Celebrating Women of City College

This Women’s History Month, The Guardsman talked with some of the passionate individuals who founded the first Islamic Society Club at City College.

The club’s first-ever meeting on Thursday, March 6, was a great success. Tea and traditional Palestinian bread were available while club members chatted about the Hijab and other important aspects of the Islamic faith. Members welcome anyone interested in learning more about Islam.
The women featured here are all highly intelligent and dynamic individuals who have proven both their care and commitment to City College and their surrounding communities.

 

Fayza Nasher, Psychology major

Fayza Nasher grew up in Ibb, Yemen and came to the States in 2012 in search of a better life.

• “When I came here, there were not a lot of people I knew, and it was very hard, especially last semester… I was eager for this club to happen. It helps with propaganda surrounding Islam, to inform people that all you see in the news is not always the case with people of the Islamic faith… What you see in the news, its so different from what I see and what I know from my own life, thats why I call it propaganda.”

 

• “One of the things I love about San Francisco is that it is more liberal, and it is so diverse that you don’t actually see a lot of those prejudices that are happening in other parts of the world.”

 

• “For me, one of the things I’m most passionate about is my desire for everyone to be treated with equal opportunities, and I want everyone to have a chance to succeed in life, with education and with work.”

 

 

 

Maha Nasher, Medical Assistant & Phlebotomy Technician

Maha Nasher grew up in Ibb, Yemen and came to the States in 2010 in search of a better life.

 

• “First of all, you always need a sense of community in life. You need your people, you need some kind of solidarity, and to know that you’re not alone was by itself, enough of a reason for us to create this organization.”

 

• “I want everyone around the world, no matter who you are or where you’re from, we just want  want everyone to have peace, that is both my goal and a goal that is shared by everyone here involved in the Islamic Society of City College.”

 

Fatma Elfadal, Mechanical Engineering major

Fatma Elfadel was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, but came to City College as in international student in 2023 from Khartoum, Sudan.

 

• “I love that you have so much diversity here at City College, people from all different backgrounds are able to come together, and I love that.”

 

• “What I’m most passionate about are human beings. I spend a lot of time just thinking about the diversity of human beings and wanting to engage in conversations with different human beings, and then discovering that we have so much more in common than our perceived differences. But have so many more things I’m passionate about in life, music, food – too many to list.”

 

 

Nura Fattah, Business Major

Nura Fattah was born and raised in San Francisco. Her father is from Brazil and her mother is from Saffa, Palestine. Fattah works in the Metro Transfer program and EOPS.

 

• “This college has a lot of opportunities here to make sure you succeed. Opportunities that you wouldn’t even have at some universities.”

 

• “Obviously, after 9/11, there was fear around Islam and Arab people, and while I think it’s gotten better since then, it is not a linear thing. For example, after the October 7 attacks in Israel, Islamaphobia I think has risen up again. It’s hard to speak out about those things now because you might be called anti-Semitic or Hamas. However, I feel that in spite of that, there is a lot of solidarity with those communities, so its important to be able to debunk the propaganda that is in the West.”

 

• “One day, I really hope to be able to go back to Palestine to be able to help the people there that are oppressed.”