I find myself obliged to appeal to the public in a matter that soon

will hit my beloved wife and me. Last night my wife and I both

broke down and cried in fear of what will happen to us in this

country in light of the tragedy of Sept. 11.

Let me say from the onset that this tragedy hit me very closely as

images of the civil war in my previous homeland, Lebanon, came

back. The scene of collapsed buildings there was normal. We

watched then as these horrors were committed in the name of

God, Islam and Christianity. I therefore live the sadness of those

who were affected by the criminal act of Sept. 11 and hope justice

will be served. Please accept my sincerest and deepest

condolences.

Let me try to explain why I have been living in fear for the past five

years.

I graduated from the University of Arizona with a master’s degree

in 1979 and thereafter left for my country, Lebanon, to assume a

position at the American University of Beirut. I flourished as a

professor and our dean encouraged me to return to the United

States to pursue a doctorate at Iowa State, his alma matter.

Unfortunately Dean Thomas Sutherland was abducted by

criminals in Lebanon.

I immediately left the country in pursuit of education and a better

and safer life. I started my Ph.D. program at Iowa State in 1986

under the supervision of Ali Tabatabai. I soon discovered he was

an abusive man when he threatened to cut my funding if I did not

duplicate a method that he had published. I then requested to be

supervised by someone else, but was rejected.

Tabatabai told me that he had many friends in the United States,

and that if I left his lab I would never practice soil chemistry again. I

left in 1987 without a degree (and without contesting the decision)

wandering from one place to the other, defeated, displaced, angry

and defiant. To make a long story short, I came back to Iowa State

in 1996 after I was assured the department of agronomy would

welcome me back to finish my degree. In the words of Dr. Alfred

Blackmer who invited me: “There are a lot of people on your side.”

What happened afterward is a nightmare. Tabatabai claimed I was

a threat to his family and I was linked to an alleged bomb threat,

and a committee headed by Tom Loynachan from agronomy was

formed to investigate me. They refused to meet with me or to tell

me what exactly I was being investigated for.

I wanted to leave Iowa State immediately but Blackmer insisted an

acceptance was forthcoming. The acceptance never materialized. I

stayed here prostituting myself as an hourly worker for more than

two years, working from one department to the other until I landed

in the agricultural engineering department. I was shuffled between

unfruitful research projects until I threatened legal action. The

university then appointed Ramesh Kanwar and Stewart Melvin to

supervise an “accelerated” Ph.D program.

I expressed concerns about the quality of the Ph.D., and Kanwar

replied, “We don’t let our students go until they are ready.” I

started the research project in July 1999, and in November 1999

Kanwar told me I had to finish my Ph.D. in December 1999 and

leave the country. In his opinion, “No one will employ you in the

United States unless you work for them initially for free.” I begged

for an extension and Dean Topel approved it. I had a 3.8 grade

point average. A graduate student with a 2.9 GPA did not beg and

did not lose his assistantship. All this is because I said “no” to

abuse.

I objected to this treatment and filed a human rights complaint

against Ali Tabatabai and Ramesh Kanwar. The university

counterattacked by claiming that Kanwar and his secretary (Leah

Greving) were afraid of me and I was banned from the university

for life. The Human Right Complaint was dismissed because of

the evidence the University provided.

I met my wife, Jenny, a native Iowan, a year ago. She confided in

me some of the abuse she herself sustained from her dad. It was

a horrifying experience that made her cry loudly at night. Later

Iowa State claimed that a neighbor told the police I was probably

hurting her. Even the intake officer (Ms. Evie Myers) of the

affirmative action office at Iowa State where I wanted to file a

complaint, turned around and claimed I intended to do what a

graduate student did at the University of Iowa several years ago (a

disgruntled graduate student shot and killed several people). An

ISU professor told me later that Iowa State wanted to slap me on

my hand before I continue with my complaint against

Tabatabai.

Christian faculty at Iowa State and other Christian “friends” told us

we were not praying hard enough. One professor even suggested

I should become a priest and offered to help me go to Georgetown

or Notre Dame if I gave up attempts to stay in agronomy.

Muslims did not want to get within a 10 foot-pole of me because I

married a Christian in her own church. During the civil war in

Lebanon, our family (devout Muslims) provided a safe haven for

Christians who were fleeing religious cleansing and here I am

vulnerable, unprotected and ashamed of being from the Middle

East. Iowa State has stripped me of my dignity. I was a successful

teacher and Iowa State dealt with me as if I was a criminal.

I will not stop until Iowa State apologizes to my family. You might

ask, “Does this happen in academia? Does this happen in

America?” My wife and I are wondering, “Where can we live?

Where do we go? Will they soon come after me claiming that I too

have alleged terrorist behavior?”

Iowa State is claiming these records are secret and I am the one

who’s using the media to publicize them. They considered

banning me from campus, sending the DPS to harass me,

throwing at me allegations of bomb threats, violence against

faculty and claiming that I am going “postal.” They consider all

these as private matters and protected by employee confidentiality.

Please help us if you can. Please call the governor, your senators,

President Geoffroy, The Board of Regents, or anyone you think

might help. We can be reached at

href=”mailto:[email protected]”>

[email protected] or call us at (480)-317-1233 if you

have any information that would help.

Hadi and Jenny Tabbara

Tempe, Ariz.