On Feb. 22, around 15 students attended an introductory session organized by the emerging Student Interest Group, Home. The opening event welcomed potential members, followed by a breakdown of the expectations, tentative goals and virtual programming for this semester.

Alex WooHyun Cho, a founding member of Home and the Class of 2023, viewed the SIG as a starting point for NYU Abu Dhabi students to engage in dialogue concerning the global refugee crisis. After visiting a refugee camp during his sophomore year, Cho recalled that he was unable to explore his interests in humanitarian aid as he could not find contacts that were involved in similar work on campus. He found it challenging for students to access information concerning refugees around the world as well as effectively channel their altruistic efforts to help bridge issues of assimilation and belonging.

“There’s no SIG on campus that has [a focus on] the international community… I thought it was weird that we didn’t have that SIG yet, at least a space for people to communicate or present issues of what’s happening around the world,” Cho explained. “[I aim for this SIG to be] a space for people to speak about their own personal stories and translate that into a diverse discussion of what is really happening in the world and how we can cooperate to solve these issues.”

As a Syrian-American and a member of Home, Sidra Dahhan explained the relationship she has developed with this SIG. “It’s pretty personal,” she said. “Being from a country where a lot of refugees today originate from, I feel a personal responsibility to try being aware of what is going on and actively try educating myself on the situation.”

For this semester, the SIG focuses on building sociopolitical consciousness by offering weekly presentations, inviting field workers or experts as guest speakers and hosting an awareness week on campus.

“The end goal is to make this SIG into a hub where people can ask for advice on how to participate in international volunteer programs... initially to do that we have to have this information around the world, what they think is happening in their country [and] from there next year we can identify some of the issues [and combat them in whatever way we can],” shared Cho.

He hopes to translate the diversity of the NYUAD student populace into something meaningful, where students can discourage prejudice, pool informative resources and create a community of support for displaced populations on and off campus.

“We need to humanise the [refugee] situation,” noted Dahhan. “As an international body of students we really have the opportunity and the responsibility to learn from one other and I feel like [Home] is another way to do that.”