We Are Not All the Same: Arab and Muslim Students Forging Their Own Campus Communities in a Post-9/11 America

Abstract

The study investigates Arab and Muslim students’ social relationships on 21 community college campuses in the USA (N = 753), with comparison groups of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Whites (N = 567). Survey findings revealed a positive relationship between campus friendships and sense of belonging, controlling for ethnic and religious identities, and perceived discrimination on campus. Individual group differences were found among Arab Christians, Arab Muslims, and non-Arab Muslims, and the comparison group. As an earlier publication based on the same study revealed, 75% of Arab and Muslim students’ campus friendships were either same ethnic and/or same faith, with only a quarter of campus friendships being of different ethnicity and different religion. Although such results suggest the existence of ethno-religious enclaves, this paper concludes that Arab and Muslim students are not purposely enacting their own ethno-religious balkanization, but—like other ethnic groups—forging their own campus communities within the larger campus community.