LAWRENCE, Kansas — Bidding for a spot as a host city seemed nearly impossible.
Until it wasn’t.
The University of Kansas, Explore Lawrence, Rock Chalk Park, and Lawrence city government teamed to argue that their small city could play, or host, on the World Cup Stage. Their bidding preparation started before Kansas City was announced as a host city in June 2022.
“We were working on it before — and probably submitted it afterward,” Lawrence Mayor Brad Finkeldei said. “We knew that being in the middle of the United States would be an advantage, because of teams having to go to different places to play their games. So being in the middle of the country makes it easy.”
Now, it looks logical. Lawrence has become a media darling : the non-metropolitan outpost in a red state that’s shown visitors from a Muslim country what Midwest nice is all about.
But how did Lawrence lure Algeria?
Finkeldei said city officials relied heavily on Lawrence’s history of welcoming newcomers in and around the campus of the University of Kansas.
“We have a history of having students come … from all over the world that folks would find welcoming,” Finkeldei said. “It’s fascinating to me, you know, you’ve not heard about any other suburb or any other small town that is being more talked about.”
Lawrence residents greeted Algerians with open arms. People point to two women as catalysts.
Amal El Haimaur, assistant professor of African and African American Studies at the University of Kansas, and Aya Fayed, a Ph.D. student and Arabic lecturer, quietly planted seeds of Algerian and Arabic culture across Lawrence months before even a single soccer fan would notice.
In a collaboration with one of her professors, Fayed jumped on the Lawrence World Cup prep team by writing and producing a video on Arabic and Algerian culture to share with downtown businesses.
“Especially the restaurants,” Fayed said. “They wanted to know: What does it mean to have halal food in the restaurant? What are some of the customs that might be confusing when they are dealing with new people? We also talked about tipping.”
Reasonable communication was also mentioned in the video.
“We might get loud, so don’t confuse like a normal conversation when things get animated and like an actual argument,” Fayed said. “We are just excited.”
El Haimaur led a World Cup committee established by various KU department heads and professors that helped mesh culture and community.
“We want to create that understanding,” she said.
But their biggest chunk of work came around translation. They have provided Arabic translation to the city for, among other things, weather and parking signs. And they translated the Algerian national anthem into English, so locals could learn it. They have also taught multiple Arabic language classes at the Lawrence Public Library. The final class is scheduled for July 8.
“It was for all the cultural reasons,” Al Haimur said. “From greetings, from the history, from colonization, because it’s very important why Algerians speak French, right?”
Algeria was a French colony for 130-plus years until the early 1960s.
“They speak French becaus eof colonization,” she said. “Also, it has an effect in the Algerian cuisine, Algerian dress, because when you acquire a language, it’s also affecting the sets of cultural norms.”
The two women also put together “Know Your Rights” guidance for dealing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after ICE actions in Lawrence in February.
“People needed to know (that) even if you are a visitor here, you could interact with ICE in some way,” El Haimaur said.
“So you need to know what exactly to do, how to act, so you don’t get in trouble.”
KCUR is partnering with students at the University of Kansas' William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication for coverage of this summer's World Cup.
