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Fresno State Excuses Muslim Students From Class After Protest Concerns

fresnostate.edu website

Muslim students at Fresno State have been excused from classes today following concerns about nationwide anti-Muslim protests. The President of the college made the decision at the requests of students.

The Saudi Student Association at Fresno State went to the college President Joseph Castro late Thursday evening to say they were worried about protests that are rumored to occur around the nation today and tomorrow.

President Castro says the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, which sponsors the college’s Saudi students, first tipped the students off to the potential for protests and the students brought their worries to the school.

“We made a judgment that it would be in the best interest of our Muslim students and our campus to give them the opportunity to be excused today. So it was up to our Muslim students to come or not to come based on whether they felt safe or not,” Castro said.

The school does not know how many Muslim students it has or how many elected to stay home from school.

President Castro says there is no Fresno specific threat or known protest that promoted them to make the call.

Jeffrey Hess is a reporter and Morning Edition news host for Valley Public Radio. Jeffrey was born and raised in a small town in rural southeast Ohio. After graduating from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio with a communications degree, Jeffrey embarked on a radio career. After brief stops at stations in Ohio and Texas, and not so brief stops in Florida and Mississippi, Jeffrey and his new wife Shivon are happy to be part Valley Public Radio.