Education & Building Relationships with Local Universities

Deputy Director Sufyan Sohel presented to the students, faculty and staff of Lake Forest College and Governor’s State University over the past few weeks. He spoke about CAIR-Chicago and the work the organization performs on behalf of the Muslim American community. Sharing the experiences of Muslim-Americans in facing discrimination he discussed the impacts of the current US socio-political climate on CAIR-Chicago constituents and how continued Islamaphobic rhetoric negatively affects Muslim-Americans. He further addressed the rising threat of ISIS, its effect on the community and the importance of American Muslims taking back their own narrative and speaking out against the threats – both domestic and foreign – that they face. The communities at both schools were very receptive of Sohel’s presentation as they discussed parallels between the discrimination and hate faced by American Muslims and other religious, racial and ethnic groups. Both schools pledged support to CAIR-Chicago and hope to expand their relationship with the organization through formal participation in CAIR-Chicago’s internship program and continued training on activism and social justice. If you are interested in having a speaker from CAIR-Chicago speak at your university please contact us at 312-212-1520