Alumnus creates new scholarship to honor mother – and Western’s warm welcome
[ Editor's note: This article was first published in the Campaign Insider email newsletter. To view all previous campaign emails, click here. ]
Ali Tabatabai was a mere 16 years old when he arrived in the US in 1978, leaving his immediate family members in Iran, including his mother, Monir Gharai. He first stayed with an uncle, Moe Gharai (’81) in Moses Lake, followed by living with a very kind Mercer Island family, Ted and Francesca Shultz. He finished high school there, and moved on to Bellevue Community College where he met his future wife, Diane, a Seattle native. But it was when they transferred together to Western that Tabatabai really found his new home.
“Bellingham is a very peaceful and quiet place. The people that I encountered there – people in town, fellow students, my professors – were extremely friendly and welcoming. The reason that was so important to me is because of the time and the context: the Iranian revolution had just happened, there were US hostages in the embassy in Tehran and the atmosphere, both here and there, was extremely tense. As a young individual, finding a refuge in Bellingham, in such a friendly, welcoming place, was such a relief. It made all the difference. It was the place that helped me transition into an adult.”
None of it would have been possible without the sacrifices his parents made, urging him to pursue an education, even if it meant doing so far from home. His mother was a stay-at-home-mom who instilled ambition and perseverance in her children. “She saw a college education as the key to be able to be independent as an individual who can make a contribution to society,” says Tabatabai, of Monir Gharai who passed away in September 2010. “There was a push towards education, but it was not micromanagement in terms of what to study or do, just to pursue your education, whatever that might be. For Western, I wanted to create a scholarship in her name for two main reasons: 1) because if it hadn’t been for her encouragement, her sacrifices, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and 2) to acknowledge in a small way the deep gratitude and debt that I owe the Western community for a life changing experience.”
With the Monir Gharai Tabatabai Scholarship, the Tabatabais hope to offer another student the same welcoming and supportive experience that they appreciated during their time at Western. “I still remember the class sizes,” offers Tabatabai, who, with Diane, graduated in 1982, she with an accounting degree, he with a bachelor of science. “They provided an incredible opportunity to have proper interaction with professors. And the professors actually took the time to get to know you and went out of their way to help you! That’s a very distinct memory that I have of Western. I was in the mathematics department and the faculty were just so gracious and kind. They were professionals as well, specialists in their field, but they went above and beyond what is normally expected of college professors.”
That mentoring aspect of Western continues to make an impression, the extra hand his professors were willing to extend on a continual basis. “My mother had that same generosity,” Tabatabai notes. “She was a kind and gentle human being with welcoming arms and a big smile on her face, a great and loving mother and grandmother. To me – and hopefully to the student-recipient – this gift is an extension of her encouragement. Hopefully they will do the same for someone else when they graduate.”