WAAAUB Holds Reunion

Alumni from 11 classes take group picture with Jum'ah, Waterbury, and Makkawi (front, center)

More than 700 alumni from eleven classes converged at AUB campus on June 30 to attend the three-day reunion organized by the AUB Worldwide Alumni Association (WAAAUB), which was established in 2006 and is the University's only international association of alumni.

Held from June 30 to July 2, the event featured two renowned alumni as speakers, a ceremony for veteran alumni, a reception at the newly-opened Charles W. Hostler Student Center, an open-air concert by Hanine y Son Cubano, and a gala dinner at the Saint Georges Yacht Club.

Alumni from the classes of 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003 came from different parts of the world: from Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan, France, England, Canada, the United States, and many other destinations.

WAAAUB President Khalil Makkawi welcomed the alumni at the opening ceremony, describing them as the force that makes AUB stronger. Similarly, President John Waterbury, who recently became an AUB alumnus by virtue of the honorary doctorate he received from AUB on June 28, also considered AUB's 55,000 alumni worldwide as "what we have going for us," in comparison to other newer universities springing up in the region.

The keynote speaker was Abdullah Jum'ah, Saudi Aramco's president and chief executive officer, who invited fellow alumni to help AUB in its educational mission and to keep on upholding its values of respect for diversity and dialogue. "Monetary donations to AUB are always welcome," he said, "but many of us are also in a position to offer internships to AUB students and jobs to well-qualified AUB graduates.... Just as importantly, each and every one of us is a walking testament to the benefits of an AUB education…."

Juma'h also lauded the University for its liberal arts education, including the philosophy and sociology classes he had to take, because they helped him develop his critical and analytical thinking skills. Noting that helping educational institutions in their mission is akin to investing in future leaders, he said, "Creating future leaders who act ethically and responsibly, who balance the desire for economic development with the need to protect and preserve the natural environment, is not a luxury we should aspire to, but a necessity we must achieve."

Jum'ah also urged his generation to act as role models to the younger generation, helping them sift through the abundance of information they have access to, by explaining to them the historical context of the information that is available and encouraging them to embrace cross-cultural dialogue and discourse. "Real progress is best achieved through mutual respect and engagement," he said.

In fact, it is diversity and respect for dialogue that sets AUB apart from other universities affirmed Jum'ah. "The University stands proudly as a bastion of civilized discourse, intellectual inquiry, and of the primacy of peace over war and mind over might....And I can't help but think that this would be a much better and brighter world for all, if the spirit of AUB was encountered more often and in more