Ph.D. student lives a triple life

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By Stephanie Lee

Walking around campus this semester, you may notice a budding fashion trend among guys. T-shirts that say “Studlife,” “Not Modest, Sorry” and “Eat Sleep Mack,” are among the few you will see on a basketball player, a math major or a member of the wrestling team. You might be inclined to dismiss these shirts as typical of the pithy-comment attire of our generation, but you should not.

Fareed Hawwa, or “the CEO of the Stud Empire,” began this endeavor in May of 2005. There were several factors that led up the start of his T-shirt-selling Web site, www.ashirtforastud.com. Growing up in a small town in Rhode Island mostly populated by Italians, Hawwa’s parents instilled responsibility and a drive for success into him. Later on, while attending NYU and being a member of the varsity wrestling team for four years, Hawwa’s head coach, Bruce Haberli, taught him mental toughness. After September 11, 2001, Hawwa faced some persecution, because of his Arabic heritage. He remembered his small Italian hometown filled with places like St. Anthony’s church and Anthony’s Jewelers, and decided to answer to the name Anthony D.

Armed with the life skills his parents and coach taught him, coupled with the lessons given in the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T Kiyosaki, Hawwa wanted a way to remember them. He was going to get a “cocky tattoo, but I would always want to change it,” he explained. So, he decided on making shirts. On his Web site, you will find 12 different shirts that come in a variety of colors and sizes, as well as some jewelry. He has been asked about the long name of the company, but he states, “It is said that brevity is the soul of wit. I say clarity is the soul of wit.” A Shirt for A Stud is pretty much self-explanatory.

He runs the company under the pseudonym Anthony D, to keep it separate from his life as a student and coach. A normal day for Hawwa entails being a Ph.D. student in the morning, running the company in the evening and being the head coach of the LSU wrestling team at night. He is very busy, but Hawwa believes in the confidence that his company can give to guys of any age. He admits that sometimes he can cross the line from cocky to arrogant, but those who are arrogant and deny it are the worst. The philosophy works for him and those he imparts it to.

Originally Published: Issue 701 - August 19, 2008

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