MECA strives to provide a peaceful space filled with hospitality and community.
The Middle Eastern Collegiate Association is an organization under the Opportunities in Intercultural Programming for Middle Eastern students and those interested in Middle Eastern culture.
[The OIP is] “Taylor's concentrated and dedicated way of educating and providing diverse opportunities for diverse learners and the community abroad,” Hadleigh Brown, junior social studies education major and MECA co-president, said.
MECA operates to provide hospitality and show that the Middle East is not just war, but there is so much more to it, Brown said.
With the diversity in heritages and the complexity of cultures, events like Mint Tea provide a place for students to open up, express themselves and see their families honored.
“It’s all of us taking from our own kind of heritage and putting it together in this beautiful melting pot that is now Mint Tea,” Brown said. “We all have very different Eastern backgrounds, so we're always bringing in a new perspective every single Mint Tea.”
Mint Tea is the MECA way for anyone to drink tea, have conversations and play games, Brown said.
Taylor’s community is provided with a space that encourages curiosity and shares a new perspective on stories that students can hear for the first time.
“We used to be a lot more education-focused,” Brown said. “We’ve really been rebranding ourselves to be more based about hospitality and showing the nuances of the Middle East as Middle Easterners leading the club."
Leaders of the club are hoping to see a great turnout at their events this year.
MECA events offer free food, dancing and music. It would be very fun to see lots of people from all around campus at MECA events, Audrey Moore, junior global studies major, said.
One of Brown’s favorite things from MECA last year was the cabinet’s distinct community, she said.
The heritage of all of the people in the room doing something fun creates such electricity.
“To walk into that space, you just feel a sense of peacefulness,” Moore said. “You feel this sense of community.”
Taylor’s culture is unbeatable, Josh Wilson, junior communication major and MECA co-president, said.
MECA has students who are Armenian, Jewish, Iranian and many more Middle Eastern descendants.
“These events are to integrate ourselves within the community and have the community integrate with us,” Brown said.
Through events like Mint Tea, MECA aims to honor the culture of the Middle East by coming together with the community in unity and safety, Brown said.
A welcoming environment encourages warm discussions with the community.
“It’s open doors and open conversations,” Wilson said. “We open our doors and we’re giving a physical space of hospitality, also opening conversation, which is another form of hospitality.”
The focus of MECA is hospitality, Brown said.
MECA is the only Middle Eastern club at Taylor, and its distinguishing feature is its emphasis on discussion.
“It's more of an opportunity to open up conversations in a really homey, beautiful and authentic way,” Brown said.
