More research is also required to understand which institutional support
mechanisms are salient to the Muslim college student experience so that institutional leaders can
better implement culturally and religiously sensitive support mechanisms that can be useful for
Muslim students to mitigate bias, hate crimes, and, overall, any anti-Muslim interactions.

146
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Appendices
Table 3: Islamophobia Definitions From Survey
Pseudonym Defining Islamophobia
Calamari Showing hatred or fear towards Muslims and behaving negatively
towards them.
Potato Discrimination, prejudice, hate against Muslims
Tanner Islamophobia to me means someone who is irrational, hateful and
prejudiced against Muslims, Very much based on stereotypes and
can be quite dangerous to muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Ladybug Someone who is Islamophobic to me is someone who associates
Islam and Muslims with negative attributes that are not reflective
of the religion. People who are Islamophobic use stereotypes or
rumors to justify hatred towards all Muslims, when that hatred is,
for lack of a better term, not justified. This prejudice can be seen in
a physical or verbal manner and can be as small as a
microaggression or as big as political decisions.
AK Manifestations of discrimination against Muslims
Ali Scaring other people from Islam
Pablo Abdelmajeed Islamophobia, to me, means the discrimination of Muslim people
solely due to their beliefs and culture. It is also used as a form of
racism that is used against Middle Eastern and Arab people. Its
form of racism has greater extents that affect Muslims and Arabs in
the long run, specifically when applying for jobs and employers are
hesitating to even look at an application with an arabic or Muslimsounding name or even when interviewing muslim women who
wear the hijab.
Chad Hatred towards Muslims and deliberate misinterpretation of the
religion
SK People who fear the theories and or religious beliefs of Islam
William Being anti- Muslim
Sarah Any form of hate or prejudice towards Muslims, from microaggressions to hate speech to physical violence
hijabi18 American news and media enforced fear of Muslims because of a

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link to terrorism.
Jacky Jain Hatred and/or discrimination against Muslims for their religion
Vela Girlie Negative behavior whether through actions or words that
demonstrates false biases against Muslims
Indopak Having hatred towards muslims
supersofia Prejudice against Muslims
bo khili Hatred towards muslims just because of their religion, developing
preconceived notions on a person's character
Mahers Hatred against Islam or those who identify as Muslim
Natasha To me, the term Islamophobia means having a negative prejudice
against Muslim people for no reason.
Sakinah Islamophobia is the hatred (in thought, speech, or action) of
Muslims or Muslim-percieved peoples (Sikhs, non-Muslim Arabs)
Sab Intolerance of Muslims and Islamic tradition
Ams Perpetuating negative stereotypes about Muslims as well as
actively harming Muslims physically, verbally, emotionally,
psychologically, etc.
Sofia Harassment, verbal language, and other forms of violence directly
or indirectly that negatively affects a Muslims identity and from
practicing their religion freely. It could be a professor refusing to
allow Ramadan accommodations to a student because they have
personal values they’d like to uphold.
Table 4: Sense of Belonging Definitions From Survey
Pseudonym Defining Sense of Belonging
Calamari Feeling like you can be yourself without having to change. A
purpose within a group.
Potato Feeling safe
Tanner The term "sense of belonging" refers to the feeling of being
accepted, valued, and connected within a community or group.
When individuals feel they belong, they are more likely to be

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engaged and contribute positively to the group. Conversely, a lack
of belonging can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, and
can negatively impact mental health.
Ladybug Feeling that you "fit in" in the sense that you are one of a group of
equals who understands one another and values the presence of one
another.
AK A place you can be comfortable in
Ali To feel free when join a community
Pablo Abdelmajeed A sense of belonging is the idea of being able to be in a community
that shares the same identity, values, and beliefs. A sense where
you do not feel uncomfortable or out of place.
Chad Having peers available who have similar culture, religion, and
goals.
SK Feeling that you are where you belong and sense of comfort
William Not feeling purposefully excluded
Sarah The term "sense of belonging" means a feeling of community and
acceptance within a group or a place.
hijabi18 Having a community of people who you can relate to and accept
you
Jacky Jain Unconditional love and comfort in a community
Vela Girlie Feeling invited or welcomed
Indopak Feeling connected in one way or another to people around you.
supersofia Finding a community that accepts your true self
bo khili Ease of conversation with someone, feeling like you are in
tranquility with the space around you.
Mahers The emotional need to be accepted by someone
Natasha Sense of belonging means feeling like someone accepts you for
who you are.
Sakinah A sense of belonging is a feeling of comfort and content that is felt
when people feel seen and understood in a space. People feel a
sense of belonging when they don't have to explain their identity
and their faith constantly, and when they have access to other

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people with their values.
Sab Having a place or person with whom you can identify with.
Ams Knowing that I always have somewhere to go
Sofia Inclusivity and community oriented.
Survey Questions
Demographic Closed-Item Questions
1. Age [drop down]
2. Race and ethnicity [text entry]
3. Gender
a. Female
b. Male
c. Non-binary
d. Other: [text entry]
4. Class Standing
a. 1st year undergraduate
b. 2nd year undergraduate
c. 3rd year undergraduate
d. 4th year undergraduate
e. 5th+year undergraduate
f. Master’s degree (e.g., MA, MBA, MFT)
g. Doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, Ed.D, JD)
5. Major [text entry]
6. Sexual orientation [text entry]
7. Citizenship status
a. U.S. citizen
b. Permanent resident or green card holder
c. International
d. AB 540 or “undocumented”
e. Prefer not to say
8. Do you observe the hijab in your daily life?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Additional comments/other [text entry]
9. Mother’s highest educational degree
● Less than high school
● High school graduate or equivalent (e.g., GED)
● Associate degree
● Bachelor’s degree
● Master’s degree (e.g., MA, MBA, MFT)
● Doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, Ed.D, JD)

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● I don’t know
10. Father’s highest educational degree
● Less than high school
● High school graduate or equivalent (e.g., GED)
● Associate degree
● Bachelor’s degree
● Master’s degree (e.g., MA, MBA, MFT)
● Doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, Ed.D, JD)
● I don’t know
11. What is your family income per year?
● Less than $30,000
● $30,000-$69,999
● $70,000-$109,999
● $110,000-149,999
● More than $150,000
13. What is your English-speaking proficiency level?
● Native
● Proficient
● Intermediate
● Beginner
14. What is your overall GPA? [text entry]
15. In order to keep your identity confidential, this study uses pseudonyms, or fake names,
when we identify you in the findings. Please enter a preferred pseudonym here: [text
entry]
Open-Ended Questions
Racial Muslim
1. What does the term “Islamophobia” mean to you?
2. Have you ever personally experienced or witnessed an incident of Islamophobia on your
college campus?
a. Yes/No/I am not sure
i. (If yes) - Can you describe the incident in detail? How did it make you
feel (i.e., emotionally, mentally, physically)?
ii. (If no) - Skip to question 2
iii. (If “I am not sure”) - Please describe your thoughts and why you are
feeling unsure about experiencing or witnessing an incident of
Islamophobia in college.
3. Have you ever experienced Islamophobia by members of your campus community, such
as administrators, faculty, or peers?
a. Yes/No/I am not sure
i. (If yes) - Can you describe the incident in detail? How did it make you
feel (i.e., emotionally, mentally, physically)?
ii. (If no) - Skip to Institutional Support questions

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iii. (If “I am not sure”) - Please describe your thoughts and why you are
feeling unsure about experiencing or witnessing an incident of
Islamophobia by members of your campus community.
Institutional Support
1. Do you believe your college campus provides adequate institutional support for you and
others like you who identify as Muslim?
a. Yes/No/I am not sure
i. (If yes) - Is there anything your institution is doing to support Muslim
students like you, that you believe they should continue to do?
ii. (If no) - What mental health and well-being resources could your
institution provide to better support your experiences as a Muslim student?
Please explain in a few sentences.
iii. (If “I am not sure”) - What could your institution do to help you be more
aware of institutional resources available to you and other Muslim
students? Please explain in a few sentences.
2. Is there a group, organization, center, peers, or an individual on campus that supports
your racial, ethnic, and/or religious identity as a Muslim student?
a. Yes/No/I am not sure
i. (If yes) - What does the group or organization do to make you feel
supported as a Muslim student? For example, do they organize reflection
sessions or engage in critical discussions regarding your Muslim identity?
Please explain briefly.
ii. (If no) - Would you like to be a part of a group or organization that helps
you connect with other Muslim-identifying individuals on campus? In
addition, what kind of experience would you hope to get from being part
of such a group?
iii. (If “I am not sure”) - Do you think your institution could help you with
increasing your awareness and be more aware of the social identity groups
and organizations available to you and other Muslim students? How so?
Please explain in a few sentences.
Sense of Belonging
1. What does the term “sense of belonging” mean to you?
2. Overall, do you feel like you are a connected, valued member of your campus
community?
3. Who do you rely on the most to feel like a valued member of your campus community?
Additional Support
1. What additional resources do you think should be available for you and other Muslim students
to encourage your sense of belonging if you and your communities are confronted with
Islamophobia?

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Final
1. Is there anything additional that you would like to add? (optional)
Interview Questions
Introductory Questions
1. To begin, please state your pseudonym, your major, your institution, and what year you
are in your [undergraduate/graduate] degree program?
2. What factors helped you decide to attend your current institution?
3. You indicated in the survey that you identify as Muslim. Can you tell me more about
your Muslim identity and what it means to you?
Racial Muslim/Islamophobia/Identity
1. What does the term “Islamophobia” mean to you?
2. What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about Muslims?
3. Have you or someone you know ever experienced these misconceptions personally? How
did you respond?
4. [For women and non-binary individuals who veil] Do you wear or observe the hijab?
5. If yes, do you feel that individuals at your institution are generally positive or negative
about your hijab?
6. If no, do you have any specific reasoning why you have chosen to not observe the hijab?
7. Do you ever feel the pressure to hide or suppress your Muslim identity to fit into
academic and peer settings on your campus? Please elaborate on your thoughts.
8. Are you currently affiliated with any political activist organization on campus? Why or
why not?
9. Do you think your institution supports or encourages you and other Muslim students like
you to express your political views in a free manner?
10. If so, can you provide examples of what exactly your institution does?
11. If not, what has your institution done to discourage your political involvement at your
institution?
12. Do you feel comfortable voicing your concerns and opinions against Islamophobia and
anti-Muslim laws and policies on your college campus that may be in contention with
American values? (For example, regarding Palestine, Syria, or Trump-era laws and
policies).
13. If yes, are there any factors that contribute to your comfort in voicing your opinions?
14. If not, can you elaborate why you are not comfortable?
Sense of Belonging
1. What does the term “belonging/sense of belonging” mean to you?

169
2. Thinking of your time at this institution so far, do you feel like you belong as a Muslim
student? Please elaborate.
3. What are factors that contribute to your feeling connected and valued?
MRSCC/Institutional Support Mechanisms
1. Are there any campus centers or resources that have been salient to your belonging as a
Muslim college student?
a. If yes, can you tell me what those centers or resources are and what they do?
b. If not, what can your institution do to serve you better?
2. Are there any religious and/or cultural-specific organizations that have been salient to
your belonging as a Muslim college student?
a. If yes, can you tell me what those organizations are and what they do?
b. If not, which organizations do you think would better serve you?
3. When you speak out against Islamophobic laws and policies, do you feel that you have
support on campus to advocate for or protect your freedom of speech and expression?
4. Overall, has your institution taken any steps that you are aware of that addresses
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim instances when it occurs on and off campus?
a. Are you aware of any hate crimes reporting processes on campus?
5. What has your experience been like during Ramadan, Eid, and any other Islam-centered
religious traditions and holidays? Do you think generally, faculty, staff, and the
institution are aware of these Islamic traditions and how to support you?
a. If yes, how have they been supportive in the past?
b. If no, have you received any negative comments or instances which made it
difficult for you to adhere to these traditions and holidays?
6. Do you have a designated space on campus to make wudhu and/or pray on campus?
a. If no, have these concerns been addressed and how? What was the institution’s
response?
7. Do you feel that there are adequate non-pork and halal food accommodations on your
campus?
a. a. If no, have these concerns been addressed and how? What was the institution’s
response?
8. Are there any other topics that we have not yet talked about that you believe are
important to discuss?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This phenomenological, qualitative study examined the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim college students’ sense of belonging and use of institutional support mechanisms in several institutions of higher education located on the West Coast of the United States. Data was collected qualitatively using an informational survey with open-ended questions and interviews to evaluate students' perceptions and descriptions of Islamophobia, sense of belonging, and institutional support. The research sample consisted of 23 survey responses and 10 interview responses. Grounded in the Minoritized Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate (MRSCC) and Racial Muslim frameworks, results indicated that Muslim students experience Islamophobia both on and off-campus, lack proper accommodations to support religious and spiritual engagement, and have experienced Islamophobia at an increased rate because of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which intensified on October 7th, 2023. Muslim women described their experiences with gendered Islamophobia, and following October 7th, they described a heightened sense of fear and surveillance due to their gender and religious identities. Overall, Muslim students described feeling that their institutions made minimal efforts to support their sense of belonging in tangible ways, and many relied on Muslim student organizations to foster a sense of community and unity in difficult times. Finally, the findings highlighted the need for institutions to implement services and mechanisms that acknowledge the impact of political and social forces on the Muslim student experience. This study underscored the importance of higher education institutions to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives by implementing protection for students impacted by Islamophobia and providing culturally, religiously, and spiritually relevant care for Muslim students considering increasing institutionalized Islamophobia.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Majumder, Milie (author)

Core Title Diversity for whom? Institutional requisite for combating Islamophobia and the racialization of Muslim college students

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Education

Degree Conferral Date 2024-08

Publication Date 07/11/2024

Defense Date 05/06/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Higher education,Islamophobia,Muslim college students,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Ahmadi, Shafiqa (committee chair), Cole, Darnell (committee chair), Huey, Stanley (committee member)

Creator Email miliefmajumder@gmail.com,mmajumde@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113997L6Z

Unique identifier UC113997L6Z

Identifier etd-MajumderMi-13195.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-MajumderMi-13195

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Majumder, Milie

Internet Media Type application/pdf

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Source 20240712-usctheses-batch-1178 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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