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MARSHALL UNIVERSITY
MU grad returns to sign book
Nawar Shora is a Huntington High and Marshall University graduate who has recently written a book called "The Arab-American Handbook."
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HUNTINGTON — Nawar Shora has never been one to think something was too big or to difficult for him to accomplish.
The 1997 Marshall University graduate has delivered in-person training to more than 20,000 professionals, including law enforcement, higher education officials and corporate groups.
His talks, which he started after graduating from the West Virginia University School of Law in 2001 — and post Sept. 11 — center on helping officials understand the Arab culture and Muslim religion.
Shora, at just 32, also recently published “Arab American Handbook,” an introductory guide to the cultures which he calls his heritage.
He’ll sign copies of his book from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Marshall University bookstore. He’ll also sign copies from 6 to 8 p.m. at Empire Books and News at Pullman Square.
While his topics of discussion are serious, Shora is an easy-going guy. He’s been married for seven years to Camille, and the couple recently celebrated the birth of their first child, Jawad.
He said humor probably has helped his success, especially when he started the speaking circuit at about 25 years old. One of his first talks was to a group of seasoned law enforcement personnel, but he felt that’s what he was supposed to be doing.
“I didn’t need to prove myself to myself,” he said. “I needed to prove myself to them.
“I can connect with others; I can break down information,” he added. “Make analogies and drive home the point.”
Shora did 30 weeks of training with the Washington, D.C. Metro Police Department in 2003 and 2007. He also has served as a guest lecturer at varied academic institutions, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., and the FBI Academy.
A lot of his success, he said, comes from growing up in Huntington and having very supportive parents along the way.
“Inside the beltway world is different from Huntington, but ... no matter what I do, it comes out,” he said. “I’m kind of an ambassador to Huntington and Marshall University.”
Shora was born in Syria, and his family moved to Huntington when he was 10 because he father took a job teaching at the Marshall School of Medicine. It wasn’t his first trip to the United States or West Virginia. His aunt, he said, moved to Charleston years before. But all he really knew at 10 years old was Disney World.
But just like everything else, he fit it in pretty quickly. He was the first student body president at Huntington High School elected as a sophomore. He earned a Presidential Scholarship and attended Marshall, where he was elected student body president within two years and graduated with honors in three.
“I feel very blessed, but it’s a combination of things that molded me into the person I am today,” Shora said. “Definitely my parents and the level of support they gave my brother and I.”
He said they had such a profound impact that he quotes his mother several times in the new book. He also credits the environment in which he lived in, mostly during high school and college.
“So many in D.C. went to Georgetown or Harvard,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘I went to Marshall.’”
Shora serves as Legal Director and Director of Diversity Education and Law Enforcement Outreach at the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest Arab-American grassroots organization of its kind that welcomes people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities.
He also has reached hundreds of thousands through two federal government training videos about Arabs and Muslims where he served as a subject matter expert, and he is one of four founding community members of the FBI’s AMSAC (Arab, Muslim, Sikh Advisory Council).
His efforts have been recognized by the FBI with the Director’s Community Leadership Award and the Exceptional Service in the Public Interest Award, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Leadership plaque and the D.C. Metro Police Department’s Outstanding and Dedicated Service plaque, among others.
Shora is a highly sought-after public speaker at colleges and universities and at corporations about the history, norms, mores, culture and current events of Arabs and Muslims.
