DALLAS – Khalil El-Halabi’s most vivid childhood memory stems from an event he didn’t see. He heard it.
He was only four years old when the phone rang one evening at the family’s home in northwestern Lebanon. The familiar ring was followed by his mother’s scream.
Moments later Khalil and his three sisters were ushered into a back room as his father entered the house, cradling his brother-in-law in his arms. The wounded man had taken out his trash after a government-imposed curfew – an easy target for a Syrian sniper on a nearby rooftop. Moments of confusion and shouting turned to bitter tears and sobbing for a lost loved one.
“My uncle died right there in our living room,” Khalil said. “I didn’t see it, thank God. My sisters did and they said it was horrific. That’s what it was like in Lebanon during the civil war. We called it a civil war, but it was really a war between two other countries – Israel and Syria – inside of our country.”
Khalil’s uncle wasn’t the first member of the family to die in the war. His grandfather, a wealthy Lebanese businessman who was loyal more to his own country than Syria, was assassinated years before.
His father was determined not to end up the same way. He guarded the family home in the daylight hours, and during Israeli air raids on nearby Syrian targets made sure the family was safe inside an underground bunker.
“Our curfew was at 7 p.m., but around 8 p.m. or so you’d hear sirens and have to scramble for the bunker. But the entrance to it was outside. You would risk getting shot to escape the risk of being blown up.”
Finally, Khalil’s father devised a system where he would lower the children and his wife into the bunker from the second floor, unexposed to potential sniper fire. He, however, would still have to enter through the exposed outer entrance.
“Every once in a while we would hear a gunshot and wonder if we’d have to go outside in the morning and find him,” Khalil said. “But he always came through.”
Today, Khalil El-Halabi is an American, and soon to be a college graduate. In a few days he’ll receive his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of North Texas at Dallas in south Oak Cliff after squeezing two years of upper-division study into a single year. He is also a new police recruit with the Woodway Police Department, which serves and protects the small town on Highway 84 near Waco. He and his family are proud of his accomplishments.
“Coming from another country gives you an appreciation for education, especially coming from a country like Lebanon where schools didn’t function,” Khalil said. “There is a way. You just have to pave it.”
In his own words, Khalil said his father is evidence of that. He took an enormous gamble coming to the United States, but he did it for his family’s education, he said. In the early 1990s, schools in Lebanon closed for an indefinite period, motivating the family to move.
They eventually landed in free housing in Kansas and lived there for three years. The elder Halabi applied for a position as a pilot when he arrived, but despite his successful career as an aeronautical engineer in Lebanon he was told he was too old for a new position in the States.
“So he started working at Taco Bell, and not long after that my mother did as well,” Khalil said. “I was young, but I remember that we couldn’t afford a car. He walked my sister to school every day, for example.”
Khalil, the youngest of four children, also went to school. Trips to the classroom were a daily escape from the concerns of life and the memories of Lebanon. But it didn’t erase all of the memories. He can recall the stark contrast between his father’s career in Lebanon and his first job in Kansas. He also remembers how his father’s experiences changed him.
“My father lived a very good life in Lebanon, but he let it all go the second he came here. He is not at all materialistic. He could now get anything he wants, but he still doesn’t because he realizes it isn’t important.”
After saving his money from 11 years of work at Taco Bell, the elder Halabi purchased a gas station and deli in Waco. His sister enrolled at Baylor University, and Khalil enrolled at McClennan Community College for two years following his graduation from high school.
With his associate’s degree in hand he began looking for affordable options for his bachelor’s degree. Baylor and UT were too expensive, he thought, so he decided to investigate his options with the University of North Texas.
“I saw one line in their catalog about UNT Dallas,” Khalil said with a smile. “One line … it wasn’t anything. It just had a number to call. When I got in, it was an amazing feeling.”
Almost immediately, Khalil said he noticed that the UNT UNT Dallas was a different kind of educational institution. Most students, he said, were in class to “get the job done.” Many of the students were older and returning to college to complete their degrees. That was particularly beneficial to him, he said.
“I am a criminal justice major and will soon begin working as a police officer. I have five or six experienced officers in my classes right now. They’ve come back to school because younger guys are gaining more education and they want to keep up. They’ve told me, ‘Even though you’re going to a small town, remember that that one statistic could be you.’ I’ve heard their stories and they are all true and amazing.
“I don’t think you could find that type of interaction elsewhere at a larger university campus. The fact that this campus is small works to your benefit. Everyone knows everyone else. You get so involved with school that you forget you’re doing it because you have to do it,” Khalil said.
In addition to the close knit student body, Khalil also said that the faculty at the campus promotes a rigorous academic environment.
“It is such a strong academic environment. When you’re here, you’re overcome by it. Everyone is here to get the job done, to accomplish their academic goals. It’s not show business, where you can’t find a quiet place to study and everyone is talking about what they’re doing over the weekend. I finished my final two years in a single year because of the emphasis that is placed on education here.
Khalil also said the cost of his education at the UNT Dallas Campus was minimal when compared to other universities. The campus’ administration avoided raising tuition rates for the upcoming academic year, a departure from the tuition increase approved for UNT in Denton. Tuition at the campus is also lower than at other state institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
“The cost here is minimal,” Khalil said. “People can get a top-of-the-line education for an unbelievable price. The loans I have compared to the loans my friends and my sister have from other institutions are incredible. You’re in school to get an education, not to pay back loans until you die.
“My motto is, ‘Just do it.’ You are going to live 70 years, so take the time to get your education. It affects the way you view yourself. Education affects the way other people view you and your style of living will be better if you take one or two years to finish your degree.
“Excuses are nothing but excuses,” he said.
Today when Khalil reflects on his life, he looks forward with anticipation. But he also looks back to see that he would not have succeeded if not for a host of people in his life. His parents showed the enduring spirit of freedom by coming to the United States with four children in tow. They demonstrated the value of hard work and determination when they lost everything financially.
“I owe my parents a lot and I don’t ever want to disappoint them,” Khalil said. “How many people do you know who can say their father has protected them from sniper fire, moved them to another country for an education, and worked in the fast food industry for 11 years to buy his own business in order to provide for his family?”
By: Dr. Gregory Tomlin
Director of Marketing, News and Information
(972) 780-3615
(817) 798-9260 (Cell)
greg.tomlin@unt.edu