Ambassador Khalil Makkawi
President of WAAAUB Board of Directors

HE Khalil Makkawi

President Dorman, on behalf of WAAAUB and the worldwide constituency of AUB alumni that it represents, I would like to welcome you.  I am honored to be here representing AUB alumni — the more than 50,000 men and women who live and work around the world.  We took many different paths to come to this University.  Some of us knew from a very early age that we were destined for AUB.  After all, it was the University that our parents — and sometimes even their parents — attended.  Others among us may have heard of AUB before we came, but never imagined that we would have the opportunity to enroll because of financial constraints or logistical obstacles.  

When we graduated, we took different paths as well.  You have no doubt heard about the 19 of us who attended the conference in San Francisco in 1945 during which the United Nations Charter was signed.  They are celebrated AUB alumni — and rightfully so.  But I am particularly proud to be an alumnus of a University that celebrates all of its alumni — the ones who stay close to home and the ones who travel the world; the ones who are driven to excel in their professions and the ones who choose to focus on their families; and the even greater number who don’t make such choices — who choose instead to spend some time traveling the world before settling close to home; who excel in their careers but never lose sight of the importance of family and community.   

Although we are a diverse group, it is what we have in common — the AUB experience — that unites us as members of WAAAUB.  AUB’s alumni are a source of enormous strength for this University.  No one has a greater appreciation of what it means to attend a university that “believes deeply in and encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to foster tolerance and respect for diversity and dialogue” than an AUB graduate.  Many of us knew during our time on campus that the opportunity to attend AUB was transforming us — making us “individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity and civic responsibility, and leadership.”  After all, generations before us had enjoyed the same experience.  We alumni graduate with an enormous appreciation for the experience that we have had — and a strong belief that the world would be a better place if more people and future generations had the same opportunity.  It is this belief — this dedication — that we bring to AUB.

We alumni look forward to working with you, President Dorman, and your colleagues to serve this institution that we cherish.