Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s newest student organization, the Middle Eastern Law Student association (MELSA) elected its first slate of officers at a meeting on November 30th.
The new president Diane Alkais, who is of Iraqi descent, says she hopes to 
make next semester a “good first semester” for the group which is made up of a diverse group of students who have family ties to the Middle East.
Other officers elected are Vice-President Crystal Phenny, Treasurer Reena Patel, Secretary Mona Mahdara and Hassan Sadeghi who will be responsible for public relations.
One thing that everyone at the meeting seemed to agree on is that one of MELSA’s first events should be a cultural one. “We each bring a piece of our culture – the one we go home to every day – and we all have rich histories to share,” said Alkais.
Mona Mahdara thinks such an event can raise the level of consciousness on the campus and teach people why certain cultural groups live in the U.S.
“I hope we can all be good advocates of Middle Eastern culture,” said David Hakimfar, who is Iranian-American, and also the president of the Jewish Student Union.
There was definitely a strong sense of unity among the students who attended the MELSA meeting.
“There are Arabs, Jews, Christians, Persians, all working together under one law school roof,” said the group’s faculty advisor, Professor Jeff Joseph. “If only nations could behave like this.”