The student organization is hoping to host the National Conference and Somali Week at the University of Minnesota in 2022.
By Shannon Doyle
For the second year in a row, COVID-19 has postponed the Somali Student Association (SSA) National Conference and Somali Week, events designed to educate campus communities about Somali culture and heritage.
The conference would have been the fourth annual event of its kind. In the past, it has been hosted by SSAs from other universities and involves one week each year when board members from around the U.S. and Canada visit the hosting school to network and hear from Somali business professionals and politicians.
University of Minnesota had its turn to host in 2020, with Ilhan Omar scheduled to speak. The conference was canceled due to the pandemic and rescheduled for 2021. This February, SSA announced it would be postponed for another year.
Somali Week happens every spring on campus. According to SSA president Mohamed Elmi, the week typically includes events like a trivia day, an art day and a fundraising day. The activities are open to students and community members outside of campus. At the week’s end is Somali Night, a night full of performances from Somali dancers, singers and poets, typically held at Northrop Auditorium or Bethel University.
According to Elmi, the number of Somali Night attendees has been growing over the years, reaching between 3,000 and 4,000 in 2019. He said the activities are not just for students, and that Somali community members from the Twin Cities largely outnumber students at the events.
The SSA has seen growth in its other events as well, Elmi said. In the fall of 2019, it hosted an open mic event in the Whole Music Club at Coffman Union and accidentally doubled the venue’s capacity of 119 people.
The University of Minnesota’s SSA, established in 1998, is one of the largest and longest-running in the country. Vice president of SSA, Ibtisam Mohamed, said the number of SSAs across the country is also growing. Its board members hear from more schools starting SSA groups every year.
Mohamed said planning for Somali Week usually starts months in advance, and the board has been mindful this year’s event might not happen.
“I had a feeling it was definitely not going to happen,” she said. “There’s no way it’s going to clear up and everything’s going to go back to normal that quick.”
Elmi and Mohamed have both only attended one Somali Week and Somali Night in 2019, but they both have fond memories of Somali Night in particular.
“I remember that day, there was a lot of snow, so we were worried that no one was going to come,” Mohamed said. “But just seeing the turnout and how the event finally went well after all that planning, that’s probably my favorite part, just seeing it behind the scenes.”
For Elmi, seeing and meeting Warsan Shire, a Somali poet who wrote a large part of Beyonce’s “Lemonade”, was a favorite memory.
“Somali Night and Somali Week is definitely the highlight for a lot of people, and there’s a lot of excitement that leads up to those weeks,” Mohamed said. “It’s the time where we’re able to engage a lot more with our community.”