Person of the Year: Alexandra Saieh

When Alexandra Saieh, A&S '09, first traveled to Palestine to further her study of Arabic, she didn't know that much about the conditions there. Though her father is from Palestine, she had more closely identified with her mother's Latin American roots and had remained relatively removed from the conflict. The sights she witnessed while there, however, stayed with her and ignited in her a deep desire to become more involved.

She brought her ideas back with her to Boston College and gradually found ways to move them out of the classroom setting. Saieh began to engage the community by sponsoring a series of lectures and events and promoted dialogue on campus about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her passion for this particular issue broadened to encompass other rights issues on campus, such as the sexual health referendum and the academic freedom movement, and she channeled her energy to promote constructive dialogue regarding social and cultural issues through her work as the associate director of the Social and Cultural Issues Department in the Undergraduate Government of BC.

Saieh's dedication to issues of political and social justice have been directed to building campus enthusiasm for the causes she believes in. At the same time, her studies and character demonstrate an interest in the pursuit of genuine understanding of the complexity of these issues. Her dedication to what she believes in and her ability to move these issues beyond books and papers into conversations with the BC community and world at large serve as an example to students and faculty alike. For this reason, The Heights is proud to name Alexandra Saieh Person of the Year.

"Its really important for students to take their futures into their own hands, and by getting involved, students can find their own niche - to find out what they care about and to build stronger beliefs."

Since childhood, Saieh has always been focused on her goals, though her passions were directed more locally than on the issues to which she currently devotes herself. From the time she was six years old and through high school, she spent her free time with her first love: dance. Her life consisted of ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance, dance team, and studio classes, in addition to the usual demands of school, friends, and family.

At an early age, she learned how to manage her time and to continue to pursue and build upon her various interests. "There's always been something I've really focused on, but it wasn't necessarily a 'cause,'" Saieh said. While she decided to retire from dance upon beginning college, it didn't take long for her to find other outlets in which to channel her energy. She became involved in Barack Obama's presidential campaign, served as director for the BC chapter of Students for Barack Obama, and remained involved in election issues through the BC Votes campaign last fall.

Though her interest in political and social issues originally had a localized tenor, her experience in Palestine in the summer of 2007 shifted her focus to an international scale.

"I was always interested in the issue [of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] from an academic point, but I had different priorities before this point," Saieh said. "But then I just moved into more international politics and dedicated myself to raising awareness about those issues because I felt like it was what I was obliged to do."

Saieh said that while she had been aware of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza on an intellectual level, her personal experiences in the region transformed how she viewed the situation, as well as her own personal priorities. "The summer after my sophomore year, I went to Palestine to study Arabic, and just being there and witnessing the injustices that exist - I was really compelled to do something about it when I came back to BC," Saieh said. "Every year I have developed a better focus about what I want to do in life and what my focuses are."

Saieh began to organize lectures and events, beginning with a series last spring titled Palestinian Awareness week, in which she brought both Palestinians and Israelis to BC to discuss some of the social and human rights issues related to Palestinian issues. She returned to Birzeit in the West Bank the following summer and began collaborating with Eve Spangler, a professor in the sociology department, about a class Spangler would teach addressing the issues of human rights, development, and the historical and religious discourse in Israel and Palestine. Saieh suggested that the class include an experiential component in which the students could travel to the two lands.

"I was really inspired by how many service and immersion trips BC has to Latin America, and I thought it would be really good to do something like that in the Middle East," Saieh said. "It was the most rewarding experience I've ever had at BC because I was able to take my peers and show them everything I witnessed two summers ago. It was an incredible experience, and I couldn't ask for anything more."

Spangler said that Saieh was a tremendous asset both in the classroom and on the trip. "She has a sense of balance between the intellectual and the experiential. She knows the literature, is very grounded in scholarly standards, and is very capable of analyzing the material before her," Spangler said. "It was a tremendous gift to the class. It's really important to bring controversies on campus as it forces people to really think about the issues in the debate back and forth."

Some of the issues that Saieh became intimately involved in have been charged with controversy, but Saieh has not shied away from defending her beliefs. In addition to her involvement in organizing this year's Israeli Apartheid week, she has also been active in promoting the sexual health referendum and in coordinating the student response to the University's cancellation of the Bill Ayers event.

Raising the level of dialogue regarding such issues is important, Saieh said, even when the two sides of the conversation are polarized. "I just really want to encourage people to see the other extreme because it helps you build your own argument and helps you see the other side," Saieh said.

While some of her interest in rights issues have stemmed from her involvement in Palestinian issues, Saieh said her focus on social justice is rooted in her experience at Catholic schools throughout her life. "I've attended Catholic schools and have had a pretty strong tradition in social justice," Saieh said. "Even though I'm not religious, having that background has really made me want to give a voice to those I feel are voiceless at this point."

Saieh has figured prominently in dialogues across a spectrum of issues, often serving as a representative of a certain cause or of the University in general. "I think to a certain degree, and this is true of every BC student, that whenever you are out in a community identified with BC, you're an ambassador, and Alexandra has this wonderful combination of being really attentive and polite while still having her own message," Spangler said. "Alexandra is always interested in what people have to say and what she can learn. I think she is enormously effective and a tremendous ambassador to BC. You only have four years, so I feel like you should take as much advantage as possible. You have the rest of your life to sleep."

In addition to her work in human rights issues, Saieh is also involved in the SACI of the UGBC, through which she puts on events such as the Unity dinner and BC Votes. She has also served as the co-president of the Arab Student Association at Boston College, as the political science editor of Al Noor, the undergraduate student research journal on Middle Eastern issues, and as a peer advisor in the international studies department. Consider that she is also a senior working on her thesis and enjoying her final days as an undergraduate, and one might wonder how she finds enough hours in the day.

"I wake up at 6:45 every day because I have class at 8 a.m.," Saieh said. "The other day I got to Hillside before it even opened, and I was like, 'Oh my God, what am I doing.'"

Despite her early classes and late night lectures and events, Saieh said she doesn't feel like she has really missed out on anything. "Honestly, I feel like your undergraduate years are the time to be involved as much as possible. I really enjoy what I do, so I really don't view it as a sacrifice at all. I really have so much fun being involved in what I do - it's so much more fun than studying," Saieh said. "I would encourage people to venture out of their comfort zone because when you feel really uncomfortable, it challenges preconceived notions you have."

Saieh will be graduating with a major in international studies and a minor in Arabic studies. She wants to perform international politics and human rights work and plans to attend the University of London where she will be getting her Masters degree in gender studies with a focus on the Middle East.

This summer, she will be attending Middlebury College, where she will participate in an intensive Hebrew program to build on her two years of Hebrew study at BC. She wants to improve her language skills so that she will be able to read Hebrew literature and better understand the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I just think that language is really the best way to communicate and understand another person's cultures. I really want to start reading Hebrew - I think that's the best way to understand Israeli society," Saieh said.

Considering how vocal she has been regarding her position on particular issues, some might be surprised by Saieh's willingness to engage with segments that have traditionally been characterized as the opposition. Saieh said that she tries to make a point to go to counter-events and remain open to ideas with which she might not initially agree.

"Alexandra's quietness, calm, respectfulness, and willingness to listen across differences really sets the tone, and that's the baseline for fruitful conversation," Spangler said. "She's wonderful, and she really does have that quality of engaging with the world. For me, what's critical is that she really models this wonderful interception of intellectuality and passion."

Saieh serves as a model for students to use their time at BC not only to develop their intellectual pursuits, but also to discover what drives them, what challenges them, and what they really believe in. "I definitely think that providing students with the ability to get involved in something and pursue their passion is what a university is for," Saieh said. "What everyone should fight for is the right to pursue their passion, especially at college. If you aren't going to do it at college, when will you do it?"