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hit - the time the sun set on this Thursday - other students had mostly left, while those observing Ramadan piled their plates with food from an extravagant display. The humble date holds a special significance for Muslims as well as farmers in Southern California’s Coachella Valley - considered the date capital of the United StatesĪs 7:15 p.m. “We want them to come here and feel like they have everything they need.”Īfter Andrabi spoke to them, the team members at Harvey Mudd volunteered to host the first campus iftar dinner, said Miguel Ruvalcaba, the senior director for dining services at Harvey Mudd.Ĭalifornia During Ramadan, every night is a ‘date’ night “I definitely feel like it’s getting better,” Montoya said as he flipped huge peppers on the grill. In the kitchen, as one cook flipped dozens of quesadillas on a grill, chefs Michael Montoya and Ruben Vega moved efficiently side-by-side over another grill, roasting bell peppers and halal chicken kebabs for the iftar feast.
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On this night, it was Harvey Mudd’s turn. As the hour grew closer to 7 p.m., the usual closing time, and the sun began to fade, the hall was still crowded, as staff began to lay out plates, desserts and drinks for iftar.Įach dining hall stays open past the regular closing time one day a week during Ramadan. In the main dining hall, students were queueing up to grab Mexican food prepared by the staff. On a recent Thursday evening, the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons at Harvey Mudd was humming as students arrived for dinner. On the weekends, she orders catered food and prepares fruit salads at her home, with the help of students. “This is the first time that this has ever happened, that all the colleges have acknowledged Ramadan, and they are learning,” Andrabi said. But this year, Shaila Andrabi, the coordinator of Muslim life, said she spoke to each college’s dining services team to see if they could extend their hours to accommodate students who are fasting during Ramadan. Last year, when students were back on campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many tried to put together iftar meals on their own. This year, the campus dining halls have expanded meal options and hours to host iftar dinners every weekday at a different undergraduate college dining hall to serve the Muslim community. The Claremont Colleges are a consortium of five undergraduate schools and two graduate schools: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute. I can sit with anybody and they’re just embracing me like I’m one of them.” And if you look at the people, they’re just like family. On a recent Thursday, the students and other Muslims celebrating Ramadan at the Claremont Colleges have come together just about every weeknight for iftar, breaking their fasts in community.īut here, he said, “I can eat food from my country, I can have drinks from my country, from my kitchen. He expected he would have to do the same as a college student.īut this year is different for all three. Without a microwave in his dorm, he would pick up boxes of food to eat in the evening for iftar and morning for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal. As an international student at Harvey Mudd College, the 18-year-old worried he would spend Ramadan eating by himself.ĭualeh Dualeh, 19, attended a boarding school before coming to Pomona College. Alone in her dorm room, Gsibat had iftar, the sunset meal usually eaten with friends and family, as a party of one.įreshman Ismail Kavuran hasn’t seen his family in Turkey in eight months, and it will be another eight before he sees them again. She read prayers while waiting for the sun to go down.
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Harvey Mudd College room, board, books, supplies and other expenses cost students $21,533, which is above the average of $15,282.As a sophomore at Pomona College, Aysha Gsibat remembers rushing to get into the dining hall to grab food to break her fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which involves abstaining from food and water from sunrise until sunset. See the table below to find out the number of meals per week in the maximum meal plan offered at Harvey Mudd College. Then there are schools like Harvey Mudd College that offer meal plans based on the number of meals per week. Schools may offer meal plans where the number of meals per week can vary, for example, the student receives a meal card and charges meals against the card. See the table below to find out whether Harvey Mudd College does or not, as well as the on-campus housing capacity. Answers to Questions About Living and Dining on Campus at Harvey Mudd CollegeĪre you wondering whether you may be required to live on campus? If you are a first-time full-time student, some schools may require it.
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