Attendees lined up to recieve henna tattoos.
Students ate food from Pita Thyme, a local Lebanese Mediterranean restaurant.
On April 19, the Southwest Asian North African Society (SWANA), Muslim Student Association (MSA), and South Asian Society (SAS) co-hosted an Eid celebration, which marks the end of Ramadan. Students gathered in the Underwood Room to enjoy music, dancing, Lebanese food from a local restaurant, and a henna artist.
Leena Rustum ’25, Co-Head of SWANA, shared the importance of the event to the Andover community, and how the three groups hoped to create an upbeat and inclusive environment for attendees of all different backgrounds.
“As one of the co-presidents of Southwest Asian North African Society (SWANA), we hosted this event in collaboration with Muslim Student Association (MSA) and South Asian Society (SAS), because we thought it was important to give our celebrating members a space to celebrate Eid in a festive environment. As for the larger Andover community, it is important for us to expose the importance of Eid to those who are not familiar with it. Celebrating with the whole school educates those who are not aware of the holiday’s importance in the Muslim community and gives Muslims on campus, especially boarders, an opportunity to celebrate with a fun and loving community,” said Rustum.
She continued on to reflect on how welcoming the event was, offering an opportunity for students to explore her Arabic culture through dance.
“My favorite part of the event was trying to teach people how to Dabke, which is a really fun traditional Arabic dance. Although it was just fun seeing everyone try and learn every step of the dance, it was my favorite part of the night because it showed how immersed people were in our culture, which made me happy. Seeing everyone have so much fun and finally getting the dance down and getting so excited made me proud to see what a welcoming community we had at that moment,” said Rustum.
Attendee Sahaila Cotton ’24 reflected on celebrating Eid both at school and at home, sharing how festive the students are at Andover. She noted the henna artist as being one of the highlights of the night.
“I celebrate every year. I’ve been observing Ramadan since I was eight, so Eid is always a special time for me and all Muslims really, but on campus it’s always fun. In the past, we’ve met in [the Office of Community and Multicultural Development] (CaMD) with good food and music, and it’s a great time to spend with friends and get to know everybody. [My favorite part of the event was] definitely having the celebration in Underwood [Room], it’s just a really easy way to go around the room and sit down with new people. The henna artist we had, we’ve had her come for a few years now, she always does an amazing job,” said Cotton.
Aeva Cleare ’26 shared Cotton’s excitement for the henna artist, mentioning how she connected with other students over the events.
“[My favorite part of the event was] probably the henna station. In line, I got to talk to people in line and I heard about when they last got henna done, and it was really cool. Also, I got to take a fun picture of it with Becky [Koleth ’26] and Ashiq [Kibria ’26] and a couple others,” said Cleare.
Looking back on the event, Rustum hopes that attendees gained a better appreciation for Eid and engaged with each other in meaningful ways.
“I hope people just understand the true meaning and importance of Eid with this event. Some other MSA, SAS, and SWANA members and I gave a brief speech about the importance of this event, and I was really happy to see everyone so engaged with our event and talk. I can tell people learned a lot from this event, and that’s all I could ask for,” said Rustum.
