by Cassandra L. Hernandez, College of Alameda student
“Salaam” or “peace be upon you” is a common greeting in many Islamic countries. Here at College of Alameda, it means just that and a supportive community waiting for you! SALAAM is a learning community aimed at helping students from Middle Eastern, Southwest Asian, and North African cultures. SALAAM offers similar assistance to EOPS, but that is because SALAAM and many other support student systems are part of EOPS. If students are already part of EOPS, they are more than welcome—and are encouraged—to join SALAAM.
SALAAM was founded in the Spring of 2022 by Fathia Mohamed, who noticed that many students from Middle Eastern and North African cultures needed some assistance. While SALAAM aims to help students academically and financially, it also helps students adjust to the new customs and culture of the Western world. In fact, SALAAM was modeled after similar programs like UMOJA and PUENTE, which aim to help students from African and Latinx cultures respectively, adjust at College of Alameda. Fathia had a conversation with several students who had been struggling and noticed a common thread of cross-cultural conflicts. These new students voiced that they needed help adjusting to certain social customs and the English language. Fathia had discussed with Louie Martirez—one of the coordinators of EOPS—and had asked to start up SALAAM to help these struggling students. Now it is Fall of 2024 and SALAAM is still going strong and has many students enrolled in the support program.
SALAAM has a large female population which Fathia says provides a "sense of community for the female students,” and lets everyone grow together. Similar to EOPS, they provide financial assistance such as housing assistance, transportation, food assistance, and child care. With the implementation of SALAAM, there has been an increase in dental assistants and transfer students. If you’re interested in those opportunities, consider joining SALAAM! The community is so inviting that many students have switched their home campus to College of Alameda because SALAAM is exclusively at CoA!
You can find their office in Building A. They are open Monday-Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm during the Fall and Spring semesters. Their front desk number is (510) 748-2258. You can also meet up with Fathia Mohamed for counseling purposes. Her email is fmohamed@peralta.edu.