Arab Students and Professionals Gather to Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month
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By Mirai Abe and Karl Gao | May 4, 2026
Students and Arab American community members gathered in formal attire Tuesday, April 28, to recognize and celebrate Arab American Heritage Month in the University at Albany Campus Center Ballroom.
“Voices for a Cause,” hosted by UAlbany North African And Arab Society (NAAS), brought together Arab professionals from medicine, law, business, tech and academia to share their stories, experiences, and insights, while offering networking opportunities to students.
“Especially in the 518 area, and especially for Arab students, we don’t have something like that here on campus for us to connect and network,” said NAAS President Mona Magid when asked about the event’s goal. “As a first generation Arab, I think it’s very important for me to have a month like this to highlight just all Arabs here in America.”
“We have a very solid community here in Albany, and it can grow bigger if we help each other and just embrace that we are Arab here,” Magid added. “There is a community. There is a group of us. And we all could come together to create something special, especially here at UAlbany.”
Arab American Heritage Month has been federally recognized since 2021. Many cultural institutions, schools and organizations celebrate Arab American heritage and recognize their contributions to society in April.
“NAAS brings Arab students from 22 countries together to celebrate everything and get people to learn more about the Arabs, their heritage, their culture, good Arabic music,” NAAS faculty advisor and lecturer of Arabic language Rana Alsaedi said. “[The event] raises more awareness about this campus and all these students from different backgrounds and cultures.”
The main program of the night was a panel discussion joined by Arab professionals based in the Capital Region. The panelists discussed their careers and keys to success.
Meimuneh Sumadi, owner of Sumadi Empowerment LLC, said she used to measure success with her educational and professional achievements as a Ph.D. holder, but her definition of success changed after becoming a mother.
“My success is raising three Arab children in a non-Arabic speaking country, keeping their identity as Muslim,” she said. “For me, success has changed a lot from me finishing and completing [Ph.D.]. Now it involves other people.”
The panelists also shared what they wished they did in college.
“It’s important to have the basic skills to feel self-sufficient,” said Adam Elabd, co-founder of YesFolk Tonic. “Even if you have all the masters and Ph.D.s in the world, you have to know how to take care of your body, mind and your heart.”
The networking event was hosted in partnership with Egatha Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping underserved patients in Lebanon.
“I think that the more we do for our community in the Middle East, especially with what’s happening right now, is extremely important,” Mikayla Boutros, Egatha Foundation social media lead, said. “And what you guys will be speaking about, especially during our heritage month, is very important….We are all neighbors. We all live on this one earth. And we are all here to help one another.”
The event concluded with a closing ceremony, followed by a networking session that allowed students to connect with panelists and other attendees.
“Thank you all so much for being here tonight. ‘Voices for a Cause’ was never just about filling the room, which we were very nervous about, but thank you all for being here,” NAAS Social Media Manager and co-founder Roaa Abdalrahman said. “But it was all about filling a space with attention, conversation and people who actually care enough to show up, and looking around right now, that’s exactly what happened.”
Rashed Alzaabi, a sophomore majoring in digital forensics, decided to attend the event to network and support its charitable purpose.
“I have a lot of friends, so I was invited in a way,” Alzaabi, also an international student from the United Arab Emirates, said. “We came here together to network, see new faces and donate to charity…and to learn more about older people’s experiences and insights.”
Lotfi Sayafi, a professor of Spanish linguistics at UAlbany, said students he knew invited him to the event because he presented on Arabic dialects for the organization in March.
“It’s good for the students to hear from people with more experience in their career,” Sayafi, who is also a faculty advisor to UAlbany Spanish Club, said. “They can get some advice, they can get some ideas, they can connect with people they wouldn’t have otherwise met. I love to see that student clubs are successful.”
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