Chaudhry will mentor students, lead activities

CC Muslim chaplain Ayesha Siddiqua, right, and her husband Rumee Ahmed.

Canadian-born Ayesha Siddiqua Chaudhry, Connecticut College’s first Muslim chaplain, never questioned her Islamic faith until she visited Damascus, Syria as a college student studying abroad.

Until then, she covered her face with a veil, something she had done since high school after reading a conservative translation of the Koran. She often felt the need to defend her choice — a common but not universal custom for Muslim women — and explain why she did not regard it as oppressive.

In Damascus “I saw all these Muslims being Muslim in different ways,” she said, realizing she did not need to be so strict in her observance. She now wears only a head scarf. “It was not a way I had thought of Islam before — I realized that human beings are all individuals and there is a difference between religion and culture. Our differences really are a strength, not a weakness,” she said.

It is that compassion for difference that Chaudhry brings to the Connecticut College campus. She joins four other inter-faith chaplains who are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Unitarian.

Chaudhry sees her role as part counselor, part mentor and part educator.

“My main goal is building community,” she said. “I want students to feel comfortable in their living environment so they can ask questions and figure out who they are. In a residential setting like a college campus it’s easy for them to feel isolated and in the minority.”

With the growth of international students on campus and the departure of former dean of religious and spiritual life Patrice Brodeur several years ago, the need for a Muslim chaplain has increased. There are 14 students at CC who have identified themselves as Muslim.

“College and university campuses across the country used to be composed of Judeo-Christian Americans, but now we’re in a period of growth and change,” said Claudia Highbaugh, dean of religious and spiritual life. Mirroring the national trend, she added, “we’re trying to increase the visible support for students across all religions represented on campus.”

Chaudhry, who is working on her doctorate degree in Islamic studies from New York University, started her new position earlier this month. Her husband, Rumee Ahmed, is the first Muslim chaplain at Brown University. He accompanies her to CC once a week and the two work as a team on both campuses.

A native of Toronto born to Pakistani parents, Chaudhry hopes to host a dinner on campus to mark the end of Ramadan, a Muslim holiday marked by a month of fasting, and to begin to get to know students’ needs and expectations.

“College is such a great time for reflection and discovery. Students have faculty, books and so many resources available,” she said. “I want to help them answer the tough questions about who they are and who they want to be.”