By Isha Trivedi '19

On October 8th, coffee entrepreneur and businessman Mokhtar Alkhanshali, along with New York Times best-selling author and publisher Dave Eggers, visited Notre Dame to speak to students and faculty regarding this year’s ND Reads Book: The Monk of Mokha. The book tells the real-life story of Mokhtar Alkhanshali as he embarks on an adventure to bring sustainable and ethical coffee production back to its birthplace in Yemen, and bring this high quality coffee out of Yemen for the rest of the world to enjoy. The story is more than just about business and economics––it’s about the American Dream, hyphenated identities, compassion, friendship and a little bit of luck. Alkhanshali’s journey in exploring his family history and heritage as well as the struggles he faced as a teenager in the Bay Area truly resonated with Notre Dame’s diverse student population, and the author visit for this year’s book was an event that was highly anticipated by many. 

During the event, Alkhanshali and Eggers engaged in a thoughtful conversation, during an all-school assembly, about the lengths Alkhanshali went to in order to achieve his goal and how it felt to finally succeed. The event was underscored with Eggers and Alkhanshali doing a live demonstration of the process of making coffee using the real Yemeni coffee that Alkhanshali worked so hard to bring to the United States while they chatted and answered questions from students. 

The Monk of Mokha serves as an inspiration for Notre Dame students, particularly in such a politically charged and tumultuous time. It is a reminder that hard work will pay off, and that people like Alkhanshali will always be around to carry on the legacy of their families while also fulfilling the American Dream. 

Mokhtar returned to Notre Dame in the evening for a community event, sharing more of his personal story and it's challenges and triumphs. He also shared more detail about the history of coffee and the people of Yemen. We look forward to announcing next year's ND Reads selection in the spring.