For years Ismaili students have continued their education at Atlanta’s prestigious Emory University and its feeder school, Oxford College of Emory University in Oxford, Georgia.
While the Ismaili tradition at Emory has had highlights in the past, and will certainly have more in the future, 2017 was a monumental year for Ismaili students graduating from Emory. Not only is it our Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee, where excellence in education has been emphasized since he became Imam, but it is also the year in which three Ismaili students have received the Emory 100 Senior Honorary, an award recognizing Emory students who “are deeply committed to their beliefs, pursuits, or passions, and have made outstanding contributions to Emory through academics, athletics, leadership, and volunteerism.”
Receiving the top 100 distinction for the Class of 2017 are Naveed Noordin, Karishma Ratnani, and Areesh Abdulla, All have served Emory in multiple capacities, with the occasional intersection.
Naveed Noordin
In addition to receiving the Emory 100 Senior Honorary, Naveed was one of four Emory students in the Class of 2017 to be admitted into the Emory Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed upon him a vote of his peers. His academic and extracurricular resume is exhaustive and full of different contributions of his time and service on campus.
He was on the freshman Welcoming Council toward the end of his first year (for the next year’s arriving class), founder of both the cricket and chemistry clubs at Oxford his sophomore year, president of the Academic Honor Society Phi Eta Sigma, a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society his junior year, and president his senior year, and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa for his academic achievement (3.95 GPA and above) during his junior year. Also at Emory during his junior year, he founded the Health Care Club at Emory where Emory students volunteered to do health demonstrations (washing hands, brushing teeth, etc.) at local schools, and he acted in the Emory Pakistani Students Association’s major campus play, Jhalak, twice as well. The combination of his academics, leadership, engagement, and overall well-roundedness is what he feels won him the award.
On being named to the Emory 100 Senior Honorary, he says, “Allahumdullilah—it’s a great achievement to have received this award.” He didn’t do the work to get recognized, but it is “a positive achievement" that “boosts my morale, my confidence” and provides him with more ambition to achieve more. The honor means the Emory 100 recipients will forever be ambassadors for the Emory Class of 2017. They will make decisions about future Emory 100 Senior Honorary recipients on behalf of the Emory Alumni Association.
Karishma Ratnani
Any accomplishments that Naveed didn’t achieve on campus, Karishma likely did. From the beginning of her four years at Emory, she knew that she wanted to do something to improve the quality of life for her fellow students on campus.
As a member of Student Government, she planned Experience Shuttles where students could receive free rides to various events and attractions throughout Atlanta (the Mall, Stone Mountain, etc.). She also spearheaded the effort to expand the use of students’ Emory Eagle Dollars at various off-campus restaurants. She then appointed a successor to be in charge of her dining efforts once she was ready to move on.
Karishma also became the President of Emory Pakistani Students Association (PSA) during her junior year, which she says was “a good way to understand the Pakistani side of my identity.” Her goal was to make the Association as big on campus as the Indian Students Association. She, Naveed, and Areesh all worked together on producing the play, Jhalak, successfully.
Throughout her time at Emory, Karishma was also a tutor at lower income schools around Atlanta, a research assistant in the classroom, an Emory retreat leader, and a career management coach for other students.
“Hazar Imam always says, ‘I want to improve the quality of life for my Jamat,' and I want to do that as well. I want to be part of that vision. Everything I do stems from that,” she says.
Areesh Abdulla
Of the three Ismaili students who were named to the Emory 100, Areesh is the only one who went to high school in the Atlanta area. His brother, Asad, received the award a few years before him, which paved the way for him to achieve great things once he arrived at the university.
He joined the PSA as a freshman and remained involved for all four years that he was on campus, eventually becoming President as a senior. He was named the College Council President of the Year for his commitment to PSA. One reason he received this award was for the success of Jhalak, an annual play that the PSA holds as its flagship event every year. The club donated around $1,100 to charity as a result of the play’s success, he said.
Areesh was also in the Muslim Students Association for two years. His dual involvement in the two clubs enriched his cultural, social, and spiritual sides, he said. He also became became president of the Emory Consulting Club, which operates out of Emory’s Goizueta Business School, during his senior year as well. He also played a role in preparing minority job seekers to find companies and careers that fit them.
“I feel like service and helping others is something that’s really engrained in the Ismaili community. It’s almost second nature for us Ismailis to come to colleges and universities and be involved,” he said. “It’s in our nature to do that, right?” he asks rhetorically.
With that being said, it’s no surprise that Naveed, Karishma, and Areesh, consider one another as good friends; they text regularly; they broke the news of receiving the Emory 100 to one another; and then went to all the events, banquets, and ceremonies as a trio. Their accomplishments reflect the excellence in education we aspire to as a community, and is an inspiration to others to emulate their achievements.
