ROBIN NASBY
Living Assistant
With the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11 upon us and as recent talks of decreasing troops to Iraq saturate national news, experts in Middle East studies and Arabic are becoming an essential resource.
This is where Khalil Jahshan, Executive Director of Pepperdine’s Washington D.C. Internship Program, comes into the picture.
Jahshan’s professional career has taken him across the world, placed him on global broadcasting programs and in the offices of presidents and foreign dignitaries.
He works as a Middle East private consultant with a specialization in Arab-American bilateral relations and U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Between 1990 and 2000, he served as president of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA). The NAAA was a foreign policy lobbying group dedicated to improving relations between the United States and the Middle East through working on a bi-partisan agenda.
“I spent most of my time doing activist work for Arab Americans and a lot of that experience was meeting with leaders in Washington and policy makers and explaining the situation,” Jahshan said.
Jahshan served as Executive Vice President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) from 2001-2003. This Arab-American civil rights organization was created after Sept. 11, to combat the inaccurate Arab stereotype that was spreading throughout the country.
“When I retired in 2004, Pepperdine approached me with the concept of the D.C. program and how they wanted it expanded,” he said. “I accepted the offer right away and am now coordinating the program full time. In addition, I do some consulting, lecturing and media work when I can.”
Despite his hectic schedule, Jahshan is always available to mentor and guide students interning through the Pepperdine D.C. program.
“My ambition was to be a college professor, but I was side-tracked by my efforts with Arab activism,” Jahshan said.
“I enjoy working with the program because it is a unique opportunity to give students a chance to try to make sense of the real world, which is often very different than what they study academically.”
Jahshan says he finds it interesting to see the reaction of what takes place as students step outside the classroom and experience the workings of D.C. He enjoys seeing the city through their eyes and guiding them through the internship process.
“I have students working full-time for think tanks, some who didn’t even know what a think-tank was prior to coming to D.C.,” he said. “A sewer tank maybe?”
Junior public relations major Monique Harris participated in the program this summer and credited Jahshan’s assistance for securing her dream internship with Al-Jazeera.
“Khalil had been interviewed numerous times on Al-Jazeera English as a Middle East expert,” Harris said. “They wanted another interview so he told them, ‘If you hire one of my interns, I’ll do the interview’ and although Al Jazeera wasn’t prepared to take interns yet, because they didn’t have an internship program, they obliged anyway.”
Junior Alex Magiera, who participated in the program in the fall of 2006, saw the compassion and care that Jahshan and his wife, Joan, display for Pepperdine students when Magiera was diagnosed with cancer and forced to return home.
“He and Joan packed up all my stuff and shipped everything, about six boxes, home to me,” Magiera said. “When my dad asked Khalil how we could pay him back for all the shipping, he said, ‘I found a jar of change in Alex’s room; there looks to be about $12 here. Let’s call it even.’”
Whether it be a simple gesture or aid in a complex career issue, Jahshan’s kindness is meaningful to each student.
“The Jahshans would pick us up from the apartment and drive us to their church on Sunday mornings,” said Morgan Gooch, a junior sports medicine major. “One of the best parts of Sundays was that they always took us out for lunch at a nearby restaurant.”
Finding a balance between work, family and being responsible for a group of college students living in the city takes a man of patience and wisdom. Jahshan has clearly proven he is that man.
09-13-2007
