A student at the American University of Beirut recently shared her story in which she details how she was harassed and discriminated against by a professor. The reason?
Her hijab.
Maryam Dajani, a sociology and anthropology student, wrote about her encounter with sociology professor Samir Khalaf in a closed group for AUB students.
In it, the 18-year-old explains that she had "politely" asked Dr. Khalaf to repeat his words during the seminar, as she was taking notes and missed what he had said.
To her shock, rather than reiterating, he sent out a message of hate and discrimination.
"You know why you cant hear me, because you have that stupid scarf covering your ears ... if you removed that scarf you would've been able to hear me," Dajani wrote in the Facebook post.
StepFeed spoke with Dajani who expressed her shock at the incident.
"If a professor within an educational institute cannot accept diversity, not just tolerate it, but accept it, then that’s a major issue within itself. I don’t need to hide my beliefs or leave them at home as Khalaf argues, on the contrary, we should celebrate diversity," Dajani said.
"This is not a university problem but a societal problem. We must all celebrate diversity not shut it down," she added.
Dajani reported the incident to the university
StepFeed spoke with Dajani who confirmed that she had immediately reported the incident.
"I went to the Title IX office, which supposedly prohibits any discrimination, including discriminatory harassment based on religion, race, sex, gender and disabilities in AUB whether from the student or instructor’s side," Dajani explained.
The officer at Title IX was "sympathetic and accommodating," proceeding to contact the head of the Sociology Department for an appointment.
"I still haven't met with her nor the other authorities at AUB. Hopefully will be doing so in the coming days," Dajani said.
The professor speaks out
StepFeed reached out to Dr. Khalaf, who confirmed that he did not "utter the adjective stupid," when addressing Dajani.
Dr. Khalaf explained that Dajani is the only hijabi in his seminar and that she "wears it so tightly over her ears."
"Perhaps, in retrospect, I over-reacted," he said.
He goes on to say that his comments came as a result of Dajani's continuous requests to restate his words.
"She is the only student who continuously asks me to repeat what I am talking about during my lectures. To my chagrin, she does this very, very often. So calmly I interjected last time, and perhaps I should not have been so candid and told her that if the scarf is not so tightly covering her ears, she might be in better condition to hear me more audibly," Khalaf told StepFeed.
Many have said this isn't Khalaf's first time
"He used to mention his hatred of the hijab in almost every class"
"He's a sexist, Islamophobe, racist and a homophobe"
People are glad Dajani chose to share her story publicly
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences talks about diversity being at the core of AUB's values
"This is a matter of high priority for the AUB leadership. We are committed to promote and protect diversity among all our community in a context of respect, tolerance and collegiality," Nadia El Cheikh, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, told StepFeed.
"This harassment is undoubtedly shameful and exceeds all rules of conduct in any educational [institution], never mind 'AUB' - the best university in its region," Dajani says
AUB issues a statement
AUB officially released a statement with regards to the issue, which was sent to StepFeed via the Office Of Communications at AUB.
"AUB takes all allegations of harassment and discrimination very seriously, and the administration has responded quickly to address the incident which was first reported on a Facebook post on September 18, 2017.
The matter is being handled in coordination with the student involved in a confidential manner, according to the relevant University policies and procedures," the statement read.
"AUB adheres to the principle of equal opportunity, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national or ethnic identity, sex, gender or gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, alienage or citizenship status, political affiliation, or any legally protected characteristic, in its programs and activities, to the fullest extent permitted by US and Lebanese law," it added.