Honoring Aziz Alhadi's Legacy: Fund for Student Scholarships

My father, Aziz Alhadi, may his soul rest in everlasting peace, was a loving family man, a friend to all, and a career international educational administrator. When it came to education, nothing pained him more than knowing there was a bright mind out there that didn’t have the opportunity at an education and a better life. Through his visionary concepts, unique innovation, and tireless dedication, he worked over the course of 35 years to create real opportunities for students in parts of the world that were largely devoid of any to pursue their higher learning aspirations in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. As a result of his relentless commitment, literally thousands of students were able to do so, enabling them to a more prosperous and productive lives for themselves, their loved ones, and their home countries.

Aziz’s accomplishments in this regard are far too many to list, but he did not just excel as a professional. He also excelled in humanity. Anyone who has ever met him knows of his larger-than-life personality, empathetic soul, and good nature. He welcomed everyone he met warmly and lived his entire life trying to help people – family, friends, colleagues, and “his” students (as he called them) alike. Despite all of his own life trials and tribulations, he remained an eternal optimist and never let those get in the way of his sense of compassion and community. Apart from the academic challenges that international students face every day, he was also well aware of the cultural and sociopolitical factors that impacted their lives – traveling to strange lands, not knowing anyone there, acclimating to a completely new culture and society, etc. – and all the nuances involved with it all. For these reasons, he simply didn’t manage the transactional elements of continuing education abroad, but also the human. Aziz went out of his way to actually inspire students to succeed and to make personal connections with many of them and their families in order for them to feel some sense of community so far from home and each other. For example, Aziz could often be found at the airport to welcome arriving students because there would be no one else there to do so. He would sometimes even provide them with some essential groceries and other items at his own expense to get them by until they could get settled and learn where to get things for themselves. After their arrival, he’d continue to be very accessible and approachable to them. Any student with a concern, whether academic, cultural, or personal, could always count on Aziz to lend an ear or offer guidance. In short, he always wanted to make every student and their families feel like there was someone who was truly invested in their aspirations and whom they could rely on for support in time of need.

To these students, and to us, his family, Aziz was a ray of hope and light on this earth. When he passed on, we were overwhelmed by the offerings of condolences, prayers, goodwill, and support from so many people from different parts of the world. For all these reasons, and in his loving memory, we now seek to secure $10,000 in order to establish an ongoing gift of support to international students who aspire to attend Mesa Community College, where Aziz had served over the last 5 years of his extraordinary career. Each term, the gift will offer multiple students practical goods and services to help welcome them to the Phoenix community and feel its kindness. Please do whatever you can to contribute. We thank you, in advance for your compassion and generosity.