Saudi Gazette report

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote Shakespeare.

But female students of the University of Hail have given a new dimension to this definition by naming streets near their alma mater after inspirational Muslim women figures.

“The streets were named after women who specialized in majors similar to the nearby faculties,” Hail University’s Communication and Education Center Director Hind Al-Fahad told Al Arabiya.

So a street near the Faculty of Business has been named after Khadija Bint Khuwaylid who was a businesswoman of repute.

Khadijah was the first wife and follower of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She is commonly regarded by Muslims as the “Mother of the Believers”.

Similarly a street near the Faculty of Engineering has been named after the world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid because of her inspiration in the field of architecture.

An Iraqi-British architect, Zaha was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II for services to architecture, and in 2015 she became the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

It’s the first initiative of its kind and the university welcomed the idea and implemented it.

Fahad said the center’s aim is to propose initiatives and ideas and communicate them to the university.

She said that since the university’s campus includes more than 22 buildings, the volunteers at the center proposed naming the streets and squares after influential women.

Another street has been named after Queen Effat Al-Thunayan, the wife of the late King Faisal.

She is known for her efforts to improve Saudi education. She was the founder of Taif model school and the first girl’s college in Saudi Arabia. Her comprehensive philanthropic activities included social welfare for women. During the 1960s, she established the first two social agencies in Saudi Arabia — Women’s Welfare Association in Jeddah and Al-Nahdah Women’s Welfare Association in Riyadh. These Associations are still active today.

Even women who have made their marks in present-day life have been honored with streets named after them.

One such name is that of Hayat Sindi, a Saudi scientist.

Hail University extends over a wide area. It has more than seven gates, 14 faculties and several women’s departments.