by Suzanne Pardington
February 2nd 2017
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When PSU President Wim Wiewel read a story in The Oregonian about PSU exchange student Masoud AlMazrouei returning a stolen laptop to its rightful owner, he wanted to meet and thank him for his honesty.
Wiewel surprised him this week with PSU gear and an extra reward: a MacBook Pro for his studies.
“We thought since you gave back the laptop we should give you a laptop, so that you have one,” Wiewel told him. “We’re very proud of you. It was a great story, but you did the right thing.”
AlMazrouei is an economics major from the United Arab Emirates who transferred to PSU from Lane Community College in winter term after being harassed and physically attacked for being Muslim in Eugene.
Soon after he arrived in Portland, he bought a used laptop for $200. But when he turned it on, he found someone else’s documents and photos and suspected it was stolen. He found a phone number for the owner, Luke Fortune, called him and learned it had been taken from a Portland parking garage.
AlMazrouei dropped the computer off at the Portland Police Bureau to be returned. Fortune’s mother offered to pay him back for the laptop, but he refused. Instead, she invited him to dinner.
After accepting the used laptop from Wiewel, AlMazrouei said: “I wasn’t expecting that. I’m happy. I wasn’t looking for something back.”