Name: Jessica Berger
Age: 20
Year: Junior
Hometown: Harvard, MA
Major: Microbiology
Occupation: RA in Oak in Commonwealth Honors College
Name: Nasim Cheraghi
Age: 21
Year: Senior
Hometown: Wilbraham, MA
Major: Biochemistry
Occupation: Supplemental Instructor
Jessica and Nasim were the two lead organizers and facilitators for the “Discussion of the New UMass Policy on the Admission of Iranian Students”, which occurred Wednesday, February 18th. About 200 students were in attendance, and the discussion made local news, while speakers at the discussion also appeared in national news, like CNN, as well. This discussion was a safe environment for people to express their concern, in which many undergraduate and graduate students united under the same cause.
HC UMass: What are you both apart of on and off campus?
NC: “I am the Co-founder and the President of the Persian Student Association, I started it my freshman year with a fellow Persian student who graduated last year. I run this organization, and I have been a part of Sisters on the Runway as well. Off campus, I volunteer because I am interested in health sciences, and I am also a tutor.”
JB: “I am an RA on campus which certainly takes up a lot of my time. I am an RA for freshman so I try to devote a lot of my time to them. I am also President of the International Relations Club and Model United Nations Team, which is part of the name that we just added last year. We have always been the Model UN Team on campus, however it was confusing because it was never a part of the name, so we added it to clear up the confusion. I am also an IPO Buddy, so I am paired up with international students and I get to mentor them. I have had the opportunity to meet some of my best friends from places like Japan, Nigeria, and Germany. Also I am working with others to form a group, we are not sure whether we will become a club or student organization yet, which is a group designated for students of color in the Commonwealth Honors College. I am very excited about this because although I am not a person of color, I am very interested in social justice and creating a diverse community, and we all feel it is important people opportunities to gain support as well. Also I am in UMass running club!”
Jessica with members of the IRC
HC UMass: How did you each get involved with your respective RSOs?
NC: “When I was a freshman here, I noticed that the previous undergrad club for Persian students was deactivated. I contacted a sophomore on campus who had transferred here, and I told her that we should try to revive the group. I knew there were several Persians on campus who would be interested in meeting and sharing our culture with the rest of the campus. This is basically what the PSA does. So after forming it once again, we would turn our Persian radars on around campus *Laughs* and tried to recruit them to join our club to get involved. From then on we went through the entire RSO registration process and became established once again. We have about 20 undergraduate members and around 60 graduate student members. We would like people who are not necessarily Persian to get involved and come to meetings as well!”
JB: “I participated in Model UN during highschool, so I wanted to continue that experience into my freshman year as well. It is strange because it is a hobby of mine, my major is all about science, unlike many of the other members who are either Political Science, History, or Economics majors. But when I got involved in the club, my identical sister and I jumped right in. I became Vice President Deputy, and she became Training Chair, and we just kept moving up from there. The year after I became Vice President and then President this year, and last year she was Head Delegate and Secretary General. So we are just really motivated to take the club places and to do it with my sister. ”
HC UMass: What do your respective RSOs mean to you?
NC: “It is very personal to me because it is part of my culture. It is a personal and emotional experience that I love to share with people. Even since high school I did the same thing, and it was great because you can open your culture up to the community and they can learn about it. On campus that is especially important because I don’t believe what happened the other night [The Student Panel Discussion on the Iranian Education Policy] could have been possible because there would just be scattered Persian students around campus rather than a unified group with an organized stance.”
JB: “Even though I do study science, my passion has always been in International Relations; I love learning about other cultures. Model UN and International Relations Club has always been an outlet for me, and also encourages me to look at things in a broader perspective. I think it is very important for people to watch the news and to just attempt learning more about the world, because looking at things from a grand perspective is so important to who we are today.”
HC UMass: When did you two meet each other?
JB: “I guess I should give background first on how I originally organized the meeting. Normally my club meets on Wednesdays at 7pm for general body meetings, and we typically discuss current international issues. I was going to Roots Cafe, and I saw my TA from my History 111 class that I took last semester, and he is from Iran. We were catching up, and in doing so I forgot about mentioning the policy. During our conversation he brought it up, and was saying how I should try to do something about it as the President of the IRC. I instantly was like, ‘Wait, you are right!’ I didn’t even realize that I was in the position to take action. So I began looking into it further, and she and I emailed back and forth. When I returned to my dorm one day, one of my residents, who is half Iranian, told me that her father, who is a professor on campus, was outraged by the policy and that he would love for me to reach out to him. I ended up emailing him, and then I realized then that I should reach out to the President of the Persian Association as well. I sent Nasim a ridiculously long message on Facebook about getting this big event together…
*Both Laugh*
NC: I was so excited when I saw her message! Because the PSA hadn’t been so strong lately, I felt like this was a great way to get us all back together and thinking about this event. Also, before she messaged me, all of the Persian graduate students were going crazy about this issue. I didn’t know how to get this policy out there, especially to the community. The event was the best way to open up discussion and raise awareness, which is why I am so glad she contacted me.
JB: “You answered right away too which was so great!”
HC UMass: So was this the first time you two had collaborated together?
*Both Laugh*
JB: “Yeah! We met like an hour before the meeting! I just kept sending her messages constantly.”
NC: “I told her to keep me as updated as possible!”
JB: “We should have met years earlier.”
HC UMass: What was the preparation for the panel discussion like for the both of you?
JB: “I had reached out to a lot of different professors. I also coordinated for the room, in which room 903 was the original venue. But, then I noticed that the event was getting a lot more attention than anticipated, and that the press wanted to attend as well. I immediately went to SAI, and the office was closed! I panicked because the attendance numbers were growing, but then I saw that someone was still in the office, so I went back to my office and contacted them right away to meet as soon as possible! I explained what was going on and that I couldn’t use a room that seats 40 people for an event with 200 people. The woman who helped me immediately understood the urgency, and we ended up getting the Cape Cod Lounge. We had to push the meeting back too, from 7pm to 8pm, so that added to me freaking out even more. I didn’t get a confirmation on the space until 1pm earlier that day.”
NC: “For the slide preparation, I sent Jessica a lot of information to incorporate so that we could get the ball rolling. We sent each other ideas back and forth, and I tried to get the grad students from the club to go. We were revising things until up to ten minutes before!”
JB: “With the revision of the policy happening earlier that day too, we were wondering how that would affect our discussion as well.”
NC: “It was a very sudden thing. We had planned on how we could take action against the policy, but we had to revise our last slides after the announcement. A lot of faculty dropped out with the revision as well. We were worried if we should still have the meeting, but based off of how it went we are really glad we went through with it.”
Students attending the Iranian Student Policy discussion on Wednesday Feb. 18th
HC UMass: Were you both nervous to take on the role of facilitators for this panel?
JB: “We honestly hadn’t slept for two days before!”
NC: “We were freaking out; my parents were really concerned as well. But I still wanted to pursue the meeting because I want people to know that discrimination is never okay.”
JB: “One of my biggest concerns was that people would mistake us as the official UMass response, which was not what we were at all. One woman kept directing questions at us with the press watching…”
NC: “And we tried our best to reiterate that we were just students and that this was a panel discussion. It was a bit difficult when people wanted to ask specific questions that we didn’t have answers for.”
JB: “My academic advisor also emailed me with concerns, and asked if I was prepared to answer people’s questions. But also, my parents have been away on vacation for this past week, and usually they get nervous when I take an active stance on things. I can only imagine their response when they come back and see that we were on the news and everything!”
Nasim speaking with a fellow Persian student
HC UMass: What are some of the next steps moving forward from the panel?
NC: “I know a lot of the graduate students are being very persistent on the matter. The next day they met with Elizabeth Warren in Springfield. People are still taking action. I like that people are still approaching the media as well, and the administration to put more pressure on them to even get this completely reversed. That is basically what we aim to do, but even if that doesn’t happen we just want more specific answers on who made the decision and why. We still haven’t gotten a firm answer, but we are working towards getting one.”
JB: “Just because the language states a reversal doesn’t mean that is what happened. There has only been a revision, so the conversation does not stop here, and we should continue to put the pressure on the administration.”
HC UMass: Can you offer any insight on the University’s and the Chancellor’s recent response ?
NC: “I think that is a great step. It hasn’t changed the policy officially, but I think him coming forward and publicly apologizing is great. I wish we could see who really was all behind it, but I think the Chancellor did a great job of apologizing to the Iranian community.”
HC UMass: Can you give our readers any advice on getting involved, with the movement or in other movements in general?
NC: “If you hear about something, take responsibility. Social media is a great opportunity to get your opinions out there and if enough people agree it can go viral.”
JB: “That is how our event took off, we used Facebook… and luckily people were really supportive.”
HC UMass: Who are your biggest supporters?
JB: “Definitely my twin sister, Julia. Even though we are identical, and both have similar interests and majors, we have very different personalities which works to our favor. She is definitely my biggest supporter.”
NC: “One of my best friends is my biggest supporter. She spoke at the discussion, and I immediately started to cry because she has been so supportive since the beginning. She has been my best friend since freshman year, and is with me through it all. She is also not Persian, which just makes it that much more special. Also my dad, he sent me a text this morning saying how proud he was of me which made my day.”
Author’s Note: Never in my college career have I observed a more organized, intelligent, and peaceful group of people so dedicated to a united cause. Because of this panel, I believe the students effectively inspired change and that this discussion made an inspiring ripple effect. My hat truly goes off to these two extraordinary young women, who I was honored to meet and have the chance to interview.
#WeAreAllUMass
Photos courtesy of Jessica Berger, Nasim Cheraghi, and The Daily Collegian