Fingerprints

Yes, we care for our fellow students! And yes, we value our AUB education!

This is what more and more graduating AUB students are saying every year. How do we know this? We have their Fingerprints!

A fundraising program by students for students, Fingerprints was established in 2002 to provide financial aid to needy and qualified students. Graduating students participate in this program by making a $25 gift to the Fingerprints Endowed Scholarship Fund. Every year, an AUB trustee sponsors Fingerprints by matching every $1 contributed by students with a gift of $2. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, AUB Trustee Dr. Kamal Shair was the sponsor; in 2005, it was AUB Trustee Mr. Ali Ghandour, while in 2006 and 2007, it was AUB Trustee Mr. Farouk Jabre. The University Student Faculty Committee (USFC) has also made generous two-for-one matches for each of the past five years. As a result, every $1 contributed by graduating students to Fingerprints is actually worth $5 to AUB.

By joining hands, the students who donate, AUB Trustees, the USFC, and AUB staff from the Student Affairs Office, the Visitors’ Bureau, the Comptroller’s Office, and the Office of Development have made Fingerprints a truly extraordinary success. In 2007, 1064 students— 60% percent of the Class of 2007—participated in the program and contributed more than $31,000. These numbers represent a quantum leap over what was achieved in the first year of the program, when 370 students (24 percent of the Class of 2002) contributed a total of $10,540.

President John Waterbury and Mrs. Sarah Waterbury hosted a reception in honor of those who participated in Fingerprints at Marquand House on June 27, 2007.

As a result of the generous matches, the more than $31,000 that has been raised in 2007 will result in more than $155,000 to establish the Class of 2007 Fingerprints Endowed Scholarship Fund. So far, six Fingerprints endowed scholarship funds have been established, one for each of the classes of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The total value of all these six funds is now more than $650,000, while the return on investment from them has benefited 19 AUB students. In coming years, as the sizes of these funds continue to grow and new funds are established, more and more students will receive scholarships from them—and will realize how much their fellow AUBites care for each other, how much they value their AUB education, and will be grateful that they chose to leave their Fingerprints behind when they graduated.