The graduates, Alberto Mederos and Jany Carballo, completed Level 6, the highest level of classes offered at IEP. They received graduation certificates and stoles emblazoned with the flags of both their home country, Cuba, and the United States, along with hugs from their instructors. Each of the two graduates spoke during the ceremony.

The ceremony was followed by a potluck meal held in EMU’s Roselawn Building.

Mederos thanked his teachers for boosting his confidence, pushing him forward, and never letting him give up.

“Thank you so much for preparing us for life in this new country, the United States of America, where learning English is a vital necessity,” he said.

He shared a few words of advice for fellow students still in the program. “Never give up and keep pushing,” he said. “With resilience, determination, and effort, you can turn your own dreams into reality.”

Carballo credited her IEP instructors with believing in her, supporting her, and helping her regain motivation and self-confidence.

“This program is the best place to start when you are an immigrant learning a new language,” she said. “You made me feel safe, supported, and as part of the family.”

The path wasn’t easy, she said, with ups and downs and moments when she felt like giving up. But with the IEP’s help, she faced her fears and reached her first goal: building a foundation in English.

“I feel confident knocking on any door and looking for new opportunities,” she said. “Thank you for being my stepping stone to the next level of my life.”

In his address to the graduates, their families and friends, and others gathered for the ceremony, IEP Director Jeremy Samsoe reflected on the idiom “going back to square one.”

“It means to go back to the beginning of something,” he said, and oftentimes, the phrase is associated with some kind of failure. “Maybe you failed at a task, failed at a job, and now you must go back to square one.”

“For many of you here, being in a new country and starting a new life can feel a bit like being at square one—that you are completely starting over,” Samsoe said. “I like to remind students that you are not truly starting at square one. You are starting many new things, but you also bring with you many things: your language, your culture, your expertise.”

“For both of you, Jany and Alberto, this is like moving one more square,” he said. “It’s not the end of your education or your language learning, but it is a step forward. It is an accomplishment, one among many, that you will have in your life.”

The ceremony also included remarks from Harrisonburg Councilman Nasser Alsaadun MA ’17 (education).

The Iraqi-born educator, who came to the United States in 2008, became the first refugee councilmember in the city’s history when he was elected in the fall of 2024. He repeated something he’s often said—that IEP is the best program of its kind from Winchester to Charlottesville—and expressed deep gratitude for its impact on refugees and immigrants in the community.

“It does much more than teach English,” he said. “It opens doors, builds confidence, and creates opportunities.”

Alsaadun said he’s personally witnessed incredible journeys through the program. “I have seen students arrive with little or no English and, through hard work and determination, go on to pursue graduate degrees,” he said. “That kind of growth is inspiring. It shows resilience, talent, and a strong commitment to success.”

About the Intensive English Program

EMU’s Intensive English Program (IEP) helps English language learners from all around the world find their voice and build a better life for themselves. In a typical semester, IEP has 60 to 80 students representing 15 to 20 different countries. 

For more info about EMU’s Intensive English Program, visit .

No matter where you come from or which language you speak, there is a place for you in Harrisonburg and at EMU, and Nasser Alsaadun MA ’17 (education) is living proof of that.

The Iraqi-born educator, who came to the United States in 2008, became the first refugee councilmember in the city’s history when he was elected last fall and began his in January. He says his presence on council sends a clear message that Harrisonburg is diverse and accepting and that local immigrants can feel welcome as a part of the community.

“People can all live in peace and learn from one another—your culture, my culture. We’re all in the same pot,” Alsaadun said. “I think that’s actually a unique thing about this area.”

Through his advocacy work, Alsaadun ensures that the Friendly City lives up to its name as a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds. He volunteers with , a local office of Church World Service that serves and advocates for refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, and immigrants in the Shenandoah Valley.

He is also a founder and board member of the , a community group that works to make the city more inclusive and supportive for immigrants and newcomers, addressing challenges they face, building relationships with them, and connecting them with resources.

One of those resources is EMU’s renowned Intensive English Program (IEP). Alsaadun, who teaches Arabic courses as an at James Madison University and English Language Learner (ELL) classes for Rockingham County Public Schools, often motivates residents to enroll in IEP classes. The program, hosted in EMU’s Roselawn Building, helps English language learners from all around the world find their voice and build a better life for themselves. In a typical semester, IEP has 60 to 80 students of varying ages and language skill levels representing 15 to 20 countries.

“EMU has one of the best English programs in the area,” Alsaadun said. “It has a great reputation with the immigrant community.”

He added that graduates of IEP are highly proficient, professional, and well-prepared to continue their education, not just at EMU, but at any university. “From Winchester to Charlottesville, (that program) is the best there is.”

Did you know?
In Harrisonburg City Public Schools, more than 70 languages are spoken by the student population. The No. 1 spoken language isn’t English—it’s Spanish! Source: in the Daily News-Record. Learn more about IEP at .

Escaping danger

Alsaadun grew up in Iraq and graduated from the University of Basrah in 1997 with a bachelor of arts in English. When the Iraq War broke out, he served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in 2003. Because of his help, he became a target of militia insurgents, who came looking for him. When they couldn’t find him, they kidnapped his father for two days, then tortured and killed him.

Alsaadun and his family fled to Syria and later relocated to Lebanon, where they received refugee status from the United Nations. They arrived in the United States in July 2008 and were resettled by CWS Harrisonburg.

While serving as a temporary instructor for JMU’s foreign language department, Alsaadun started working with the refugee resettlement office and other organizations to welcome newcomers and help refugees adjust to their new life. As he helped connect immigrants to EMU’s Intensive English Program, he learned more about the university. He had heard so many success stories about its graduates and decided to enroll. And in 2017, he graduated from EMU with a master of arts in education.

It had always been his father’s dream to see him earn a master’s degree, shared Alsaadun, and so it was especially meaningful to him. “I cried,” he said, “because I couldn’t have him there with me seeing that moment.”

‘A different touch’

Since graduating from EMU, Alsaadun has continued his studies through courses at JMU and the University of Virginia. He said EMU professors are unlike any others he has encountered in his education.

“I was blessed to have professors who recognized and appreciated the gifts I had,” Alsaadun said. “They knew I wasn’t a native English speaker and that I came from a different culture. Some teachers expect you to know everything, but my teachers at EMU understood that sometimes you struggle. That kind of understanding is unique to EMU.”

In August, while attending a city/EMU liaison committee meeting as a council representative, he received an email confirming his acceptance into the doctoral program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He is now in his first semester, pursuing a PhD of education in curriculum and instruction, and credited EMU and its professors for providing the tools and skills that have helped him succeed.

“It’s absolutely a different taste of education,” he said. “The courses at EMU have a different touch.”

Alsaadun, now a U.S. citizen with a wife and four children, opened Babylon, a Middle Eastern restaurant and market in Harrisonburg, in 2016. He’s been invited to the White House on two occasions. He met former President Barack Obama in July 2016, in appreciation for “serving the community and being a good role model for refugees” and attended a leadership summit on refugees at the White House that September. He received the Leader of the Year award from Church World Service in 2022.

A meeting of EMU and Harrisonburg city officials on Aug. 7 marked a milestone in representation, bringing together the city’s first refugee council member (Nasser Alsaadun MA ’17 [education]), its first Black woman mayor (Deanna Reed), and EMU’s first Black woman president (Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus). 

The liaison committee meeting was also attended by Deputy City Manager Amy Snider, filling in for City Manager Ande Banks ’97; Melissa Heatwole, director of continuing education and events at EMU; and Amy Springer Hartsell ’92, executive advisor to the president at EMU. The committee aims to identify ways the city and university can partner together to better serve the needs of the community. James Madison University has a similar committee, and Mayor Reed said she felt it was important that both universities had a voice. 

“There’s no Harrisonburg without EMU and there’s no EMU without Harrisonburg,” she said. 

Dr. Dycus, who began her role as EMU’s interim president on July 1, spoke about the importance that EMU places on community. “We want to grow leaders, whether that’s high schoolers coming straight into their undergraduate careers or whether that’s business leaders who want to get new skills,” she said. “We know we are part of making Harrisonburg stronger, our community stronger, and that we are all doing that together in different ways.”

The university celebrated its second-best fundraising year on record in 2024-2025, Dycus shared, and enrollment figures have increased by a significant amount over last year. She also spoke about EMU’s new pickleball and tennis courts. “If you drive down Park Road, it is abuzz,” she said.

Committee members received an update on Royals Go Downtown. Now in its fourth year, the annual event brings together hundreds of students for a walking tour of restaurants and businesses, sampling foods and collecting giveaways, before gathering at a DJ-led dance party. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Much of the discussion centered around the community’s need for interpreter services. Councilman Alsaadun wondered whether EMU’s Intensive English Program (IEP) might be able to help fill the gap in interpreter training. The program has a reputation among the local immigrant community as “the best in the area,” he said. “From Winchester to Charlottesville, you guys are the best there is.”

The liaison committee will meet next in November.