By The black-and-white image of a smiling woman wearing a hijab dominates a purple poster that reads “Everyone Is Welcome Here,” has surfaced on the front doors of Cal State Long Beach faculty offices.
The poster began to appear on campus about two weeks ago, after the California Faculty Association distributed them at a meeting. It was originally designed in collaboration with Muslim and South African activists by Micah Bazant, a visual artist who “works with social justice movements to make change look irresistible,” according to Bazant’s website.
Though only a few copies of the poster are present on campus, CFA Long Beach chapter president and CSULB Classics professor Douglas Domingo-Forasté said that CSULB faculty have asked for them and more are on the way.
“We just wanted to make sure that students could come to talk to us – that you didn’t have to worry about wearing a hijab, you didn’t have to worry about immigration status,” Domingo-Forasté said. “We just want people to know that they should feel comfortable here.”
He said that 150 more copies have been requested for people who want to post them on campus, after the 25 he originally had were all taken.
The CFA is also using the poster on their website to encourage faculty, staff and students to report incidents of hate crimes and speech, stating that it is important to stay informed and ensure the safety of those in the California State University system.
Students have stated that the poster makes them feel like all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality are welcome on the CSULB campus.
Second year liberal studies student Britany Monter said that the poster makes her “feel like everyone is welcomed here and this university is not biased in religion, race, [or] sexual orientation.”
Bazant’s website says that the poster was inspired by the Muslim women of an Oakland library literacy program, where people shared stories of the harassment they have faced in public. The website says that the poster was created to show support for refugees in 2015.
Second year communications graduate student Dale Lendrum said that the poster makes him feel “both welcomed [by] and proud of my school.
English professor William Mohr is among the faculty who have placed the poster on their door, citing the 35th verse of the 24th Sura from the Quran as a reason for his belief in and support of the poster’s message:
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp, the lamp within a crystal of star-like brilliance. It is lit from a blessed olive tree neither eastern nor western. Its very oil would almost shine forth, though no fire touched it. Light upon light; God guides to His light whom He will.”
Mohr said that one does not have to believe in something in order to be familiar with it, as well as respect it and engage with it.
Domingo-Forasté said that he hopes seeing the poster on campus provokes conversation about the prejudices that people hold against those of a different ethnicity.
“We care about the university, and we care about how our students are treated. We don’t want anyone treated poorly,” Domingo-Forasté said.
He said that if university faculty and staff give students the impression that they are reinforcing prejudiced behavior, then they will have failed to educate themselves and their students about how to stop spreading hate.
“Too much hatred is going on today, and this picture reminds me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and there are people who still value every individual’s life, and that makes me extremely happy,” second year biology and psychology student Grecia Galvan said.
“The more that go out, the better. They don’t do me any good sitting in a pile in the office,” Domingo-Forasté said.
