Middle Eastern Student Alliance (MESA) hosted a bake sale fundraising event to celebrate Nowruz and support education for Iranian women on the Quad on March 20.

MESA junior leader Dhara Jobrani ’26 said by introducing members of the community to Iranian culture, MESA can also teach students about the unfortunate realities that women in Iran face.

“Sadly, education for women in Iran is very limited,” Jobrani said. “We need to raise money to support that, and we can also do that through simultaneously teaching other people about Nowruz and the culture and starting the new year off on a good foot.”

Micah Parr ’25 said the event was necessary to help both raise awareness surrounding the fundraiser’s cause and battle gender disparities.

“It’s a really important cause,” Parr said. “It’s a very important thing to raise money for [women] because throughout the world. There’s a lot of gender inequity, and by funding women’s education, we can possibly be able to combat that said inequity.”

Mattin Tasbihgoo ’27 said he finds it essential that Iranians continue practicing traditions such as Nowruz.

“Not just in Harvard-Westlake, but in all of Los Angeles because LA has one of the biggest Persian populations outside of Iran, it’s really important to keep our culture and tradition going, despite all the turmoil going on in Iran.” Tasbihgoo said.