The Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA) hosted a Persian New Year and Ramadan celebration on the Quad on April 17 . During the event, volunteers passed out traditional Middle Eastern foods, such as rice and kabobs, and explained the different cultural holidays.

MESA member Aidan Mazdisdian ’25 said he enjoyed being able to share different cultures with the school through the celebration.

“At the event we got to talk about Nowruz and Ramadan through the table set up and the food,” Mazdisdian said. “It was fun to just talk and teach about the different cultures. I want people to learn about Nowruz and Ramadan because once again it is important to learn about different cultures.”

MESA Leader Lila Daoudi ’24 said hosting events is a way for Middle Eastern students to feel at home at the school.

“It’s a really good way to introduce Middle Eastern culture to the community,” Daoudi said. “Which is really just valuable in terms of like cultural mixing, but also it lets students who are of Middle Eastern descent feel represented on campus so they have a better home here.”

Science Teacher Nancy Chen, who attended the event, said the celebration was beneficial to teachers since it informed them on when students celebrate holidays such as these.

“It’s important to have [celebrations like this] because we have a student body that’s very diverse and coming from different cultures, so to understand at what time of the year they’re going to be the busiest [is important],” Chen said. “It’s useful to know when these holidays are because that’s usually more time spent with family, and so they may not have time with schoolwork. It’s useful to have an understanding of what the different engagements will be.”