When Alabama State University student Guy Samandari walked across the commencement stage this month, his family was there to support him — all the way from the African nation of Burundi, a small country on the eastern side of the world’s second-largest continent, nearly 8,000 miles from Montgomery, Alabama.

Samandari, who graduated with a degree in finance from the Dr. Percy J. Vaughn College of Business Administration (COBA), was joined by his parents, Jean Samandari and Brigitte Dusenge, from Burundi’s capital city of Bujumbura, along with his sister, Christa Queen Iteriteka, who is a new transfer student and will become an ASU junior in the fall.

“I was absolutely honored and thrilled that my parents and sister chose to travel the many thousands of miles to join me for my graduation from Alabama State and to remain a few weeks afterwards to visit with me as I showcase the Southern United States to them,” said Samandari, who will continue his education at ASU in COBA’s Master of Accountancy program.

Proud parents

Samandari’s father is an attorney and the president and legal representative of a nonprofit association named Action Against Poverty, which is responsible for managing associations in Burundi.

“His mother and I are very happy to see our son graduate from such an esteemed and famous institution as Alabama State University,” Jean Samandari said. “Guy honors our family, the university and our nation of Burundi, and I am especially pleased that he, like me, has an interest in economics and a desire to pursue it as a career.”

Samandari’s mother said that Guy is their second child of five and that she was happy to be present for the milestone event.

“I feel that God has blessed Guy by bringing him to this school and allowing him to graduate with such a high grade-point average, and by protecting him and Alabama State,” his mother said. “He enjoyed learning here so much and commended it to us in such a positive way that we decided to send our daughter Christa here to obtain her university degree.”

Love of ASU

Samandari said “O’ Mother Dear” is a great place to obtain an education, especially the College of Business Administration, which he said he holds close to his heart.

“The people here are so very professional, well-educated and attendant to my needs and to those of all of its students,” he said. “I must especially compliment COBA’s Dean (Kamal) Hingorani, Dr. Sara Bliss Kiser and others for all of the mentoring and good advice they gave me. My career goal is to also obtain an MBA and work for one of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms as a finance consultant before returning to my home in Burundi — one of the finest nations in the world — and to contribute all that I can do to help uplift it economically.”