NEWS

Roy Abdo (I 06) (second from left) was greeted by William Jewell students upon his arrival to the airport in Missouri.

Nour Arnaout (I 06) with Eric Kowalski's sister, Katy (CSF 05) in Greece. Katy has helped Arnaout in her move to America.

TWO ICPES ALUMNI LEND A HAND TO RECENT IIPES GRADS - 11/01/06

Roy Abdo (I 06) and Nour Arnaout (I 06) got more out of TFAS than they bargained for. After attending IIPES in Greece this summer, their TFAS connections brought them both to the United States for the fall.

In July, Abdo and Arnout left their homes in Lebanon a few hours before the Beirut runways were bombed during the start of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. As the three-week program came to an end, both faced a startling reality that they would be unable to return home for the fall.

"After IIPES my life was a question mark. I was lost. I couldn't go home, but even if I could, I couldn't return to my home university because of the situation," said Abdo. "I would really like to thank Michelle Jeffress and Anthony for this great opportunity they got me."

When Anthony Shop (E 03) learned of Abdo’s circumstance, he immediately contacted Dr. David Sallee, president of William Jewell College. Dr. Sallee agreed to help by providing Abdo with a full scholarship to attend the school for the fall semester.

With Shop’s leadership, the rest of the generous William Jewell community complied. Shop secured a work study position on campus, a host family in the area and extra money to cover his overseas flight and incidentals.

“The type of connection among TFAS alumni who have never even met is incredible” said Director of Alumni Affairs Renee Hamlen (E 96). “And what is most impressive and inspiring is that there was not one, but two cases this fall of this kind of generosity and involvement.”

Eric Kowalski (E 97, I 98) and his sister Katy (CSF 05) had a similar reaction to that of Shop when they heard about Abdo and Arnaout.

“I really wanted to know what I could do to help out,” said Eric, who offers a travel scholarship to one student to attend IIPES each year.

Katy, who was in Greece with Arnaout this summer, contacted the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in her hometown of Indiana, Pa.  It was then arranged for Arnaout to attend classes for credit at IUP and live at the Kowalski's home in Indiana.

Distance means little when it comes to TFAS alumni helping each other. Eric Kowalski, a manager at Ericsson, lives in California but says that he has kept in touch with Arnaout and serves as her advisor by email and phone.
 
“Even though I am not in Pennsylvania at the moment, I have still developed a relationship with Nour,” he said.

Shop, who travels between London and Kansas City working for Oxford International Review, has had a similar experience.

Even though Shop isn’t able to be with Roy all the time, he has had the opportunity to introduce Roy to some of his friends. “They have had the chance to all hang out together, which has been a lot of fun,” said Shop.

“Roy would really like to attend Capital Semester Spring at TFAS, so I have been trying to raise funds for the next step of his journey,” said Shop. After receiving word of Roy's interest in another program, TFAS has provided Abdo with a generous scholarship to attend Capital Semester this spring.

“Every time I talk to Roy, he says how thankful he is to be in the U.S. and at Jewell,” continued Shop. “But as anyone who has met him will attest, we are the lucky ones to have gotten to know him.”

If you are interested in helping these students, please contact Anthony Shop at shopa@kc.rr.com for further information.