Announcement:
Appointment of Director of Muslim Student Life
The Chaplain’s Office is pleased to welcome to the Lehigh University campus Tariq Ameer, who has been appointed Director of Muslim Student Life and Associate Chaplain. Vice-President for Equity and Community, Dr. Donald Outing, informed the Lehigh community of Mr. Ameer’s appointment, noting that “Tariq stood out as an excellent candidate in a very competitive search, and we are fortunate to have his talents as Director moving forward.” Mr. Ameer, Outing added, impressed the search committee with his “passion for supporting individuals of diverse backgrounds and beliefs.”
Mr. Ameer will join the Chaplain’s Office as a teacher, counselor, spiritual resource and religious leader. As Director of Muslim Student Life he will provide spiritual and emotional support to Lehigh’s Muslim community. As Associate Chaplain he will serve the entire Lehigh community. University Chaplain and Professor of Religion Studies, Rev. Dr. Lloyd Steffen, co-chair of the search committee with Dr. Outing, noted, “We are pleased to have found a gifted, sensitive and unusually well-trained person to help us address the spiritual needs of our growing Muslim community. Tariq’s experience, skills and communication abilities will benefit our entire Lehigh community.”
For the past six years, Mr. Ameer has been serving as Chaplain at the Northern State Prison in Newark, NJ. His previous positions include teaching at the MECCA Center in New York and performing chaplaincy work at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ.
Mr. Ameer is an honors graduate of Morehouse College, where he majored in Business Administration. He received a Masters of Divinity Islamic Chaplaincy degree from the Bayan Islamic Graduate School through Chicago Theological Seminary, and his theological training includes certification in Clinical Pastoral Education.
Mr. Ameer began his new position at Lehigh on May 30.
ARCHIVED INFORMATION
IN SUPPORT OF MUSLIMS ON THE LEHIGH CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY
Troubled that anti-Muslim rhetoric has been spreading in the media and that attitudes of hostility toward Islam have been on the increase in the United States, we affirm the right of Muslims to practice their religion freely and without fear or intimidation. We call on all members of our community to join Religious Life at Lehigh in celebrating religious diversity on campus, believing the Lehigh community as a whole benefits when religious expression is allowed to flourish. We actively support this flourishing and are honored to have all religions welcomed and represented here.
CALL TO PRAYER
The community is invited to attend Friday Prayer service held weekly during the academic year at 1:10 p.m. - Currently Virtually. Please contact Dr. Walead Mossad for details. Service and prayer lead by Dr. Walead Mosaad, Director of Muslim Student Life.
PAST EVENTS:
The terrorist attacks on mosque worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand have shocked and outraged people of good will all around the world. The 50 Muslim men, women and children who died tragically and senselessly in a vicious act of violence--apparently at the hands of a white supremacist and political extremist--remind us that hatred is a powerful and lethal force that can show that our interconnected world is also a world of great fragility and vulnerability.
Senseless violence affects us all, and we reaffirm in this moment that our obligations to care for one another, to live peacefully and to treat each other with respect are never abridged by distances or geographic boundaries. We deplore Friday’s terrorist attack on Muslims in New Zealand and condemn all hate crimes directed at people because of their religious commitments. The right to worship freely, without interference--and certainly without threat of violence--is enshrined in our fundamental political beliefs as Americans, and the Lehigh University campus joins in the chorus of voices around the globe who are condemning these murderous anti-Islamic acts, while expressing sympathies for those who lost loved ones in New Zealand.
In solidarity with those suffering loss in New Zealand due to these horrendous events, the University Chaplain’s Office sponsored a Campus Vigil on Friday, March 22 n Packer Memorial Church. The Vigil was followed by the regular Friday Muslim service, which was opened with a meditation from Dr. Walead Mosaad, Director of Muslim Student Life. The entire campus community was invited to the Vigil being held in remembrance of those killed in New Zealand, and in support of the victim survivors who suffer profound bereavement due to these tragic events.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lloyd Steffen
Professor of Religion Studies and University Chaplain
Dr. Walead Mosaad
Director of Muslim Student Life
Rabbi Steven Nathan
Director of Jewish Student Life
"COPING WITH THE CHALLENGS OF MUSLIM LIFE IN AMERICA"
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
6:00 P.M.
THE DIALOGUE CENTER
Join Dr. Walead Mosaad, Director of Muslim Student Life on Wednesday, September 20th at 6:00 p.m. in The Dialogue Center for a seminar on "Coping with the challenges of Muslim Life in America."
All are welcome to attend.