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From
left: Advisor to the President AH Hallab, Trustee Hariri, President
Waterbury, Dean Najjar and Mr. I. Khoury.
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A
ceremony on August 21 to inaugurate the School of Business also featured
the formal presentation of a $10 million check to AUB by Trustee Rafic
Hariri. The contribution will help fund the ambitious $40 million School.
Acknowledging the University's debt to Mr. Hariri, Dr. George Najjar,
Dean of the new School of Business, said that his "inspiring generosity
facilitated our take-off in a very significant way."
Mr. Hariri's contributions to AUB were also highlighted by Special
Assistant to the AUB president, Dr. Abdul-Hamid Hallab. He noted that
Mr. Hariri has contributed a total of $23 million to other projects such
as the English Language Teaching Programs, and the University Orientation
Program.
The ceremony was briefly marred when some 40-50 students shouted
abuse as former premier Hariri climbed to the rostrum. The premier said
democracy and liberty are essential characteristics of Lebanon and AUB,
and called for dialogue in spite of the tensions. He said Lebanon has
a new role to play in the region, and called for action--not words, to
solve its problems.
In the fracas that followed, AUB's security chief was charged with
roughing up a cameraman, although later AUB exonerated him from any wrong-doing
or political bias. President Waterbury "deplored" the attempt
at disrupting Mr. Hariri's speech and said he was "ashamed that a
small, noisy minority violated the fundamental principles of courtesy
and respect."
New
School of Business
Coat of Arms
After the new School of Business (the sixth faculty of the University)
was announced, Mr. Nabeel G. Ashkar, Honorary University Marshal, recommended
to Dean George Najjar that a coat of arms be designed for it.
Asked to suggest a design, Mr. Ashkar proposed a coat of arms based
on the same principles used for the other University Faculties. The crest,
supporters, and banner remain unchanged, since they are the unifying factors
in all University coats of arms. The change comes in the shield and its
color. Using the standard adopted earlier, the academic color of "business,"
which is "drab," was used. Drab is a dull light brown color.
Dean Najjar invited Miss Raya Khawwam, a graphic designer, to work
with Mr. Ashkar on the execution of the coat of arms.
The drab color of the shield will have a lighter color chevron; it was
decided to use a symbol on the shield to give it a distinctive appearance,
and for this purpose the symbol of "Mercury", the Roman god
of commerce, was selected.
Miss Khawwam completed the project, and it was approved by Dean
Najjar.
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