Cosmo Connections, May 1999

Profile: Amin Habboub

by Nancy McGlathery

First-time visitors to Cosmopolitan Club sense immediately the open, welcoming atmosphere of the place. There is the old- fashioned charm of light, airy rooms, but it is soon obvious that the warmth emanates from the people. Many students and community members who come frequently help to create this ambience. One of them is Amin Habboub, a long-standing student member who personifies instinctive, ingrained hospitality, often helping others with the details of organizing and entertaining and always making all comers feel at home.

Amin arrived at the U of I in the fall of 1993 as a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering. He had earned a bachelor's degree in 1984 and an M.S. in 1990 from Jordan University. He was a teaching assistant there until 1991 and worked as a freelance contractor from 1988 until he came to Illinois. But it was his personal background and extracurricular experience that steered him toward active membership in Cosmo.

Amin's family were Palestinian refugees in Jordan, and his father worked for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency). Direct experience of the plight of refugees and the challenge of making a life in a new country by one's human qualities alone convinced them of the importance of internationalism and peace. Through his work for the U.N., Mr. Habboub became involved in the international YMCA and served on the national board in Jordan. The on-site director, a Lebanese, became a mentor to Amin. He recalls visiting him for tea and imbibing a cosmopolitan world view and an ideal of community service as well. When the director's international guests came to Jordan, they stayed with the Habboubs. Among these guests was the American director, and the American cultural attach‚ was a family friend.

Soon Amin began to accumulate his own international experiences. In high school, he won, as a prize for proficiency in French language, a trip to the French Foreign Ministry's international summer camp. Through the YMCA connection, he participated in the Y's International Camp Counselor Program during the summers of 1981, 1982, and 1983. He worked for the Evanston camp in Fremont, Michigan and the YMCA camp in Blairstown, New Jersey, and was Village Chief of Rover Village at the South Mountain YMCA camp in Pennsylvania. After the camp session in 1981, the international counselors toured Indianapolis and received the keys to the city from Mayor Hudnut. The experience of meeting so many able leaders who were so willing to give to the community made a deep impression. Home in Jordan, Amin continued to participate in civic and international activities, serving as national vice-president of the Jordan University Alumni Association. This organization's Graduate Network Program, which sponsored cultural events and escorted the international visitors, attracted the interest and sponsorship of one of the Jordanian princesses.

Having chosen to study at the U of I for its academic excellence and its international dimension, Amin naturally sought to find a cosmopolitan environment here. "Everybody you asked referred you to Cosmo," he says. He found "surprising openness, a lack of barriers." It was "like an island in a big ocean," where relationships were based simply upon shared humanity. It was not, he adds, "like a cocktail party or a professional meeting," where other motives can exist. Cosmo offers the opportunity to learn interpersonal skills and achieve personal growth by interacting with people from all over the world. He enjoys meeting older members, "people to learn from," who "give to the community for the joy of doing that." When Amin's parents visit Urbana, Cosmo is a source of like-minded friends for them as well. As for the possibility of living a life which transcends all ethnic and national divisions, "this skill can't be bought at the supermarket. You have to learn it by testing yourself at places like Cosmo." The Cosmo motto expresses Amin's philosophy exactly: "Above All Nations Is Humanity."

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