Long before Abdul El-Sayed became the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, he was an undergrad at the University of Michigan who once took part in a protest against a conservative student event condemning radical Islamic terrorism. According to a 2007 article in the Michigan Daily student newspaper, the event was protested by various student groups and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee for allegedly generalizing all Muslims. “Muslim Student Association Vice President Abdul-Rahman El Sayed, who spoke at the protester’s counter event, said he was elated at the success of the walkout,” the Daily reported, quoting him as saying: “We’ve done something good today, and we need to keep that going in the future.”