March 2007
The Persian Initiative
By Alex Selim

It might have happened below most people’s radars between the last few weeks of last semester and the beginning of this one, but for some students it was a major coup.

Starting in January 2007, SAIS officially inaugurated its first Persian language course.

According to Dean Harrington, the decision was the result of “the synergy of a whole group of students and the administration that was looking into it.”

The “group of students” was led by Chris Forster, a first year Strategic Studies student who was preparing to take the Russian proficiency test and who for personal and professional reasons wanted to learn Persian as his second language at SAIS.

Chris set out trying to find like-minded students by word of mouth and via e-mail. When he began his search, students and faculty told him that people have been trying to get a Persian language class for years and it would only lead to a dead end. But this didn’t discourage Chris.

After bringing up the issue in the Dean’s Forum and finding Dean Einhorn enthusiastic about the prospect of a Persian language class at SAIS, Chris posted a message in the November 22 SGA “Spaminator” e-mail that caught the eye of Dean Harrington. He contacted Chris the next day and told him if he had five people interested in the class they could get the ball rolling.

Chris received twelve responses from his posting in the “Spaminator” and took a handful of the interested students to meet with Dean Harrington. Dean Harrington then discussed the issue with Marco Campos, the director of language studies, and later brought it up during the Dean’s meeting on December 6, where they officially approved the class.

The only hurdle left was finding a teacher, and when Professor Campos found Dariush Dehghan, the Persian class became a reality. On January 19, Dean Harrington officially announced that SAIS would offer Novice Persian (Farsi) during the spring 2007 semester.

(The class is called Persian because the more familiar “Farsi” is one particular dialect of the Persian language.)

There are no guarantees about the permanence of the Persian class. Next year’s classes are always contingent on the responses of this year. In addition, at this point Persian is not a proficiency language and is only offered to students who have passed proficiency in another language. Even so, this small victory shows how powerful SAIS students can be when they exercise their voice.

“There was a perceived need by the administration and a positive response by the students,” said Dean Harrington, explaining how events developed so quickly.

Dean Harrington warns that students should not expect changes to happen as quickly all the time. However, he noted that many improvements at SAIS have come about through student initiatives, including the wireless internet in the buildings and the bidding system (which is now under review due to student comments).

“The bottom line is to speak up,” Dean Harrington said. “Most reasonable requests we try to at least look at and give favorable attention to.”

Chris’s story is not unique at SAIS. I’m mentioning it because he’s my housemate I had to hear about the lack of a Persian class every day. (Also, as his housemate, I am vulnerable to all manner of attacks in my sleep.) There are plenty of type A personalities to go around with the power and drive to make things happen around here.

Even so, I still hear a lot of griping about facilities that SAIS doesn’t have or whining from people who are disillusioned by academic programs that haven’t lived up to their standards or expectations. The cynicism often wears me down.

As an editor of the Observer, a lot of people come to me wanting to publish stories about what’s wrong with the school. As much as the Observer is meant to be a public service to the SAIS community, I would rather use the newspaper’s space to report what students are doing to make the school better.

Dean Harrington’s message is clear. The deans are here for us and are willing to listen to our concerns. The editors of the Observer have met with many of deans over the past month and have found them to be genuinely interested in students’ ideas and absolutely committed to accommodating their needs as much as is reasonably possible.

However, they are there to help us help ourselves. At the end of the day, this is our university and if we don’t take ownership of it, by taking the initiative to fix the problems that we can fix, no one will.

If we can’t make a difference in this microcosm called SAIS, how can we even think about changing the world?

Alex Selim is a 1st year MA candidate concentrating in Middle East Studies