Edward Said Lounge

A Home Away from Home: How the Edward Said Lounge Supports Arab American and Muslim Students at UM

by Grace Marshall

The Edward Said Lounge is the first space dedicated to the Arab-American and Muslim communities on the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus (Dillingham). Located in North Quad, the Edward Said Lounge is among several multicultural lounges at UM but is the only multicultural lounge in North Quad.

The lounge is a part of the minority culture and multicultural lounge program that was born out of the Black Action Movement in the 1970s (UOM Housing). This lounge was dedicated in 2015 to Edward Said, the face for Arab Americans and Muslims on campus and worldwide, for his great accomplishments and dedication to the Arab and Muslim community (Dillingham). It was newly remodeled in 2022 in a more accessible location for students and is able to be used for studying, events, and meetings. This lounge has become a safe space for Arab Americans and Muslims on campus while educating unfamiliar students about the Arab and Muslim communities.

Arab American-themed lounge had been under consideration by the multicultural council for around three years; however, a name was to be determined. To amp up the progress in February 2014, a Central Student Government petition launched a month prior to the protests that called for establishing a lounge in North Quad and received almost 500 signatures (Dillingham).

Front view of the Edward Said Lounge (April 9, 2023). Photo by Grace Marshall.

Back view of the Edward Said Lounge (April 9, 2023). Photo by Grace Marshall.

Photo of the makeshift sign of Edward Said Lounge made by UM Divest (March 2014). Photo by @Farrahtweets on Twitter, courtesy Algemeiner.com.

UM Divest held protests in order to acquire the lounge. Arab and Muslim students feeling unsafe on campus wanted to establish a place that represented them and made them feel welcome, according to the group. The Students of UM Divest took it upon themselves to fight for change by hanging a sign on the door of CSG chambers as a weeklong protest to occupy the room. The sign read “Edward Said Lounge” (Dillingham).

A meeting called for North Quad residents to vote to approve the name Edward Said Lounge. More than a quarter of residents voted in favor of the name, which allowed the council to move forward and begin to plan the layout and design of the lounge (Dillingham). Thus the Edward Said Lounge was born.

Edward Said was born in Jerusalem during the British mandate of Palestine, and his family was greatly affected by the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. The name Edward dates back to the 11th century and means “rich guard" and fortune/wealth (Campbell). The name Said comes from Arabic origins, meaning happy ("Said").

Said went to college at Princeton and then to Harvard for his Ph.D. He was a faculty member for over forty years at Columbia and received an honorary doctorate degree award from the University of Michigan in 1998.

Edward Said (August 1999) by Meya Bruni. Photo Courtesy Culture.

Said is the author of many books and poems; he is best known for his analyses of Arab and Muslim people in literature and media, particularly for his writing of “Orientalism,” which greatly impacted literacy studies and the social sciences (Dillingham). He is also known for his academic perspective on politics, including advocating the “one-state solution” to the conflict between Israel and Palestine (Dillingham). He served Palestine as he was elected an independent member of the Palestine National Council in 1977, representing Palestinians from inside and outside the country.

Said accomplishments are highlighted at the lounge, which has been an excellent addition to the Arab and Muslim communities on campus. Tala Dahbour, who was a co-chair of students allied for Freedom and Equality, was holding back tears when unveiling a sign that was made in 2014 at the opening of the Edward Said Lounge. Doubour was quoted in a Michigan Daily article at the time, saying: “This sign was painted almost a year ago by Arab and Muslim students during a time when they felt very unsafe on this campus. It’s a very proud moment to be here at a time when we don’t have to paint it on a piece of paper” (Dillingham). Many other Arab and Muslim students feel the same as Doubour, finally being represented on campus and feeling a sense of belonging. The Edward Said lounge is where many Arab and Muslim students can call their second home and appreciate the dedication of the students who fought for this space before them. This place is just a stepping stone towards more Arab American and Muslim-dedicated buildings and areas on campus.

Works Cited

Bruni, Meya. Photo of Edward Said, Culture Pl, August 1999, Edward Said's Reading of Joseph Conrad | Article | Culture.pl. Assessed April 12, 2023.

Campbell, Mike. “Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Edward.” Behind the Name, 16 Nov. 2019, https://www.behindthename.com/name/edward. Assessed April 4. 2023.

Dillingham, Ian. “New Multicultural Lounge Celebrates Arab Heritage.” The Michigan Daily, 20 Apr. 2021, https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/north-quad-council-dedicates-new-multicultural-lounge-honor-palestinian-american-academic/. Accessed April 1.2023.

Farrahtweets. “Photo of the makeshift sign of ‘Edward Said Lounge’ made by UM Divest.” The Algemeniner, 2014, BDS Resolution Defeated at University of Michigan - Algemeiner.com. Accessed April 12, 2023.

Marshall, Grace. Front view of the Edward Said Lounge. 9 Apr. 2023. Author personal Collection.

Marshall, Grace. Back view of the Edward Said Lounge. 9 Apr. 2023. Author personal Collection.

"Said - Name Meaning, What Does Said Mean?", http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Said, 2018. Assessed April 4. 2023.

UOM Housing. “Edward Said Minority Lounge.” Michigan Housing, https://housing.umich.edu/cultural-lounge/edward-said-lounge/. Accessed Mar 24. 2023.

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