Mother of three and engineer, Shehlla Khan, has been a top PATH leader on our environmental jobs campaign. Shehlla and many of the other women at her mosque wanted a female-only swimming time, to exercise and help their children learn to swim. As it turned out, this issue resonated with many other women, for a variety of reasons and regardless of religious background. PATH took the issue to the Columbia Association (CA), who agreed a women’s swimming time, 2 days a week, would be a valuable service to the community. After a newspaper article on the campaign, hate groups flooded the paper and CA with calls and letters.
On a cold, rainy night just 2 days before Thanksgiving, more than 50 PATH leaders stood behind Shehlla as she eloquently told the CA board what the women’s swim time meant to her, her children, and many other women. An emotional board voted unanimously to continue the swim time for women and children. That night, Shehlla said, “There is a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment these days. People are being divided along religious lines. That makes what PATH has accomplished here even more important. It is rare to see a whole group, of all different backgrounds, stand together like this to make the community better and to help part of the group succeed.”