Opening Ceremony 2007-08: AUB Pledges to Become More Involved in Ras Beirut

President Waterbury's Opening Ceremony Address Stresses AUB's Neighborhood

To preserve the unusual diversity that exists in the Ras Beirut neighborhood, AUB intends to become more involved in bettering its cultural and intellectual life. This was the promise made by President John Waterbury during a ceremony marking the beginning of the new academic year.

In his address, delivered before a packed Assembly Hall on October 1 and entitled "Going Outside AUB's Walls," the president highlighted the University's positive influence over the entire neighborhood and said it was time AUB took a more active role in the cultural, economic, and intellectual development of Ras Beirut. "The goal should be a neighborhood where people of all sects and different levels of income can live together in peace, if not in harmony, and where all inhabitants can enjoy and contribute to the cultural and intellectual life that all educational institutions create," he said. "I have always marveled at the Corniche just outside our gates. Here we find Beirutis, men and women, children and grandparents, all income levels, the religiously conservative to the religiously indifferent, sharing the sea, the air, and one another. That is or was the spirit of Ras Beirut, and AUB has an obligation to nurture that spirit. "

Among the dignitaries attending the event were Beirut mayor Abdel-Monem Aris, Ras Beirut Mukhtar Kamal Rebeiz, former Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, and Press Federation President Mohammed Baalbaki, as well as a host of professors and students. Also there were several members of the AUB Board of Trustees, including Chair Thomas Morris, Philip Khoury, Ali Ghandour, Farouk Jabre, Alexander Geha, Munib Masri, Leila Sharaf, Nabil Chartouni, W. Ronnie Coffman, B. Philip Winder, and Clifford Mumm.

In retracing the history of AUB, Waterbury noted how the decision to build AUB in Ras Beirut, then a neglected agricultural area outside the confines of Beirut proper, was originally ridiculed. "When Daniel Bliss purchased this land outside the walls of Beirut, he was regarded by Beirutis as somewhat mad, putting a university on a pile of barren rocks. It was concluded that he wanted to live with jackals and goats," said Waterbury. However, as the University grew and became a huge positive influence on its environs, it created a large number of jobs, invigorated the local economy with its need for services, and effectively expanded the borders of the capital.

Over the years, nevertheless, the risk of losing the cultural diversity that characterizes Ras Beirut has been increasing, as attested by the loss of such intellectual and cultural meeting spots such as Faysal's coffee house, which witnessed so many revolutionaries in the making. For this reason, AUB decided to embark on a fact-finding mission. Dubbed the Neighborhood Initiative, a small team of AUBites led by anthropologist and urban architect Cynthia Myntti has been working on understanding the impact of the University on its neighborhood and on Beirut as a whole, seeking to find ways how AUB could act constructively to make Ras Beirut a better neighborhood for all its inhabitants.

Among the discoveries was the fact that students, as well as long-time neighbors, felt there was a real lack of cinemas, quiet cafes or other places for meeting or studying, cheaper parking, sports facilities, and healthier eating options. "There would seem to be a market ready to be made with plenty of demand waiting for supply," said Waterbury.

Thus, the next phase of the Neighborhood Initiative will be to figure out what AUB can and should do to bring about positive changes in the neighborhood, noted Waterbury. This includes the harnessing of AUB student and faculty talent to promote neighborhood diversity and help local businesses better understand their market. To enhance the collaborative process, AUB will have to open more channels of communication with the neighborhood.

"When one thinks of the talent we have collectively in education, public health, business, civil and environmental engineering, medical care, and public administration, it is obvious that we have expertise that would be the envy of any city anywhere," said Waterbury.