The increased visibility and political action of SAS has seen results recently. Two weeks ago, SAS was given a permanent seat on the Foundation's Student Advisory Committee along with several other groups. The society is also a member of the recently formed Coalition for Diversity, a group of nine minority groups calling for a program of University-wide reforms.

Through the coalition, the group hopes to promote the hiring of more Arab faculty, the expansion of an Arab studies curriculum and an increased recruitment of the number of Arabs in the student body, according to Rabie.

In addition to SAS' efforts, a group formed last semester with the expressed goal of fighting discrimination against Arabs. The 17 members of Harvard's chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a national organization with chapters of 40 to 50 campuses nation-wide, will try to respond to incidents of stereotyping, according to chapter founder Naseem T. Tuffaha '94.

This new group is also planning programs to educate the campus about the diversity of the Arab community and to sensitize students about issues of concern to Arabs and Arab-Americans.

Education is the only solution in the longrun, says Tuffaha, and toward that end the fledgling chapter is planning to have speakers come to Harvard later this spring.

Some students say the best education Arab students can give to their peers is simply be being at Harvard and by interacting with their classmates on a daily basis.

Not a 'Designated Minority'

Despite the fact that students say they feel stereotyped as an ethnic group, they say that Harvard does not give Arabs and Arab-Americans the same benefits it gives other minority groups.

The Harvard admissions office does not track how many Arab or Arab-American students enroll in the University, according to Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70.

Lewis says federal regulations do not require that Arab students be accounted for, and counting students of Arab descent would be extremely difficult because they often come from countries all over the world.

"It falls in the category of students who are distinctive in one way but whom we just don't have a handle on." Lewis says.

Without the admissions office assistance, tracking Arab students is a difficult process, Rabie says. Consequently, SAS spends a lot of time trying to attract new members, according to Rabie.

"Targeting people for membership is difficult. A lot of our energy is spent finding out who is Arab," she says. Frustration has prompted the group to consider even inefficient means of recruitment. "We've thought of scanning the phone book for Arab-sounding names," she says.

Some Arab and Arab-American students say the small size of there community at Harvard and not being a "designated minority" contribute to feelings that Arabs at Harvard are not a bona fide minority group.

As a result, Rabie says Arab students--and the SAS in particular--are often excluded from minority events and discussions.