From a small reading to a Student Jury.
This is where you can find out what's on.
Each member on the panel made a compelling case trying to win the verdict of the student jury.
Campusalam in partnership with City Circle put on an innovative event to explore the impact of government funding on the British Muslim community. The event served as a critical examination of intellectual arguments as well as practical experiences and informed opinions of leading figures.
The format was a courtroom-inspired ‘student jury’; providing ample room for open dialogue and critical thinking, as is the aim of the Campusalam Project. Four bright students, active in their communities and on their campuses made up the jury: Ahmed Butt, Nafisa Amanat, Salman Waqar and Lubaaba al-Azami.
They called to the stand and questioned a diverse panel of five Expert Witnesses: Mohammad Ali - Entrepreneur and Founder of the Islam Channel; Riaz Patel - Diplomat & Civil Servant; Omar Faruk - Civil Servant, Leading Counsel & founder of Eco-Muslim; Arun Kundnani - Academic & Researcher for Institute of Race Relations, and Daud Abdullah – Assistant Secretary General of Muslim Council of Britain. The audience was made up of students and professionals from various fields and diverse backgrounds.
Amidst the serious demeanour and powerful presentations there was still room for light heartedness and even laughter. Each expert witness provided a different perspective on the issue based on his experience. The jurors stayed the course, putting some very intelligent questions, ideas and analysis to the witnesses. After a 25-minute deliberation, they returned to the courtroom and delivered a strong and detailed verdict.
The Verdict
The student jury’s verdict was [not verbatim], "The Muslim community cannot avoid government funding considering the social problems facing our communities. However, we have some concerns around PVE funding, particularly in how it is packaged. Most of the PVE projects have in actual fact more to do with social cohesion, therefore they should be labeled appropriately. In all cases we should avoid singling out the Muslim community as a source of threat to British society."
Audience Vote and Evaluation
The audience also had the opportunity to vote on the question, "Are there strings attached to government funding?" A majority of the audience initially supported the statement, "It depends." At the end of the debate a slight shift was seen toward the vote of "Yes, there are strings attached." The most convincing vote was found in the event evaluations, where an overwhelming majority of the audience agreed that the event helped them to discuss this controversial topic more constructively.
Were you at the ‘String Attached’ Student Jury?
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