Committee Purpose
The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Muslim and Palestinian Student Life and Campus Experience is a standing committee charged with three main responsibilities:
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to act as the advocate for Muslim and Palestinian students in regards to campus experiences, serving as a point of contact for students and advising the Chancellor on maintaining an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming campus environment
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to review the current support and infrastructure provided for Muslim and/or Palestinian students at Berkeley and to make recommendations for improvement
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to share and recommend changes to improve the academic experience for Muslim or Palestinian students.
The committee is co-chaired by a faculty and a student and includes faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, and community members.
Committee Background
The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Muslim and Palestinian Student Life was created in the Fall of 2020 following advocacy from a coalition of Palestinian and Muslim student community leaders involved with the boards of Bears for Palestine (BFP), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Muslim Student Association (MSA), and Faces of African Muslims (FAM). More information about active student organizations may be found at CalLink.
Palestinian students and their allies were experiencing verbal and physical harassment on campus. This, coupled with the political climate at the time, led to the marginalization of Palestinian and Muslim students alike. It became evident that there was little to no dedicated institutional support for these communities and that further education and action would be needed if UC Berkeley was to succeed in establishing a campus climate in which all students feel welcomed, safe, and have the ability to thrive and succeed — and thus, this committee was born.