Hasan Minhaj and wife Beena Patel, third from left, met with honors students in the UC Davis Department of Political Science.
Photo: courtesy
Hasan Minhaj Visits UC Davis
Eagle-eyed basketball fans may have spotted a famous Aggie courtside at a recent Sacramento Kings game. But before Hasan Minhaj ’07 and his family took in an NBA game with the team‘s owner, he made a stop on campus with his wife and fellow Aggie, Beena Patel ’07, MPH ’08.
Fresh off a flight from New York, they spent more than an hour on March 22 talking to honors students in the Department of Political Science. The political commentator and comedian had originally planned to visit a few days later, but didn’t want to see the campus during the spring break lull.
Hasan Minhaj with Erik Engstrom, left, chair of the political science department, and John Scott, former chair and onetime teacher of Minhaj (Courtesy)
“He really wanted to meet students,” said Diane Walters, the development officer for the College of Letters and Science. “They were a very gracious, very down-to-earth couple.”
While many students recognized Minhaj and asked him to pose for photos, the “Patriot Act” host reportedly expressed his positive impressions after his meeting with students.
“It was really fun to see Hasan and Beena go, ‘Oh my, oh wow,’ because they’re so impressive,” Walters said of the group of honors students.
