Largest Arab American human services organization awards Arab Americans of the Year at 44th Annual Dinner in Detroit
[Left to right] Michele (Shaheen) Tasoff (daughter of Dr. Jack Shaheen), Evelyn Alsultany (friend and colleague of Dr. Khaled Mattawa), Maha Freij (ACCESS Deputy Executive Director & CFO), Arab American of the Year Dr. Khaled Mattawa, Arab American of the Year Dr. Jack Shaheen, Bernice Shaheen (wife of Dr. Jack Shaheen), ACCESS Executive Director Hassan Jaber, ACCESS Executive Board President William W. Swor (Photo by Doug Coombe)
ACCESS, the largest Arab American human services organization in the country, celebrated its 44th anniversary with the largest Arab American sit-down dinner in the U.S. on Saturday, April 25 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
The event attracted nearly 2,000 guests, including local, state and national dignitaries, with special addresses from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. and a video statement from Gov. Rick Snyder. The Dearborn, Mich.-based nonprofit awarded its coveted Arab American of the Year awards to Dr. Jack Shaheen, acclaimed author of the popular book “Reel Bad Arabs”, which later became a film, and leading advocate for dispelling anti-Arab stereotypes over the past 40 years; and Dr. Khaled Mattawa, a professor at the University of Michigan, poet and prominent Arab American writer of Libyan descent who was recently named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, also known as the “genius grant.”
To kick off the evening, the well-known and talented Second Ebenezer Majestic Voices Gospel Choir performed a moving rendition of the Oscar-winning song Glory, from the award-winning film Selma.
ACCESS also awarded 16 students in metro Detroit with the Ebeid Family Fund Scholarship. Through this annual scholarship, Russell Ebeid, a 1962 Kettering University alum, supports students of color that are studying engineering, or a related field. Since 2009, the Ebeid Family Fund has awarded dozens of scholarships of up to $5,000, per student annually, for up to four years each.
Former U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) with ACCESS Executive Director Hassan Jaber. Photo by Doug Coombe
Russell Ebeid (Photo by Doug Coombe)
Dr. Khaled Mattawa (Photo by Doug Coombe)
Dr. Jack Shaheen (Photo by Doug Coombe)