Davis High Middle Eastern Union hopes to spread cultural awareness
PHOTO: Members of the Davis High Middle Eastern Union pose with their pizza slices as part of a Blaze Pizza fundraiser.
By Ayisi Ni,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor-
Middle Eastern Union, a new club at Davis High, aims to inform the community about Middle Eastern culture.
Donya Pirouzi founded MEU near the end of the 2020-2021 school year. She now serves as president, alongside vice president Mehrsa Hassanzadeh.
“I founded this club because I am passionate about my culture. I want to inform others about the Middle East, and about its food, music and language,” Pirouzi said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about the Middle East out there, but more knowledge is power.”
The MEU is planning on holding bi-monthly meetings after the Club Fair on Sept. 28. The club will hold more fundraisers this year to support field trips, seminars and guest speakers.
According to Hassanzadeh, recruitment has been slow due the club’s creation in the later part of the school year and distance learning’s limitations.
“I hope, however, that people will be challenged this year to break out of their comfort zone and take an interest in a new topic,” Hassanzadeh said.
Due to pandemic restrictions, however, club leadership is having a hard time finding an appropriate meeting place.
“We want to meet in the auto shop class, but students can’t eat there. One solution is to find a table on the quad, but that might make it difficult for new members to find us. That’s something we are still working on,” Hassanzadeh said.
To make MEU stand out to fellow students, the club encourages those who come to meetings to seek active membership in the club. Active members can run for office in the MEU, and in return, they must attend at least three meetings each semester.
However, Pirouzi and Hassanzadeh make it clear that students are more than welcome to just drop by and listen in.
“Anyone can join! You don’t have to be of Middle Eastern descent to just sit down and have a nice conversation,” said Robert Thayer, club advisor and DHS auto shop teacher.
“That’s right. All people are welcome here,” Pirouzi said.
