BUILDING COALITIONS
ECU business major wins International Undergraduate Student Award
Attending college 7,000 miles from his home in Qatar hasn’t been as daunting as it initially seemed for East Carolina University junior Faisal Abouelhassan.
He already knew about ECU from his uncle, who graduated from the College of Business in the late 1980s, and his cousin, a 2016 alumna.
While Abouelhassan worried that he might not fit in as an international student in America, members of ECU’s Office of Global Affairs kept in constant contact and made the process much easier. ECU and Greenville were exactly what he hoped for in a university and town.
Faisal Abouelhassan attended his first football game at ECU, where a friend explained the rules while the game was underway.
Abouelhassan has received ECU’s International Undergraduate Student Award, which recognizes an outstanding international student who has demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to making a positive contribution to ECU and/or the local community. It also provides a $500 scholarship.
Abouelhassan is earning a degree in business administration with a concentration in finance and a minor in political science. He helped restart ECU’s International Students Association, serving as treasurer and working with fellow board members to promote a better understanding of multiculturalism and help American students considering study abroad opportunities.
“More importantly, I have hoped to build campuswide coalitions with other organizations dedicated to pluralism,” Abouelhassan said.
He is treasurer of ECU’s Model United Nations Club and serves on the Arab Student Union, which promotes intercultural communication between Arab students of different nationalities and backgrounds and American students. This year, he was selected as an at-large representative for the Student Government Association, where he has joined the rules and judiciary committee. He seeks to be a voice for international students.
Abouelhassan came to ECU with conviction. “My parents emphasized that in order to succeed, I had to learn from everyone around me,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have been born in a multicultural family, and from a young age my parents had instilled in me the value of bridging two distinct cultures. I’ve learned how to navigate these cultural differences. I believe that this skill has helped me to collaborate with members of both the ECU and Greenville communities.”
He volunteered with the Rise Against Hunger campaign in Greenville before ECU classes moved online because of the pandemic. Since then, he has been tutoring fourth and sixth graders who have been challenged by online learning in Qatar, a peninsular Arab country that borders Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
Following a rigorous, competitive process last fall, Abouelhassan was selected for Qatar’s delegation to the 26th session of the Youth Assembly. He attended virtual roundtables and sessions with policymakers, researchers and young people from around the world. One outcome was a collaboration with Spain’s delegation to develop a ride-sharing app to reduce daily carbon emissions produced by cars in Qatar, he said.
Dr. Hanna Kassab, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, has been an adviser for Abouelhassan, who took Kassab’s comparative politics and international relations classes.
“Faisal is an intelligent and charismatic scholar of international security,” Kassab said. “He produces excellent work.”
In August, Abouelhassan was one of several ECU students who virtually attended the National Student Issues Convention sponsored by the American Political Science Association.
Eventually Abouelhassan plans to earn a law degree and work in international business and development.
But before that, he looks forward to returning to campus. One experience he won’t forget is attending his first football game. “I still remember learning the rules while the teams were actually playing as an American friend was explaining them to me,” Abouelhassan said.