Fondren Library celebrates religious diversity with Zoroastrian Day

By Viola Hsia     3/11/25 10:07pm

An event spreading awareness of Zoroastrianism was held in Fondren Library March 6, including speakers from organizations both at and outside Rice, an exhibition in the Brown Fine Arts Gallery and a movie showing.

Event organizer Mahtab Dastur, who is part of the advocacy team of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, said she was inspired to hold the event after reading about a Zoroastrian Day that was held at Rice 11 years ago by alumnus Bahrom Firozgary ’14.

“The advocacy team and I organized an advocacy day in Austin [on March 5th]. I wanted to do something like that at Rice again,” said Dastur, who just won her uncontested election for the position of Student Association External Vice President.

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Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions and was founded over 3,500 years ago by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran. Debra Kolah, head of Fondren’s User Experience Office, said she wanted to do an exhibit on Zoroastrianism in response to a current exhibit in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. 

“The theme of [the Houston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition] was Zoroastrians and Parsis in Houston, but it was all these historic objects,” Kolah said. “There was a little thing in my brain that said, ‘You know, I really wish this was contemporary, that really is not like these beautiful old textiles or beautiful vessels, but something of the now, of what we’re experiencing.’”

The Parsis are a Zoroastrian community living primarily in the Indian subcontinent.

Ervad Kayomar Sidhwa, the president of FEZANA and one of the event’s speakers, said Firozgary’s event took place during a basketball game in Tudor Fieldhouse, as Firozgary was a basketball player for Rice. Sidhwa said the Rice event, featuring an exhibit on Zoroastrianism outside the basketball court, was one of several Zoroastrian visibility events FEZANA has been planning across the country.

“If I go back 3,500 years, Zoroastrianism was everywhere, and then with persecution and migration and all those kinds of things, there were a lot of people who left Zoroastrianism,” Sidhwa said. “The reason to do these Zoroastrian Days is to make people aware that we also exist. Although we are small, our kind of impact is pretty significant in the community.”

Jonathan Alvarenga, a district staffer in State Representative Ann Johnson’s office who attended the event, said he was honored to be present.

“The event was thoughtfully organized, and the people behind it did an incredible job bringing together such a vibrant and meaningful experience,” Alvarenga wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I feel very fortunate to have been a small part of this great event and am already looking forward to hopefully being back next year!”

K. Sarah Ostrach, the art and architecture librarian at Fondren, said the event emphasized the importance of recognizing a variety of identities at Rice.

“We’re a really beautiful, diverse campus here, and we have an opportunity to celebrate all that we are, and that’s something that, unfortunately, many campuses and many folks in different walks of life don’t have at the moment,” Ostrach said. “It’s a great opportunity to highlight another important kind of member of our Rice community, being the students or the faculty or the members of our public that are Zoroastrian and sharing more about them.”

Dastur said the event was important for cultural and religious exchange.

“Rice is an extremely diverse campus, and if we don’t advocate for the differences that make us who we are, then we box ourselves into a cage where we don’t allow this sharing of ideas and beliefs and values,” Dastur said. “I think that’s very, very important, especially at a higher [education] institution like Rice — that’s where you get these new discoveries.”

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