Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement

 I am Dr Jerry Gideon, I am the Academic Dean at Strayer University in Arlington, Virginia. One of the reasons that I am here is that the Arlington campus of Strayer University has a very large international community, and a very large number of those students are Muslim. A great majority of that Muslims come from Turkey. One of my Turkish students, Fatih suggested that, and asked me if I had come to Turkey before. I said no; most of my knowledge on Turkey and of Islam is book learnt, or secondhand from students or other individuals that I have met over the years. He suggested that it would be very nice, and there is an organization that might be willing to take me to Turkey, and let me experience both Turkey and Islam firsthand. He made the offer and I was very grateful when the opportunity became available. As a professor of humanities, this trip has been absolutely amazing, umm, the historical sites, the mosques, Cappadocia, the Roman city, all these things had a special meaning to me. They helped me to be a better professor, but the most valuable aspect of this trip were the people I’ve met: Not only the people within Turkey, but the people that I traveled with on a day-to-day basis. This trip brought twenty twenty-five different people together at various times, and each one interacted with one another. We learnt from each other, we expressed ideas and opinions, and shared something in common when we went to each of these sites. I was especially grateful to Ali, to Vedat, to Rose, to Jena who really brought some special meaning. They were always free with their time and answering questions for us, and some of the questions we asked were very direct and though to answer. I think the friendships that we have made here both within this room and throughout the country will last lifetime memories that would help me become a better academic dean, a better professor, and a better student. So I thank very much for this opportunity and I wish the organization (Rumi Forum) tremendous amount of success in the future and in accomplishing its mission.