UD in the family

When Laila Behbehani ’19 began looking at universities, she had one non-negotiable requirement: snow.

“There’s no snow in Kuwait,” she said with a laugh. “I was thinking about studying architectural engineering at Penn State, but when I toured the University of Dayton, I fell in love with the University and changed my major to civil engineering. I love everything about UD — the people, the faculty and the weather.”

That decision snowballed into a family affair. All three of her sisters claim UD as their home away from home, and their 16-year-old brother, Ali, is already feeling the pressure to make the 6,773-mile journey from their small Muslim country in the Persian Gulf to attend a Catholic university in America’s heartland.

“UD was so welcoming and friendly, and all the professors were so supportive,” said Reem Behbehani ’20. “Although there are differences between the cultures, I didn’t really feel it.”

"UD was so welcoming and friendly ...although there are differences between the cultures, I didn't really feel it."

Laila, now a maintenance engineer in Kuwait’s Ministry of Education, agreed.

“The UD community was not disrespectful of our religion and our culture. They were very open.”

Still, with national anti-immigrant sentiment running high in recent years, the family questioned whether the sisters should remain in the U.S. to finish their degrees.

“One of my instructors said, ‘No matter what happens, we care for you,’” said Reem, who also earned a master’s degree at UD and is now a trainee for the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Added Laila, “Our professors and American friends told us, ‘You are our family.’”

The two encouraged younger sisters Yasmeen and Fatimah to follow in their footsteps. All four spent a year in UD’s Intensive English Program before starting classes in their majors — and all have excelled in the classroom.

“My mom wanted to see if we could survive a year or not and (was secretly) hoping we’d be back,” said Reem, who spent seven years in Dayton before returning home.

“A year of studying English and settling in is good for anyone,” said Fatimah, who’s now a first-year student in accounting.

On campus, they’ve made a mark. A photo of Laila conducting research in a hydraulics lab hangs in the lobby of Kettering Labs, while Reem is part of a video featuring a senior engineering design capstone project — an electric bike with a trailer that can transport a local man with cerebral palsy on family bike rides. Yasmeen ’22 serves as the events manager for the Kuwaiti Students Organization, a voice for the 107 students from the Arab nation, while she pursues a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a concentration in robotics. She’s also helping new international students learn the ins and outs of campus life through her job as a world associate in the Global and Intercultural Affairs Center.

“It’s truly helpful to teach other international students what I’ve learned,” Yasmeen said.

What have the Behbehani sisters learned?

There’s no university for them except the University of Dayton.

“My mom loves Dayton, too,” said Fatimah, the newest UD student. “I wanted to go to the University of Miami to be with my friends, but she said, ‘No, go to Dayton, and you’ll fall in love.’

“She was right. I love it here.”