"Whenever there is a minority panel there are never any Arab students on the panel," she says.

Students also say they are denied some of the benefits received by recognized minorities. Malick W. Ghachem '93 said he could not get summer grant money targeted for minorities in the sciences because he was told he did not qualify.

Rabie says the College administration does not give SAS enough attention.

She says the administration has been slow to respond to the group's queries about why the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations gave the society a grant of $60 this fall. The group received $700 for similar proposals last spring, Rabie says.

"I feel like we are not taken as seriously as I would like us to be," she says.

Dean of Students Archive C. Epps III has launched an official investigation of SAS' charges that their Foundation grant was mishandled.

Foundation Director S. Allen Counter expanded the committee to include more minority representatives, after SAS officers said the controversy over their grant may have been avoided if they had a voice on the committee.

A Comfortable Atmosphere

Although SAS has developed a reputation as a politically oriented organization, members say it is also a place to socialize with people of similar backgrounds.

Some students interviewed said SAS provides a comfortable social environment for them on a campus which at times can be less then understanding of their needs and perspectives.

Amar A. Hamoudi '96 says that although he has not encountered a lot of discrimination at Harvard, first-years often come to Harvard unprepared for the diverse cultures that exist in the students body.

"In the freshman class, when you come here it's taken for granted that everyone has the same Western high school [background]," Hamoudi says. "I hope its something people outgrow."

For Hamoudi, the society provides interaction with people with similar experiences.

But one student who does not belong to the society says he feels comfortable being Arab on his own because of his strong Arab identify. "I cannot divorce myself from my Arabness," says the student, who asked not to be identified. "A lot of Arab-Americans come here at a young age. In my case, my first year here was ninth grade. We speak Arabic at home."

Arab students who have grown up in the U.S. find themselves caught between two cultures, says Rabie. Consequently they feel like they don't quite fit in at Harvard or overseas.

"Here I'm never going to be in the mainstream--I'm an Arab. In an Arab country I look different because I've grown up in America," Rabie says. "I fit in with my friends who are split down the middle as well."

Al-Attar agrees. "What I like is being able to speak Arabic to may friends here," she says. "It feels good to be part of the group just to voice your opinions and your culture. All people know are the jokes."

Leith M. Masri '93 says he doesn't mind feeling different from his non-Arab classmates. "A lot of us are kind of half-breeds. We speak Arabic, but not as well as if we had grown up there," he says. "I don't mind feeling Arab--it's an important heritage. I think it's nice to have some part of your background be different from the norm."

Ghachem, whose parents are Tunisian, 'says he can reconcile the parts of his identity. "I'm proud to be American but I don't feel I have to choose between being American and being of Arab descent," he says.

Even though students like Masri and Ghachem say they are comfortable at Harvard, SAS leaders say the College administration must work harder to improve the atmosphere for Arab and Arab-American students on Campus.