Alsaadun MA ’17, Harrisonburg’s first refugee councilmember, advocates for local immigrant community
No matter where you come from or which language you speak, there is a place for you in Harrisonburg and at EMU, and Nasser Alsaadun MA ’17 (education) is living proof of that.
The Iraqi-born educator, who came to the United States in 2008, became the first refugee councilmember in the city’s history when he was elected last fall and began his four-year term in January. He says his presence on council sends a clear message that Harrisonburg is diverse and accepting and that local immigrants can feel welcome as a part of the community.
“People can all live in peace and learn from one another—your culture, my culture. We’re all in the same pot,” Alsaadun said. “I think that’s actually a unique thing about this area.”
Through his advocacy work, Alsaadun ensures that the Friendly City lives up to its name as a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds. He volunteers with CWS Harrisonburg, a local office of Church World Service that serves and advocates for refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, and immigrants in the Shenandoah Valley.
He is also a founder and board member of the Welcoming Harrisonburg Council, a community group that works to make the city more inclusive and supportive for immigrants and newcomers, addressing challenges they face, building relationships with them, and connecting them with resources.
One of those resources is EMU’s renowned Intensive English Program (IEP). Alsaadun, who teaches Arabic courses as an instructor at James Madison University and English Language Learner (ELL) classes for Rockingham County Public Schools, often motivates residents to enroll in IEP classes. The program, hosted in EMU’s Roselawn Building, helps English language learners from all around the world find their voice and build a better life for themselves. In a typical semester, IEP has 60 to 80 students of varying ages and language skill levels representing 15 to 20 countries.
“EMU has one of the best English programs in the area,” Alsaadun said. “It has a great reputation with the immigrant community.”
He added that graduates of IEP are highly proficient, professional, and well-prepared to continue their education, not just at EMU, but at any university. “From Winchester to Charlottesville, (that program) is the best there is.”
Did you know?
In Harrisonburg City Public Schools, more than 70 languages are spoken by the student population. The No. 1 spoken language isn’t English—it’s Spanish! Source: June 2021 article in the Daily News-Record. Learn more about IEP at emu.edu/iep.
Escaping danger
Alsaadun grew up in Iraq and graduated from the University of Basrah in 1997 with a bachelor of arts in English. When the Iraq War broke out, he served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in 2003. Because of his help, he became a target of militia insurgents, who came looking for him. When they couldn’t find him, they kidnapped his father for two days, then tortured and killed him.
Alsaadun and his family fled to Syria and later relocated to Lebanon, where they received refugee status from the United Nations. They arrived in the United States in July 2008 and were resettled by CWS Harrisonburg.
While serving as a temporary instructor for JMU’s foreign language department, Alsaadun started working with the refugee resettlement office and other organizations to welcome newcomers and help refugees adjust to their new life. As he helped connect immigrants to EMU’s Intensive English Program, he learned more about the university. He had heard so many success stories about its graduates and decided to enroll. And in 2017, he graduated from EMU with a master of arts in education.
It had always been his father’s dream to see him earn a master’s degree, shared Alsaadun, and so it was especially meaningful to him. “I cried,” he said, “because I couldn’t have him there with me seeing that moment.”
‘A different touch’
Since graduating from EMU, Alsaadun has continued his studies through courses at JMU and the University of Virginia. He said EMU professors are unlike any others he has encountered in his education.
“I was blessed to have professors who recognized and appreciated the gifts I had,” Alsaadun said. “They knew I wasn’t a native English speaker and that I came from a different culture. Some teachers expect you to know everything, but my teachers at EMU understood that sometimes you struggle. That kind of understanding is unique to EMU.”
In August, while attending a city/EMU liaison committee meeting as a council representative, he received an email confirming his acceptance into the doctoral program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He is now in his first semester, pursuing a PhD of education in curriculum and instruction, and credited EMU and its professors for providing the tools and skills that have helped him succeed.
“It’s absolutely a different taste of education,” he said. “The courses at EMU have a different touch.”
Alsaadun, now a U.S. citizen with a wife and four children, opened Babylon, a Middle Eastern restaurant and market in Harrisonburg, in 2016. He’s been invited to the White House on two occasions. He met former President Barack Obama in July 2016, in appreciation for “serving the community and being a good role model for refugees” and attended a leadership summit on refugees at the White House that September. He received the Leader of the Year award from Church World Service in 2022.
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