Muslim students at Cornell already have two dedicated prayer rooms, one for men, and one for women. No other religious group appears to have received this special accommodation.
Catholics have only one.
- Anabel Taylor Hall Chapel
- Meditation Room inside Anabel Taylor Hall Chapel
- Sage Chapel
- Purcell Courtyard between Myron Taylor Hall and Anabel Taylor Hall
- Catholic students — Blessed Sacrament Chapel in 227 Anabel Taylor Hall
- Muslim students — Muslim Prayer Rooms for males in 218 Anabel Taylor Hall and for females in 219 Anabel Taylor Hall
No rooms for Jewish or Buddhist students are listed. But it’s not enough.
It’s never enough.
For the Muslim community at Cornell this year, this year’s final weeks will be more complicated than usual. For only the second time since 1989, Ramadan — a month-long holy period that requires adherents to avoid eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset — will coincide with the exam period.
This is a non-issue, as the article later admits, because students can apply for a change of schedule, and by law, they have to be granted it.
The article then pivots to its real issue. More Islamic spaces.
In addition to dining and testing, Muhamad highlighted a lack of “reflective-quiet” spaces to facilitate prayer on campus as an area for improvement.
“One of the things that I could change about the campus is to include more … space rooms on campus for Muslims to pray,” he said.
As we’ve just seen there are 6 spaces, two dedicated only to Muslims.
But it’s never enough.