Harvard Middle Eastern Cultural Association (HMECA) was founded in 2000 by a group of A.M. and PhD students linked to the Center. The goal of the Association (as stipulated in its charter) is to foster a sense of Middle Eastern culture at Harvard by bringing together students of Middle Eastern background as well as other members of the Harvard community interested in the culture of the Middle East. HMECA strives to contribute to the cultural, social, and intellectual life of Harvard University and enhance interaction among Middle Eastern students enrolled here. The Association is purely cultural and aims to create a space in which students interested in the Middle East can come together.

An active board, HMECA members meet twice a month in order to plan activities.

Since its inception, HMECA has organized several parties featuring live music sung in Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew and Turkish. The Association also holds film nights featuring films from all over the Middle East, poetry readings and occasional lectures whose themes speak to the goals of the Association. HMECA also organized the campus-wide t-shirt design contest and the creation of the CMES t-shirts handed out at the 50th anniversary party.

HMECA founded and continues to organize a weekly Wednesday breakfasts held at the Center, and was recently awarded federal grant monies to organize the new HMECA Middle Eastern Language Seminar , which will bring speakers to campus to lecture in Arabic, Persian, Turkish or Hebrew.

HMECA events are open to all members of the Harvard and CMES communities.