As Seen in The Fulcrum Written by Jessica Young, Fulcrum Staff

Released November 24, 2005

Opening Closed Doors

UNIVERSITIES ACROSS CANADA are raising awareness about the academic injustice in Iran. The Closed Doors campaign aims to make people aware that Bahá’ì students in Iran are being denied the right to higher education because of their religious beliefs. The University of Toronto, Carleton, and Queen’s University join the U of O in participating in this year’s Closed Door campaign. In light of the event, the Campus Association of Bahá’ì Studies (CABS) joined forces with CABS at Carleton University in hosting guest speaker Dr. Payam Ahkavan, who spoke about the discrimination in Iran.

photo by Julia Kilpatrick

On Nov. 17, in the Azrieli Theatre at Carleton University, the Harvard Law School graduate and international human rights expert talked for roughly two hours, focusing on the Iranian government and the injustices that occur in Iran and around the world. People of the Bahá’ì faith represent the largest minority in Iran, but are denied certain rights due to their religious beliefs. Hadi Toeg, chair of U of O’s CABS, attended the lecture and highlighted some interesting points. "I learned more details about Iran’s government, which is based mainly on the divine law of God … More information of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was described … I learned that in 1948 there were 65 members and today there is over 163 members. To me this is a great accomplishment and a cornerstone for the unity of mankind," said Toeg. Toeg’s fellow executive member Linda Nguyen, treasurer of U of O’s CABS, was also present at the lecture. "He [Ahkavan] suggested to us that basically the problem is a political issue, and the best way for us to begin this or deal with this is [by] writing letters," explained Nguyen. U of O’s CABS provides ready-made letters that can be sent to world leaders and organizations, calling for the end of discrimination in Iran. To complement Ahkavan’s speech, U of O CABS held a presentation on campus the following evening which provided general information about CABS and a question-and-answer period. Toeg and Nguyen gave a brief presentation with students from Waterloo, Algonquin, U of O, and Carleton in attendance. For more on this article, visit www. fulcrum.ca

David introduced a biographical sketch of Dr. Payam, also acknowledging Ottawa and Carleton CABS' collaboration to uphold this special talk

Above: David also thinking of an answer as Dr. Payam intentively listens to an audience member's question

Azrieli Theatre, Carleton U