Hardships do not faze new student president

Mustapha El Akkari arrived at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii campus with a full-ride basketball scholarship, then went on to win election this year as BYUH’s first non-Mormon and first Muslim student body president.

But he will not be offered another basketball scholarship for his senior year. And the scholarship and stipend that come with the office of BYUH student body president won’t cover El Akkari’s higher tuition expenses as a nonmember of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — or LDS — when he takes office on Monday.

So El Akkari — who is studying investment finance and supply chain management — is bunking with friends across from the Polynesian Cultural Center and is in debt with student loans while looking for another $5,000 to cover his expenses.

"They never had a non-LDS president before," said El Akkari, 23. "I’m the first ever, so it’s something they didn’t consider. I don’t blame them."

In its 57-year-history, BYUH has never had a non-church member — and certainly not an Arabic-speaking Muslim — leading its student body population, currently 2,673 students.

BYUH’s tuition is $2,225 per semester for LDS members and will go up to $4,450 for non-church members, university spokesman Michael Johanson said in an email to the Star-Advertiser.

"Typically, the scholarship and stipend (for student body offices) equal enough to cover full tuition and provide additional monies that can be used for room, board and other expenses," Johanson said. "Tuition is higher for students who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — or better said, the subsidy is less for students who are not members. So the scholarship amount that Mustapha will receive from his being the BYUHSA (Brigham Young University-Hawaii Student Association) president will not cover the higher tuition amount that he pays and has paid during his first years here. It basically will cover half, but is the same ‘rate’ that all BYUHSA presidents receive."

While El Akkari struggles to pay his higher school costs as a non-church member, his executive vice presidential running mate, an LDS member from Navutoka, Tonga, will receive a scholarship that covers all of her costs after her election.

"I do get a full scholarship and it includes room and board," said Kesa Kaufusi, 24.

"Everyone knows that he’s (El Akkari) not a member of the church," Kaufusi said. "The school’s open for whoever, member or nonmember. It doesn’t make a difference. Everyone is the same."

El Akkari began campaigning in February toward his election, and won with 52 percent of the student vote.

For El Akkari, the realization that all of his higher tuition expenses would not be covered merely represented the latest obstacle in a long journey. From troubled Tripoli, where he played on Lebanon’s junior national basketball team, he went to Houston, where he fell behind in his rent and bills while living by himself as a non-English-speaking Muslim struggling to attend a private Christian school.

After he was taken in by a Christian Texas family over Thanksgiving — "just like ‘The Blind Side’ movie," El Akkari said — he learned English and was offered BYUH’s last full, one-year basketball scholarship in 2009.

"It was actually really late and we had a scholarship left," Seasiders coach Ken Wagner said. "We didn’t think he could play originally. We thought he would come along."

His older brother, Mohammad El Akkari, got a flurry of attention on April 2 after he scored a record 113 points in a 173-141 victory over Bejjeh in a Lebanese Division A Final Eight game.

But as a 6-foot-3, 205-pound shooting guard, Mustapha rode the BYUH bench as a sophomore in the 2009-2010 season.

The following year — when the Seasiders won the NCAA II West Regional Tournament and advanced to the NCAA II Elite Eight for the first time in school history — El Akkari appeared in only eight games and averaged just 0.6 points.

When the season ended, El Akkari was told he would not be offered another basketball scholarship.

"Coach Wagner came back from the Elite Eight and said they needed big men, not as many guards," El Akkari remembered. "It was tough but the coach is trying to make the team better. You want to take it personally, but at the end of the day what’s important is what makes the team better, what makes the organization better."

Then El Akkari tore his right calf muscle while working out and decided to sit out the 2011-2012 season as a redshirt.

These days, he continues to prepare himself for his upcoming senior year and fourth year of college eligibility on the basketball team.

And Wagner expects him back. But El Akkari will not be offered another scholarship, Wagner said.

"He said, ‘I want to come back, scholarship or not,’" Wagner said. "He’s a great person and he’s really improved as a basketball player. He’s obviously very determined with an excellent work ethic. That’s probably why he’s student body president. A lot of people respect him."

Whether he sits on the bench for the Seasiders and has to keep crashing with friends to serve as BYUH’s student body president, El Akkari promises to maintain a positive attitude.

After his season-ending calf injury, El Akkari told the team trainer, "‘Let me take a step back and see what the real world is like. I’ve played on the junior national team in Lebanon and been on some of the best teams. Basketball has been my life. I want to see what life is like without basketball.’"

So he applied for one of the non-elected, student body vice president positions and was appointed to serve.

"I was the happiest man," El Akkari said.

Over the holidays, El Akkari then met one of his business idols, Stephen Covey — author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" — through his Seasiders teammate: Covey’s son, Christian.

"Stephen Covey definitely inspires me," El Akkari said. "He said, ‘Never back up. Keep going.’"

El Akkari then joined BYUH’s Students in Free Enterprise organization and last weekend traveled to Hollywood, Calif., for a regional competition that the BYUH team won. Next month, El Akkari and the rest of the BYUH SIFE members will compete in the national finals in Kansas City, Mo.

"I love it," El Akkari said. "I was hitting every shot I’m taking." 

And in February, El Akkari made the critical decision to run for student body president — with or without a scholarship that will cover all of his BYUH expenses.

"A lot of people — LDS and non-LDS — told me, ‘It’s not your place, you gotta go someplace else,’" El Akkari said. "But I found myself at BYU-Hawaii. They taught me who I am."