Meet the Chinese Venezuelans of Hong Kong

Tommy Fung, Johnny Chan, and Desmond Yuen discuss their evolving identities as people with dual and intersectional identities, as they grapple with how their personal journeys are intertwined with the changing state of the world.

Unearthing a Ray of Hope as the Ominous Omicron Ravages Hong Kong

While every person takes their own route and faces a different struggle, we all end up at the top, watching the sun set over our beloved city in a dignified glow. For many of us, we just want to hold onto this light a little longer.

Female NYUAD Footballer Makes Debut on Men’s Team

Megan Marzolf makes history as the first female football player to represent the men’s team in an intercollegiate competition.

StuGov Elections — Meet the Candidates

With the upcoming Student Government Elections, there has been a growing interest in the candidates and their campaigns. The Gazelle decided to sit down with some of them and get to know them on a more informal level.

LOA Stories: Rejuvenating and Resetting

For Danial Tajwer, a leave of absence was an opportunity to rejuvenate and recover from a difficult year.

LOA Stories: New Experiences and New Understandings

When Insun Woo’s family moved to Istanbul, she decided it was the perfect time to take time off from university and try out life in a new city, experiencing “a practice of life after graduation.”

Ramadan Kareem at NYUAD

The beginning of April marks the beginning of Ramadan in 2022, NYU Abu Dhabi respectively accommodates fasting students.

Spotlight – Mary Collins

Singer-songwriter and senior student Mary Collins performed an opening set for the Mary McBride Band when they played at NYUAD. We catch up with the musician to learn more about her musical journey and career.

LOA Stories: Prioritizing Oneself and Mental Health

Taking a leave of absence can be daunting at times, but it could also be the right time to get back in touch with your wellbeing.

LOA Stories: Reconnecting with Family, Reorienting the Future

Taking a leave of absence is often shrouded in mystery. This week, the spotlight is on Cece Kim, who took a semester to reconnect with family and redirect her career trajectory.

Misdiagnosis, Mistreatment, Miscommunication: Students Report Poor Experiences at the Health Center

Students report unpleasant experiences with Health Center practitioners, ranging from feeling invalidated to getting misdiagnosed and mistreated. The Gazelle spoke to affected students as well as Dr. Virji to investigate further.

MAWARIDARABIYYA – A Comprehensive Arabic Learning Platform Launched by NYUAD Lecturer

Senior Lecturer of Arabic, Nasser Isleem, has launched a one-stop website that provides authentic learning materials and other resources for learning Arabic. The Gazelle spoke to him to find out more.

Breaking: Capstone Could Introduce Changes to Provide Flexibility

In an exclusive email to The Gazelle, Vice Provost Chuck Grim revealed that potential changes could be made to the capstone project starting next fall, pending final decisions.

Spotlight — Farah Shamout

NYUAD professor and alumna Farah Shamout is among a team of researchers that are looking into using artificial intelligence for breast cancer detection. Read on to find out more about this potentially revolutionary technology.

Blind: NYUAD’s Friend-Matching App

After experiencing the difficulties of making friends during the pandemic, a student created a friend matching app in hopes of making social connections more accessible.

Putting Humanity at the Center of Psychiatric Wards

Internment at a psychiatric ward can be a harrowing experience with nothing to show for it. Patients must be treated with care and dignity for their mental illness to actually improve.

Hong Kong’s Isolationist Covid-19 Policy is Bringing the City Down

With its ridiculously long quarantine and ban on foreign visitors, Hong Kong’s “Zero Covid” policy is taking a serious toll on the city and its residents.

So Long, My Beloved City: Musings of an Exile at Home

My best friend asked me if I still saw Hong Kong as my home, and I said that I still do, in a way. Although a person can have multiple homes, they can only live in one at a time. Right now, my heart is in Abu Dhabi.

NYUAD (Finally) Gives Official Updates on IDBE Efforts and Campus Climate Survey

Revisiting NYUAD’s commitment to equity and diversity since The Gazelle’s last report, we explore the institution’s progress towards the diversity and equity goals it set for itself.

Spotlight – May Alhajeri

NYUAD alumna May Alhajeri has been selected to represent the UAE as a UN youth delegate. The Gazelle spoke to her about her journey and aspirations in an exclusive interview.

Meet Class of 2025's First Year Rep: Firas Darwish

“We’re designing this year for you.” — First Year Rep Firas Darwish on conviction, mission and vision.

Is NYUAD Still Need Blind?

Removal of a line on website saying admissions are need blind stirred commotion among the NYUAD community. We speak to Admissions to understand more.

Striving Towards Normalcy: RTC Townhall Summarized

Important updates about the upcoming semester were shared in the latest Return to Campus Town Hall. We bring you a summary.

Top 10: News Desk’s Year in Review

As we look forward to a new semester, the News Desk brings you a list of the ten most significant news pieces from the last academic year, both at NYUAD and beyond.

Remote Plus Gave Me a Gap Year I Couldn’t Have Expected

When I initially started my gap year I did not expect to gain much from it. However, by shifting focus and undertaking meaningful activities, both at home and remotely from NYUAD, it turned out to be one of the most remarkable years of my life.

Call Me By My Name: I am Charlotte. I am Sum Yi. But call me Charlie.

While forcing children to forgo their birth names for Western ones diminishes cultural identity and ingrains Western hegemony, it is also irksome and even offensive when someone asks me what my “real name” is.

Hong Kong’s Dying Democracy: Portraits of a City

As Hong Kong’s autonomy comes under threat with increased crackdowns on freedom of speech and expression, we speak to five Hong Kongers to understand what they think of their changing city.

Vice Chancellor in Conversation with The National’s Editor-in-Chief

Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann interviewed Editor-in-Chief of the National, Mina Al-Oraibi in last week’s roundtable series. Find out about her personal journey and important skills in journalism here.

The Legacy of the Jewish Learning Fellowship at NYUAD and Beyond

The Jewish Learning Fellowship was set up to provide students a space for interfaith dialogue centering Jewish perspectives. We look into the origins of the initiative and how it marks the recent public recognition of the UAE’s Jewish community.

“We Want Study”: A Malayasian Refugee School Copes with Remote Learning

The Gazelle speaks to stakeholders, including a NYUAD student, at Sharon Education Community Center, a refugee school in Malaysia.

The New Student Government: Journeys and Visions

The newly elected Student Government for 2021-2022 was recently introduced to the student body. We spoke to the incoming members to learn about their motivations behind contesting and plans as representatives of the student body.

Spotlight – Vera Ciocca

The Gazelle speaks to the rising musical star Vera Ciocca, Class of 2021, to discuss the release of her third single and music video as part of her capstone project.

One Campus, Many Tongues: Language Diversity at NYU Abu Dhabi

Acknowledging the limited academic lingualism at NYUAD, students and faculty work to create more language learning opportunities through student interest groups and newly proposed courses.

“I heard gunshots near my home”: Living in Post-Coup Myanmar

Students from Myanmar share what it is like living amid unrest, violence and oppression as a result of the recent coup.

Athletics Department Hosts Week of Women in Sports

This week, the Athletics Department will be hosting a week of programming to celebrate and encourage women in sports.

Business and Finance Society’s Student Investment Fund

The Business and Finance Society pioneered the region’s first Student Investment Fund this semester. We spoke to their leaders to find out more about it.

NYUAD Domestic Student Advisory Board Launches to Amplify Local Voices

The DSAB hopes to provide a safe space for UAE residents to amplify their concerns to the university administration and simultaneously bridge the gap between international and domestic students.

Spotlight — Sara Pan Algarra

NYU Abu Dhabi graduate Sara Pan Algarra was recently selected as a Hillary Rodham Clinton Global Challenges Scholar. We catch up with her to understand her work and research in education policy.

Power, Resistance and Centering Palestinian Voices: The Colonization of Palestine

This semester, a course that is centered around the Palestinian struggle is being offered for the first time at NYU Abu Dhabi. The lecturer and students in the class share what this new course means to them.

NYU Abu Dhabi Professors Develop Arabic Thesaurus

Two professors have developed an Online Readability Leveled Arabic Thesaurus that provides a novel way of searching for Arabic words, their related forms and English equivalents.

Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning Opens at NYU Abu Dhabi

The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning opens amidst rapidly transforming challenges in higher education brought by Covid-19.

Celebrating a Decade of the Abu Dhabi Inter-University Sports League

As ADISL looks back on its ten year history, participants reflect on the establishment, growth and impact of the league.

Spotlight — Peer-Minded

Peer-Minded is a peer-to-peer mental health support network for UAE students founded by NYUAD alumni. What impact could their work have?

What was the Worst Year in History?

NYUAD’s History Program hosted an open house, inviting professors to discuss their picks for the worst year in history.

Disrupted Lives: How did two sisters live 30 years without identities?

Two undocumented sisters who were born and raised in Hong Kong share what it is like growing up without identities and their journey to regain a sense of security.

Everything We Know About Spring 2021 Housing

From A3 and A4 to off-campus housing, we bring you an overview of what living options are going to look like in the spring.

TASHAN Hosts Discussion on Religious Fundamentalism

TASHAN hosts a panel on religious fundamentalism in South Asia. We talked to TASHAN’s Vice President Kainat Zakarya to find out more about this pressing political issue.

A Glimpse Into Life on Campus in the Spring

The Student Government Programming Board shares what campus life could look like as Remote Plus continues into Spring 2021.

What Happens to an Intercollegiate Sports Team during a Pandemic?

Without practices or games, NYUAD sports teams are getting creative with highline meetups, esports initiatives and Zoom calls. Athletes and coaches describe how they are adjusting, building connections and keeping team morale high.

Another Year, Another Octave

NYU President Emeritus John Sexton gives his annual talk to the NYU Abu Dhabi community, sharing personal anecdotes and words of advice.

Student Assistantship Reforms: Better Payment Cycles and Higher Wages

The student assistantship model has been updated to include monthly timesheets and an increase in wages. Will these changes be enough to support financially vulnerable students?

First-Years Dance it Off To Battle the Blues

Ecstatic first years bring the entire class together in a fun dance video put together by Aya Adib and Yerkebulan Imanbayev.

Kilna — The Beirut Aid NGO found by an NYUAD Instructor

NYU Abu Dhabi instructor Rachel Jamison moved to Beirut after the blast to found a non-profit organization that operates on a unique model to help blast victims.