Preethika Kumar, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, remembers Jalil Alarbash fondly as a student in one of her classes last spring.

Abduljaleel “Jalil” Alarbash was killed in May at a mosque in Saudi Arabia during an ISIS terrorist attack. He was reportedly attempting to prevent a suicide bomber from entering the mosque when a device the bomber possessed exploded, killing Alarbash, his cousin and two others.

During the first fall meeting of the 58th Session of Wichita State’s Student Government Association on Wednesday, Student Senate read a resolution to honor Alarbash and his actions. The resolution passed unanimously.

Alarbash was an electrical engineering student at Wichita State, according to a news release from the university released after he died. He was in Saudi Arabia, his home country, to get married.

Kumar said she was able to spot many of his qualities despite having only one class with Alarbash as a student

“He was really friendly, very sweet and a good person,” she said.

Kumar said she was stunned by the news of Alarbash’s death, but was not surprised by his actions.

“I was shocked that he was dead, but I was not surprised because I could totally see him do that,” she said.

The resolution states SGA will “join in honoring [Alarbash] for his courage, bravery and his commitment of service and protection to others.”

 Student Body President Joseph Shepard said the resolution was an important one to read and pass during the first meeting.

“We really wanted to take this time to let his friends know, to let his family know that his life was not in vain,” Shepard said. “The work that he contributed to this university will not be forgotten.”

In addition to the resolution, Shepard said several people have approached him asking for other ways to honor Alarbash. Those tributes could be a plaque, a statue on campus with Alarbash’s likeness, or a tree planted in his honor, Shepard said.

For Kumar, a tribute in the engineering building, where many of Alarbash’s classes were, is ideal, but she said she is fine with any tribute as long as Alarbash is remembered.

“You want to remember him because he’s a role model for us,” she said. “It shows that heroes don’t have to be someone in a book or something like that. It could be you and me, just everyday life and doing the right thing.”

During the SGA meeting when the resolution was passed, several friends of Alarbash’s sat in the audience. Some of them wore shirts with the phrase “Our Hero Jalil” across the front.

Hassan Aleid said he was a close friend of Alarbash for three years.

“I appreciate them,” he said of SGA. “They were good enough to talk about Jalil and I thank them for what they’ve done.”