2025 General Membership Meeting

        
MIDDLE EAST OUTREACH COUNCIL
MEOC General Membership Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 2, 2025, 8:30-9:30 PM EST, Via Zoom

Participants: Will Daniel (Littleton High School (CO); President), Abby Limmer (University of Arizona; Board Member), Sandra Makielski (North Kingston School Department (RI); Board Member), Chris Rose (Our Lady of the Lake University (TX); Treasurer), Joe Stanik (Independent Historian; Secretary), Zeina Azzam (MEOC President (2002-06)), Brooke Sassi (Denver Public Schools (CO)), Cheryl Neudaeur (Minneapolis College (MN)), Lucy Thiboutot (Concordia Language Villages (MN)), Farheen Rizvi (Human MEE), Ida Audeh (Colleague of Zeina Azzam)
 
Welcome:
President Will Daniel welcomed the meeting participants, led a round of introductions, and convened the meeting at 8:35 PM.
 
Approve and Accept Agenda for December 2, 2025 MEOC General Membership Meeting:
The agenda was accepted by the MEOC membership.
 
REPORTS/UPDATES:
 
President’s Report:

• Will announced the 2025 MEOC Book Awards. The press release for the Book Awards is posted below. Chis Rose, MEOC Book Awards Committee Co-Chair, thanked the chairs and members of the three subcommittees for their outstanding work. The subcommittee chairs were Angela Williams (Picture Book Category), Emily Bollinger (Youth Literature Category), and Alice Davidson (Youth Non-Fiction). Congratulations to all nominees, winners, and honorable mention authors!!!
• Will announced that Zeina Azzam and Chris Rose are recipients of the MEOC Lifetime Achievement Award. Zeina and Chris are former presidents of MEOC and have made significant contributions to the field of Middle East studies over several years. Their awards and biographies are posted below.

Alf Mabruk, Zeina and Chris!!!

• Will reported on MEOC’s participation in the NCTE Annual Conference (November 21-23, 2025) in Denver. Several conference attendees stopped by the MEOC table and filled out interest forms. MEOC was very positively received by attendees and was commended for providing teachers with balanced information regarding developments in the Middle East.  

 
Membership Report:

• Sandra Makielski, Membership Chair, reported that MEOC has nineteen individual, dues-paying members and three institutional members. Increasing the membership roll will be a high priority in 2026.

 
Institutions Report:

• Abby Limmer encouraged teachers to incorporate Global Reads titles in their classrooms. She also endorsed Rhonda Roumani’s Umm Kulthum: The Star of the East (MEOC 2025 Book Award Winner for Non-Fiction) for inclusion in the Global Reads program.
• Abby also reported that the outlook is not good, at present, for Title VI institutions due to federal funding cuts and the current political climate.  

 
Will adjourned the General Membership Meeting at 9:30 PM.
 
Very respectfully submitted,
 
Joseph T. Stanik
MEOC Secretary