Campus prayer room causes concern

FLINT, Mich. (RNS) — A room for peaceful reflection and prayer at the University of Michigan-Flint has become the focus of a months-long controversy because some students said Muslims took over the space.

Non-Muslims began complaining in November about Room 386 at the University Center – known as the Meditation Room. They said Muslim students were monopolizing the room and filling the tiny space with religious paraphernalia and anti-Israel literature.

The Muslim students countered that they were being unfairly targeted by “Islamophobia” and appealed to the university for religious tolerance.

Muslim students use the room to perform religious practices such as praying five times a day, as required by their faith.

“The room is really important to us also, (and) we don’t feel comfortable using it the way it is right now,” said Katie Segal, president of Hillel, a Jewish student group. “The inside and outside had a lot of anti-Zionist propaganda and pictures and paraphernalia.”