To: Executive Leadership Team, Marquette University

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Muslim Student Association to petition for a Muslim prayer room in the Alumni Memorial Union to allow Muslim students and faculty/staff to have a dedicated prayer space. Based on observation and personal experience as well as testimonies from students, staff, and faculty members, such a space is direly needed. The current Muslim prayer room is far too small and inadequate to fill the need of a growing Muslim population on campus. The signatories on this petition believe that it is vital for Marquette to address this need urgently since it has been an issue for many years.

Marquette University’s Mission Statement proclaims that the university is a place where the spiritual needs of every person are taken seriously and that the university will "provide a space to flourish for the sake of justice and peace.” However, the experience of many Muslims on campus has been quite different.  

The circumstances surrounding this petition concern the present and incoming Muslim student population at Marquette University ​​as well as the future generations of Muslim Marquette Students. As a rapidly growing population of students, we believe that it is necessary for Muslim students to have access to a space where they feel they can visit and observe their religious and spiritual needs, whether it be to offer their daily prayers or to have a moment of meditation to decompress from the demands of academic life. As noted, the current space designated as the Muslim prayer space is not large enough to house more than a handful of students at a time and even that seems rather unsuitable for someone who wishes to be alone in prayer for a time. 

Muslim students’ access to an adequate and appropriate place for daily prayers should also be understood with relation to inclusion and equity. Ultimately, stronger connections and feelings of acceptance and inclusion within diverse societies would be fostered when the needs of each population are equally acknowledged. 

Additionally, for the next few years, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will be coinciding with the spring semester. During the spring of 2021, in the midst of the end of the semester and exam periods, many Muslim students felt forced to leave campus to observe their religious obligations at mosques in the area or at home. This impacts their academic performance and peace of mind as it can be time-consuming having to leave campus and return. Since a greater number of students turn to spiritual and religious rituals during Ramadan, it will be necessary to have an adequate space that is pre-reserved for that purpose 24/7.  

For several years, Muslim students have had to reserve rooms for Friday group prayers outside of the dedicated Muslim prayer area. This is due to the large number of students being unable to fit in the confined space allocated to us currently. While it is understandable that it should be a responsibility of students to do so for student-led events, Friday prayer is not an event per se, it is a prayer and spiritual need.  We regularly have 25-30 Muslims attend Friday prayer and are often attended by many staff and faculty as well. If there is a Muslim prayer space that is dedicated and is large enough, it might also relieve the burden on students from having to reserve space every week.

The purpose of this petition is to help Marquette University leadership understand the dire need so that they may take this request seriously. The signatories below include but are not limited to current Marquette students, alumni, and incoming freshmen who support the idea of a dedicated and adequate space for Muslims to use for their religious and spiritual needs.

We have consulted and have the support of the faculty advisor for the Muslim Student Association (MSA) Dr. Irfan Omar, Dr. Enaya Othman, as well as the Muslim Chaplain, Sameer Ali.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and I hope we can come to a solution that works for us both.