The Duquesne Duke

Issue date: 2/12/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Joe Ball More than 500 people attended the fifth annual Saudi Open House, a cultural fair designed to introduce American students to Saudia Arabian culture.

Last Friday, more than 500 people filed into Duquesne University's Union Ballroom, but not to waltz in three quarter time.

The fifth annual Saudi Open House brought Saudi Arabian culture to American students, including food, art exhibitions and folk dances.

"This program began after Sept. 11, during the cultural breakdown between the two countries," said Mody Al-Khalaf, the director of cultural and social affairs for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. "Saudi Arabia decided they needed to send ambassadors to express our culture and show Americans who we really were."

The Saudi Open House, a program that began four years ago at the University of Pittsburgh, is just a fraction of the outreach the Saudi Embassy has enacted in the United States.

"This event is just one of the events that are going on in the United States," Al-Khalaf said. "More than 80 groups are operating all over the United States to produce programs like the one you see here."

While past open houses have had similar turnouts, Al-Khalaf said promoting Saudi culture has been an on-going process that began far before 9/11.

"The first programs in the United States began 30 years ago, when the first Saudi scholarship students came to the United States," Al-Khalaf said.

While these open houses were designed with the intention of presenting Saudi culture to American students, Nazi Lahlou, Assistant Director of the Saudi Open House Program, expressed the need for Saudi students to also be open to American culture.

"The whole idea is building bridges of understanding; it is a two way street," Lahlou said. "Our students need to be open to learning American culture, as well as being open to sharing their culture with American students."

Duquesne students in attendance were quick to voice their support of the program.

"I think it's awesome because it gives students the opportunity to experience another culture," Rachel Robison, a junior psychology major said. "I don't think a lot of people recognize that people are so different yet so the same at the same time."

"The program is fantastic. This really needs to be spread across the United States because Americans need to know what Saudi Arabia is really about," said Tyler Livermore, a senior history major.

Faisal Al-Malki, a freshman exchange student from Saudi Arabia, majoring in business management at Duquesne, expressed the success of the program compared to other open houses.

"It was great to see so many people able to experience our culture," Al-Malki said.

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