I did not know Rami prior to his becoming my new roommate.

I had moved to New Orleans at the beginning of August, and after hopelessly hanging out with several duds who played the part as potential roommates for my Uptown locale, Rami surged into my life in the same fashion that a friendly phone operator does after you have been listening to the elevator symphony version of “Killing Me Softly” one too many times.

This Jersey boy carried a professional roommate persona.

I picked him because he cut to the chase (typical of a Northerner) and graciously failed to put on a superficial front that was supposed to dazzle me into choosing him.

I knew right off that Rami was Muslim, and I didn’t care.

As long as he paid his bills and refrained from being a slob, he could be anything he wanted.

His being proud of his roots was a good sign on his part and something I respect.

Ten days ago, Rami, the stressed out law student, the prize winning boxer, the Northerner, the Muslim, left New Orleans and all the prejudice done to him behind.

He returned to the North.

It took guts for him to move down here, and it took guts for him to return to whence he came.

“I don’t have to take this, especially not in law school!” he explained to me.

I find it to be almost funny to the extent that it is unbelievable, a huge joke, that the people in training to represent the justice system of this country managed to supply enough discrimination to push a man off the limb he walked out on.

The daily harassment Rami experienced on the Broadway campus was, at times, as mild as classmates suspiciously and blatantly eyeing his bag or as outrageous as surrounding voices hissing “Terrorist!”

All of this was topped off by two fellow students following him around campus, loudly discussing how they were “going to have to watch this one” and how he would be “dealt with when he slipped up.”

Rami left quietly. He didn’t drop any names.

He didn’t see the need for anyone to be “dealt with.”

He shook his head in consternation and proclaimed “What a shame.”

He left a trail of tears and a stamp of disapproval.

Were those law students too proud, too scared or too stupid?

Some may even question the other side: Is Rami too proud or too scared?

Obviously, everyone is entitled to a different perspective.

One of every nine Americans is foreign-born.

One might have expected more tolerance and understanding in circumstances such as these, because it means that probably more than a quarter of all Americans have foreign-born parents.

It is strange that there should still be so much xenophobia.

Obviously, human mentality heavily continues to follow along the wheel of ignorance and fear.

Veronica Kavass is a first-year law student.