UWM Graduation May 11, 2003

Between now and commencement on Sunday, UWM presents profiles of graduates who have overcome unusual circumstances to finish their degrees.

Iyad Afalqa

(BS, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

by Laura L. Hunt

After his experiences at UWM, Iyad Afalqa understands the power of a smile.

Afalqa, a Palestinian-American who came to Milwaukee in 1997, says it was on campus that he met the first Israeli to extend him friendship - Professor Yair Mazor, head of UWM's Jewish Studies program.

Born in northwest of Jerusalem, Afalqa will be only the second person of Palestinian descent to earn a certificate in Jewish Studies at UWM when he graduates May 11. "After living the first 21 years of my life as a Palestinian under the Israeli occupation," he says, "meeting Dr. Mazor was the first time I was faced with a smile from an Israeli." The former president of the UWM Muslim Student Association, Afalqa will begin medical school in Chicago in August with plans to become a physician. But he also has something else in mind. Taking classes from Mazor inspired Afalqa to minor in Jewish Studies, with the idea that cultural understanding would prepare him to help play a role in finding a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.

"I truly wanted to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict from the Israeli side," he says. "As an intellectual, I have to be objective despite the biases (I have) toward my people. It was a very enriching experience."

He took all his General Education Requirement (GER) courses from the Jewish Studies certificate program, he says. He also took Hebrew language courses with the hope of being able to one day communicate with both Arab and Israeli patients. Afalqa says that he lost two years of study at Al-Quds University when the Israeli government closed Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza and he was denied admission to Hebrew University. He moved to the U.S. at his parents' urging.

For many of the Jewish students in his classes, Afalqa was the first Palestinian they had ever met.

An activist for cultural awareness, he was one of the organizers of the Sept. 11 vigil on campus in both 2001 and 2002. At UWM, he launched the first Islam Awareness Week on a university campus in Wisconsin. He recently was named the "UWM Leader of the Year" by the Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mary Roggeman. By serving in the Muslim Student Association, he wanted to show that Islam is a religion that espouses peace and tolerance. "Many people of my community showed interest in pursing the same thing (as I did), inspired by these accomplishments," he says. UWM's Baccalaureate Commencement Ceremony is at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 11, at the U.S. Cellular Arena, 500 W. Kilbourn Ave. (For the first time, there will be two commencement ceremonies. The Graduate Commencement Ceremony is at 9 a.m.)

The 1,841 members of the Class of 2003 will be led into the auditorium by members of the Class of 1953, Wisconsin State College, Milwaukee. Three honorary degrees will be conferred at the Baccalaureate Ceremony: to Milwaukee businessman and philanthropist Michael Cudahy; American Studies authority Iwao Iwamoto of Chiba, Japan; and Ragunath A. Mashelkar, director of India's top science laboratories in New Delhi. Cudahy will give the commencement address.

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