When Marietta College student Hamad Albader, 22, watched the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold, he wondered if there might be some hostility toward him and the nine other international students from the Middle East.
“But it wasn’t that way,” Albader said. “For me personally, after Sept. 11 people were very open minded and friendly in Marietta.”
Albader came to Marietta College from Kuwait to study petroleum engineering.
“When I first came here, people tended to look up, but that’s normal,” Albader said. He said that would be the same for any foreigner in any country.
After Sept. 11, Albader said he was encouraged to see students at the college willing to learn more about the Middle East and Islam.
“When we brought a guest speaker from Islam, the auditorium was full, Albader said. It shows that people are open to learn about Islam and see that it is separate from the attacks of Sept. 11.”
Three out of the 10 Middle Eastern students at Marietta College returned home because of Sept. 11, Marietta College Petroleum Engineering Chair Bob Chase said. Two of those students who left after Sept. 11 returned this year.
But one student who left before Sept. 11, has not returned.
“He came in a week before and said his father wanted him home. ... He left Sept. 10,” Chase said. Chase said the student had been thinking that petroleum engineering wasn’t going to work out, but the timing of the student’s departure was unnerving after Sept. 11.
“It’s tough to speculate,“ Chase said.
Overall, the Sept. 11 attacks have left a mark on all foreign students attending Marietta College. The school saw its incoming international attendance drop nearly in half, from 27 new international students in 2001 to 15 in 2002. Other than one student from Turkey, no students applied from the Middle East this year, where usually the school sees four to five new students interested in the petroleum engineering program.
Marietta College Admissions Director Marke Vickers said the attacks made it tougher for any foreign student to get a visa, the permit needed for internationals to stay in the United States.
Albader’s fellow classmate from Kuwait, Mohammad Alkhaldi, 23, said he has seen the good and bad side of America’s response to Sept. 11.
“I was once shocked when someone told me to go back to Afghanistan,” Alkhaldi said of his travels in the United States. “I’m not from Afghanistan, I’m from Kuwait. How you look is a big problem here. But when you talk to them, then they feel comfortable.”
Both Alkhaldi and Albader said they feel comfortable living in Marietta, but would also like to see a better understanding between the two regions, especially in the media.
“As a student, you do the research and find out the full story, but a lot of other people see it just in the media,” Albader said. “The media tries to make it easy for the viewers.”
“The media doesn’t show the whole truth,” Alkhaldi said. He said many of the images and stories are placed out of context.
Both students, like some Americans as well, are also weary of the latest talk of going to war with Iraq.
“Yes, get rid of Saddam, but there are also innocent women and children there,” Albader said. “In my mind, bombings don’t stop terrorism, because those fathers they kill, breed more terrorists in their sons to hate America.”
Such as the United States preaches to other international countries who are in conflict, Alkhaldi believes an understanding between the regions is the key to rooting out the terrorists.
“America needs to understand why they attacked first. It needs to find that reason and stop it. You won’t stop them by punishments,” Alkhaldi said.