Fear of Discrimination

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SyrianHero

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So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the Muslim Student Association, because many people have prejudices against Muslims. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?
 
So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the African Student Association, because many people have prejudices against AAs. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?

Discrimination is inevitable. You must first acknowledge this to move forward. To seriously answer your question, play your cards and make it seem like a valuable experience on your application. Make sure it is well described and objective. Likewise if you get asked an interview question about it.
 
So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the Muslim Student Association, because many people have prejudices against Muslims. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?

The vast majority of well educated people aren't going to discriminate against you for your religion or race. Actually they will probably see it as diversity, which is a good thing.

This is especially true if you come off like a normal professional person during the interview.
 
Yeah I honestly don't see this being an issue for getting accepted to medical school
 
Yes, discrimination will probably be an issue during your career, but your race/culture shouldn't hurt you during the application process. In fact, medical schools are pretty progressive in that they are seeking a racially and culturally diverse student body, so I would certainly mention these positions.

You'll probably need to toughen up emotionally (not saying you aren't already used to discrimination) to deal with the consequences of racism and bigotry over the course of your career, but honestly, it will only make you stronger and probably a better physician by successfully overcoming this type of adversity, and I think medical schools recognize the strength of cultural minorities in this sense.
 
This is not an issue in medical school admissions.
 
Mention it. It looks good not bad. Most people in the medical community don't care about religious beliefs, but most people do care that you took on a leadership role and have things that you believe in.
 
So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the Muslim Student Association, because many people have prejudices against Muslims. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?

This is phrased incorrectly.

You said that you might be discriminated against because you're Muslim, since admissions committees see your affiliation with the Muslim Student Association.

You should have said that you might be discriminated against because you're affiliated with the Muslim Student Association, which has had its office members connected to terrorist funding, anti-semitism, and terrorist organization recruitment.
 
So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the Muslim Student Association, because many people have prejudices against Muslims. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?
Guess I'm one of the few people that think you should leave it out.
 
This is not an issue in medical school admissions.

That isn't true. Asians need a higher MCAT and GPA to get into medical school than white applicants. There is some discrimination that is occurring. That is the only one we have stats for.

Yesterday I was sitting in the Lobby of my hotel and they were playing Fox news on the TV. It clearly was very anti Islamic. That's the most popular news channel in this country.

Most of us are premeds in this very diverse time and we've had exposure to people of diff backgrounds so for most of us it is easy to make a blanket statement and call it a non issue. The truth is, it exsists.
As for the OP. It depends on how open minded you think adcoms are.
 
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You should have said that you might be discriminated against because you're affiliated with the Muslim Student Association, which has had its office members connected to terrorist funding, anti-semitism, and terrorist organization recruitment.

Well, that's a bit extreme there...
 
So, I'm not sure if i should mention my experience as marketing chair of the Muslim Student Association, because many people have prejudices against Muslims. So, I'm not sure if it'll benefit me, hurt me or neither. What do you think?

I would like to think that if you focused on your activities with the organization, such as the fact that it was a chance to present muslims and Islam in a different light. If you talked about the positive impact the organization was able to have on the community as well as it being an environment where muslim students who might have faced discrimination themselves could feel understood and respected and you shared what you learnt from being marketing chair of the organzation, the Adcoms, educated people that they are, would be able to see the experience for what it was.. Now if you had said you were marketing chair for the Taliban, that would be another issue.😀

Yes, discrimination will probably be an issue during your career, but your race/culture shouldn't hurt you during the application process. In fact, medical schools are pretty progressive in that they are seeking a racially and culturally diverse student body, so I would certainly mention these positions.

You'll probably need to toughen up emotionally (not saying you aren't already used to discrimination) to deal with the consequences of racism and bigotry over the course of your career, but honestly, it will only make you stronger and probably a better physician by successfully overcoming this type of adversity, and I think medical schools recognize the strength of cultural minorities in this sense.

Agree 100%

This is phrased incorrectly.

You said that you might be discriminated against because you're Muslim, since admissions committees see your affiliation with the Muslim Student Association.

You should have said that you might be discriminated against because you're affiliated with the Muslim Student Association, which has had its office members connected to terrorist funding, anti-semitism, and terrorist organization recruitment.

Hmm...I'd like to see some evidence, sir...

That isn't true. Asians need a higher MCAT and GPA to get into medical school than white applicants. There is some discrimination that is occurring. That is the only one we have stats for.

Yesterday I was sitting in the Lobby of my hotel and they were playing Fox news on the TV. It clearly was very anti Islamic. That's the most popular news channel in this country.

Most of us are premeds in this very diverse time and we've had exposure to people of diff backgrounds so for most of us it is easy to make a blanket statement and call it a non issue. The truth is, it exsists.
As for the OP. It depends on how open minded you think adcoms are.

The irony of the current situation in the Islamic world is that this whole thing was sparked off by a "movie" made here in the US produced by an Egyptian, I think, and starring American actors. I mean come on, a fatwa was put out on some one for drawing a satirical cartoon of Muhammad, did they really think people would not offended by a film calling him a pedophile? And then to turn around and say they did not realize the impact the film could have? I'm not muslim but I was offended when I heard clips of the film. people should know better. The freedom of speech and expression enjoyed and abused here in the US is not common to all countries.
 
Exactly, not all countries follow the US constitution. Some would like to and are oppressed, but some others would not. Growing up in USA, you may believe free speech is a universal right, but it is not believed in BY THE PUBLIC of many countries, especially when it is extremely offensive to the religion of a large group of people (for a pointless reason, other than causing war). The beauty of free speech has been abused so much, and the country always goes to war (even through massacres of millions of innocent people like you, in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, Iran next?, Lebanon, Syria next?). USA is the Rome of today, except wars are created and fought through deception of the public, not straightforward as Rome would have. The saddest part is the amount of innocent civilian casualties have not changed since ancient battles to modern warfare. And then their voices are never heard as the shadow of time passes over them.
 
The irony of the current situation in the Islamic world is that this whole thing was sparked off by a "movie" made here in the US produced by an Egyptian, I think, and starring American actors. I mean come on, a fatwa was put out on some one for drawing a satirical cartoon of Muhammad, did they really think people would not offended by a film calling him a pedophile? And then to turn around and say they did not realize the impact the film could have? I'm not muslim but I was offended when I heard clips of the film. people should know better. The freedom of speech and expression enjoyed and abused here in the US is not common to all countries.

Ok, the movie probably contains some offensive themes. Doesn't mean those protestors (who I figured watched the movies) had the right to get violent and kill people because of this. We all get angry, but we can control our anger (and we certainly don't attack innocent people, unless we're criminals).

Anyways, let's not bring politics here. OP, as others have said, discrimination won't occur in application process.
 
OP, as others have said, discrimination won't occur in application process.

Uh No.

As someone stated earlier. Just look at the stats for Asians and Whites. Asians need to have higher GPAs and MCATs to get acceptances than Whites.

Medical schools aren't immune from discrimination. Adcoms have their own biases that they bring into the admissions process.
 
That isn't true. Asians need a higher MCAT and GPA to get into medical school than white applicants. There is some discrimination that is occurring. That is the only one we have stats for.

Yesterday I was sitting in the Lobby of my hotel and they were playing Fox news on the TV. It clearly was very anti Islamic. That's the most popular news channel in this country.

Most of us are premeds in this very diverse time and we've had exposure to people of diff backgrounds so for most of us it is easy to make a blanket statement and call it a non issue. The truth is, it exsists.
As for the OP. It depends on how open minded you think adcoms are.

Fox news =/= adcoms. Fox news is full of a bunch of idiots broadcasting biased, controversial material to attract viewers. Adcoms are a bunch of degree-weilding scholars seeking to matriculate a diverse class. Very different.

As far as Asians requiring a higher MCAT, I would not call that discrimination. Again, adcoms want a diverse class, and much more Asians and Whites are applying to medical school than other ethnicities, and thus it is more competitive for them. I don't think this is necessarily "right", but there aren't any racist agendas being played out here.
 
Ok, the movie probably contains some offensive themes. Doesn't mean those protestors (who I figured watched the movies) had the right to get violent and kill people because of this. We all get angry, but we can control our anger (and we certainly don't attack innocent people, unless we're criminals).

Anyways, let's not bring politics here. OP, as others have said, discrimination won't occur in application process.

Saying that discrimination won't happen is being a little too optimistic. It might and it might not. Everybody has prejudices and the general perception of Muslims in the US is currently not very good. The OP has to prepare himself for any situation he meets.

I'm sorry if you took my statement regarding the movie as me bringing politics into the OP's situation.

That being said, I am not saying what the protesters did was right - innocent people are being killed and others lives are being disrupted...that is never right. That fact highlights the sheer stupidity of the actors and the fact that the producer of the movie had less than honorable intentions. Saying the movie "probably had some offensive themes" is putting it lightly. The clip played on NPR was a little more than offensive. It is common knowledge that some Muslims take the issue of blasphemy very very seriously, why provoke them in such a blatant fashion?
 
Fox news =/= adcoms. Fox news is full of a bunch of idiots broadcasting biased, controversial material to attract viewers. Adcoms are a bunch of degree-weilding scholars seeking to matriculate a diverse class. Very different.

As far as Asians requiring a higher MCAT, I would not call that discrimination. Again, adcoms want a diverse class, and much more Asians and Whites are applying to medical school than other ethnicities, and thus it is more competitive for them. I don't think this is necessarily "right", but there aren't any racist agendas being played out here.

Many Asians (mostly Indians, but few Chinese) are in accelerated programs, so that reduced the playing field for the more competitive ones. Still, Asians make up a small group in the medical school class. Either way, why is race/ethnicity even relevant? Get top scores and show your passion (unique interests), you're in. Just because some people of a certain race aren't too interested in medicine doesn't mean medical schools should show favoritism to them because of their race.

Let's try to avoid an affirmative action debate.

Saying that discrimination won't happen is being a little too optimistic. It might and it might not. Everybody has prejudices and the general perception of Muslims in the US is currently not very good. The OP has to prepare himself for any situation he meets.

I'm sorry if you took my statement regarding the movie as me bringing politics into the OP's situation.

That being said, I am not saying what the protesters did was right, but that does not excuse the sheer stupidity of the actors and the fact that the producer of the movie had less than honorable intentions. Saying the movie "probably had some offensive themes is putting it" lightly. The clip played on NPR was a little more than offensive. It is common knowledge that some Muslims take the issue of blasphemy very very seriously, why provoke them in such a blatant fashion?

Ok. As before, the movie is controversial and contains inappropriate themes (and the director/writer know what they're doing). Anyone can be offended, but you don't kill people to express your anger. Both sides are at fault, but the ones offended (the protestors) acted very inappropriately and many lives were lost. Their motivation is more than just a movie. It's premeditated.

Let's steer clear from controversial issues and get back on track, guys.
 
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Fox news =/= adcoms. Fox news is full of a bunch of idiots broadcasting biased, controversial material to attract viewers. Adcoms are a bunch of degree-weilding scholars seeking to matriculate a diverse class. Very different.

As far as Asians requiring a higher MCAT, I would not call that discrimination. Again, adcoms want a diverse class, and much more Asians and Whites are applying to medical school than other ethnicities, and thus it is more competitive for them. I don't think this is necessarily "right", but there aren't any racist agendas being played out here.

Yeah, let's not go there.
 
Many Asians (mostly Indians, but few Chinese) are in accelerated programs, so that reduced the playing field for the more competitive ones. Still, Asians make up a small group in the medical school class. Either way, why is race/ethnicity even relevant? Get top scores and show your passion (unique interests), you're in. Just because some people of a certain race aren't too interested in medicine doesn't mean medical schools should show favoritism to them because of their race.

Let's try to avoid an affirmative action debate.



Ok. As before, the movie is controversial and contains inappropriate themes (and the director/writer know what they're doing). Anyone can be offended, but you don't kill people to express your anger. Both sides are at fault, but the ones offended (the protestors) acted very inappropriately and many lives were lost. Their motivation is more than just a movie. It's premeditated.

Let's steer clear from controversial issues and get back on track, guys.

100% on the bolded part.as it has nothing to do with OP's situation except peripherally.

Agent B i think we're on the same side kinda. I am not saying the protesters are justified in their actions. I am just saddened and quite honestly pissed off that some people value their "freedom of expression" and their right ot righteous indignation over the lives and welfare of others. And this applies to both sides of this snafu.

And I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say situations like what is currently going on in the Islamic world is what has OP worried because he could be seen as guilty by association by people who do not know better. And as educated and enlightened as Adcoms may be, they are not necessarily above the petty prejudices that us the lesser mortals can have.

So once again, OP, prepare to show yourself and your organization in the best possible light.

LMAO..OP I just looked at your profile picture and was like wth?
 
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As far as Asians requiring a higher MCAT, I would not call that discrimination. Again, adcoms want a diverse class, and much more Asians and Whites are applying to medical school than other ethnicities, and thus it is more competitive for them. I don't think this is necessarily "right", but there aren't any racist agendas being played out here.


Let's try to avoid an affirmative action debate.

Heh, sorry....thought I worded that carefully and neutrally enough. Guess not. And, for the record, I'm white.
 
Heh, sorry....thought I worded that carefully and neutrally enough. Guess not. And, for the record, I'm white.

We know. You are not that effective of a rhetorician or that objective in speech.

I am just afraid that this will be one of "those threads."
 
Hmm...I'd like to see some evidence, sir...

The OP pulled the wool over all of your eyes when he phrased his question the way that he did.

His suspicions that he'll be discriminated against based on his membership in the muslim student association are well-founded, and have nothing to do with being a muslim.

Many of you may not know this, but the Muslim Student Association has a long history of its members being tied to criminal activities, mostly terrorism and anti-semitism.

Here are some of the MSA's greatest hits:

Anti-Semitism:

In a public letter written by Mark Yudof, although UC President but writing in the capacity of a "private citizen", regarding the Muslim Student Union's series of events titled "Israel: The Politics of Genocide," said "Permit me now to remove my cap and gown and to exercise my First Amendment rights as a private citizen. In my opinion, the title of the series is virulent, historically inaccurate and offensive to Jewish people everywhere."
___________________________________________________________
The Anti Defamation League, an organization dedicated to "combating anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds,"[44] has described the Muslim Student Union as being "responsible for staging large events every spring featuring virulently anti-Semitic speakers."
___________________________________________________________

I could go on, here, but if you've ever attended a campus where there's a lot of MSA activity, like I do (UCLA), your eyes will open pretty quick.

___________________________________________________________
Terrorist Ties:
1. Anwar al-Awlaki, the al Qaeda cleric linked to terror plots from Fort Hood to Times Square and beyond. Awlaki, now a target for assasination by the U.S. government, was president of the MSA at Colorado State University in the mid-1990s.

2. Ramy Zamzam. Before his conviction in Pakistan last year for attempting to join the Taliban and kill American troops, Zamzam was president of the MSA's Washington, D.C., council.

3. Omar Hammami, a leader of the al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia, is another MSA alum. He was once president of the group's chapter at the University of South Alabama.

4. Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was national president of the MSA during the 1980s, was al Qaeda's top fundraiser in America and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence.

I could go on here, too. There are a ton of MSA members that have been convicted or are suspected of terrorist involvement.
___________________________________________________________

Something that many of you might not be aware of is that there are a lot of Jewish people in the medical community.

By some estimates, Jewish enrollment at the best universities is extremely disproportionate to the general population.

For example, every time I walk through the UCLA School of Medicine, I see at least 3 random Jewish guys (how do I know? They're wearing the little hat).

I'm not Jewish, nor am I muslim, but it were up to me, and I could potentially be discriminated against based on a club I'm in, I wouldn't tell anyone about my involvement in that club.
 
I'm trying to avoid letting myself get derailed by the BS on this thread. To the OP, if your experience with the MSA was meaningful, then you do yourself a disservice by failing to include it. I can assure you, the risk of an anti-Muslim bias affecting you at a major academic medical center is very small and almost assuredly smaller than the benefit you would receive from being proud of your accomplishments.

I know lots of students who have been involved in leadership positions at my undergraduate school's MSA and went on to attend medical school. I sincerely doubt that any of them hid their MSA involvement. Indeed, they would have much to proud of, because the MSA at our school was very active in interfaith outreach and fostering community between Muslims and non-Muslims.
 
The OP pulled the wool over all of your eyes when he phrased his question the way that he did.

His suspicions that he'll be discriminated against based on his membership in the muslim student association are well-founded, and have nothing to do with being a muslim.

Many of you may not know this, but the Muslim Student Association has a long history of its members being tied to criminal activities, mostly terrorism and anti-semitism.

Here are some of the MSA's greatest hits:

Anti-Semitism:
In a public letter written by Mark Yudof, although UC President but writing in the capacity of a "private citizen", regarding the Muslim Student Union's series of events titled "Israel: The Politics of Genocide," said "Permit me now to remove my cap and gown and to exercise my First Amendment rights as a private citizen. In my opinion, the title of the series is virulent, historically inaccurate and offensive to Jewish people everywhere."
___________________________________________________________
The Anti Defamation League, an organization dedicated to "combating anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds,"[44] has described the Muslim Student Union as being "responsible for staging large events every spring featuring virulently anti-Semitic speakers."
___________________________________________________________

I could go on, here, but if you've ever attended a campus where there's a lot of MSA activity, like I do (UCLA), your eyes will open pretty quick.

___________________________________________________________
Terrorist Ties:
1. Anwar al-Awlaki, the al Qaeda cleric linked to terror plots from Fort Hood to Times Square and beyond. Awlaki, now a target for assasination by the U.S. government, was president of the MSA at Colorado State University in the mid-1990s.

2. Ramy Zamzam. Before his conviction in Pakistan last year for attempting to join the Taliban and kill American troops, Zamzam was president of the MSA's Washington, D.C., council.

3. Omar Hammami, a leader of the al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia, is another MSA alum. He was once president of the group's chapter at the University of South Alabama.

4. Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was national president of the MSA during the 1980s, was al Qaeda's top fundraiser in America and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence.

I could go on here, too. There are a ton of MSA members that have been convicted or are suspected of terrorist involvement.
___________________________________________________________

Something that many of you might not be aware of is that there are a lot of Jewish people in the medical community.

By some estimates, Jewish enrollment at the best universities is extremely disproportionate to the general population.

For example, every time I walk through the UCLA School of Medicine, I see at least 3 random Jewish guys (how do I know? They're wearing the little hat).

I'm not Jewish, nor am I muslim, but it were up to me, and I could potentially be discriminated against based on a club I'm in, I wouldn't tell anyone about my involvement in that club.


I am assuming the MSU and the MSA are the same organization...


Are you saying that all muslims are terrorists or have the potential to become terrorists? After all they share the same religion ( and by extension values and perspectives on life) with some of the best known terrorists in the world today.

It is precisely becasue of attitudes such as yours that OP should be worried. A whole group and it's members are not criminals just because certain individuals who were criminals or eventually became criminals have been members of the group.

If the OP can show in his PS and other application components that being a member of this group was a positive experience for him and his community there is no reason why he should not include it.
 
I am assuming the MSU and the MSA are the same organization...


Are you saying that all muslims are terrorists or have the potential to become terrorists? After all they share the same religion ( and by extension values and perspectives on life) with some of the best known terrorists in the world today.

It is precisely becasue of attitudes such as yours that OP should be worried. A whole group and it's members are not criminals just because certain individuals who were criminals or eventually became criminals have been members of the group.

If the OP can show in his PS and other application components that being a member of this group was a positive experience for him and his community there is no reason why he should not include it.

I don't really see how you got that from his post. He is saying that the organization has been involved in some controversial things and OP should consider listing it with caution, that is all.
 
We know. You are not that effective of a rhetorician or that objective in speech.

I am just afraid that this will be one of "those threads."
Now that's just racist, sir. I'm tired of us white people being oppressed!
 
I don't really see how you got that from his post. He is saying that the organization has been involved in some controversial things and OP should consider listing it with caution, that is all.

Individulas within the organization and /or certain branches of the organization have been involved in controversy. So should Roman Catholics list their involvment with their church with caution? Controversy is a fact of life and you cannot avoid it forever.

If the muslims who are not extremists hide under rocks out of fear of discrimination who will represent them?
 
I am assuming the MSU and the MSA are the same organization...


Are you saying that all muslims are terrorists or have the potential to become terrorists? After all they share the same religion ( and by extension values and perspectives on life) with some of the best known terrorists in the world today.

It is precisely becasue of attitudes such as yours that OP should be worried. A whole group and it's members are not criminals just because certain individuals who were criminals or eventually became criminals have been members of the group.

If the OP can show in his PS and other application components that being a member of this group was a positive experience for him and his community there is no reason why he should not include it.

I think he was trying to say that the MSU/MSA is a terrorist organization, or supports terrorist activity, not that all muslims have the potential to become terrorists. All people of any race in fact DO have the potential to become terrorists, but that is irrelevant. In fact I believe I have heard past stories related to this issue of certain muslim student radical organizations, but do not recall enough to comment further.

Back to the original issue, if the student organization you are a part of is IN FACT a affiliated with terrorism, I would probably not mention it in your application. If it is not, then feel free to mention it without fear of repercussions.
 
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There is so much facepalm in this thread.
 
I think he was trying to say that the MSU/MSA is a terrorist organization, or supports terrorist activity, not that all muslims have the potential to become terrorists. All people of any race in fact DO have the potential to become terrorists, but that is irrelevant. In fact I believe I have heard past stories related to this issue of certain muslim student radical organizations, but do not recall enough to comment further.

Back to the original issue, if the student organization you are a part of is IN FACT a terrorist organization, I would probably not mention it in your application. If it is not, then feel free to mention it without fear of repercussions.


If this organization is in fact a terrorist organization or is clearly linked to terrorist organizations then it is a bad commentary on the US National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and all that alphabet soup of agenciesthat it is allowed to continue.

I quite understand what he is saying. I take issue with the fact that the OP should have to leave out what clearly was a positive experience for him because of extremes.
 
Individulas within the organization and /or certain branches of the organization have been involved in controversy. So should Roman Catholics list their involvment with their church with caution? Controversy is a fact of life and you cannot avoid it forever.

If the muslims who are not extremists hide under rocks out of fear of discrimination who will represent them?

One is a religion and the other is a student organization. Your analogy is not a good one. A better question would be "Should members of a Roman Catholic group involved with controversial activities list their involvement with caution?". That is much tougher question to answer.

You are focusing too much on the Muslim religion as a whole and not the organization.

Let me just make it clear that I think the OP should list the activity. I just think you aren't rly getting the previous poster's point.
 
Now that's just racist, sir. I'm tired of us white people being oppressed!

Dude. I freaking cackled at this. Funny stuff.

In addition, I am also starting to gain a new perspective on whether the OP should include this is his/her application. Since the MSA has a reputation of producing and associating with nefarious individuals, I would refrain from putting this on my application.

I am just sayin' doe!!
 
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One is a religion and the other is a student organization. Your analogy is not a good one. A better question would be "Should members of a Roman Catholic group involved with controversial activities list their involvement with caution?". That is much tougher question to answer.

You are focusing too much on the Muslim religion as a whole and not the organization.

Let me just make it clear that I think the OP should list the activity. I just think you aren't rly getting the previous poster's point.


You see...the thing is not ALL members of the MSA have been involved in suspicious activities. Yes, there have been some, but not all and I think it is wrong that the OP should feel like he has to hide his involvment, even though it apparently plays an important role in his life.

It's like saying that you have a Roman Catholic Order of Monks, some of whom have been involved in child abuse cases, so a monk in that order should avoid talking about his involvement in that order becasue of that, even though through his involvement, and work with the order, he has been able to accomplish some really positive things in his community...

IMHO, this thread just serves to confirm the OP's concerns, becasue many of us are basing our opinions of this group and what it stands for on the claims of one poster, as well as preconceived notions about the religion of islam and the links of certain groups within that religion with violence, while forgetting that there are many practitioners of Islam who are quite innocent and are as horrified by the actions of this minority as we are.
 
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Dude. I freaking cackled at this. Funny stuff.

In addition, I am also starting to gain a new perspective on whether the OP should include this is his/her application. Since the MSA has a reputation of producing and associating with nefarious individuals, I would refrain from putting this on my application.

I am just sayin' doe!!

Do you know anything about the MSA aside from the absurd logic contained in a bigoted chain email posted into this thread?

It pointed out that tiny number of people out of the tens of thousands who have been members of the MSA turned to extremism, and you people are acting like this makes it a terrorist breeding ground.

Do youself a favor and google the terms: co-sponsored muslim student association hillel

This discussion is based on a ludicrous premise. I should expect a bunch of pre-medical students to have better reasoning skills than to take a poorly constructed chain email at face value.
 
Do you know anything about the MSA aside from the absurd logic contained in a bigoted chain email posted into this thread?

It pointed out that tiny number of people out of the tens of thousands who have been members of the MSA turned to extremism, and you people are acting like this makes it a terrorist breeding ground.

Do youself a favor and google the terms: co-sponsored muslim student association hillel

This discussion is based on a ludicrous premise. I should expect a bunch of pre-medical students to have better reasoning skills than to take a poorly constructed chain email at face value.

All it takes is a "tiny number of people," as you put it. I assume you follow the news.
 

can-you-find-the-humerus.jpg
 
You see...the thing is not ALL members of the MSA have been involved in suspicious activities. Yes, there have been some, but not all and I think it is wrong that the OP should feel like he has to hide his involvment, even though it apparently plays an important role in his life.

It's like saying that you have a Roman Catholic Order of Monks, some of whom have been involved in child abuse cases, so a monk in that order should avoid talking about his involvement in that order becasue of that, even though through his involvement, and work with the order, he has been able to accomplish some really positive things in his community...

This still isn't a apt analogy...

What would most concern me is not the extremists that have been members of the MSA, but the events hosted by the organization on certain campuses that have anti-semitic undertones. You can disassociate yourself from individual people fairly easily but it is more difficult to disassociate yourself from events that are hosted by your club.

I think the OP will be fine if he lists in detail what he did in the club (as long as he didn't actually participate in these negatively viewed activities)
 
Are we conversing in platitudes now?

No. I was simply referring to how people in the US are often insensitive to the issue of mainstream vs. Muslim extremists. Again, I only mentioned the news because there are dozens of stories erryday on similar issues (terrorism and the like).

ya.
 
This still isn't a apt analogy...

What would most concern me is not the extremists that have been members of the MSA, but the events hosted by the organization on certain campuses that have anti-semitic undertones. You can disassociate yourself from individual people fairly easily but it is more difficult to disassociate yourself from events that are hosted by your club.

I think the OP will be fine if he lists in detail what he did in the club (as long as he didn't actually participate in these negatively viewed activities)


I don't know...there are certain groups of people among the American populace who do not like black people and they have meetings, which have anti-black undertones here in the US in certain states.... Assuming you are American, please dissociate yourself from activities carried out in your country...
 
I don't know...there are certain groups of people among the American populace who do not like black people and they have meetings here in the US in certain states which have anti-black undertones.... Assuming you are American, please dissociate yourself from activities carried out in your country...

The entire GOP party--which really does not make sense since I am an avid supporter.
 
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