By Rana Siblini---

As part of the Traditional Orientation Program, and after being rescheduled to be held jointly with the Acquaintance Party, the PresidentÕs Reception was finally held separately on Friday 12 October in the garden of Marquand House at 7:00 pm, attracting a mixture of new and old students, but also a remarkable attendance of faculty. In the sequence of postponements, the PresidentÕs Reception had to take place on the 3rd of October, but unfortunately President Waterbury was unable to be in AUB on that date; therefore the event was delayed to the 12th to take place with the Acquaintance Party, which was originally supposed to be on the 11th. A buffet dinner followed by a party with music (DJ) until 11:30 were prospected, but once more the schedule was changed and the party was canceled, for it was Òinappropriate to have that kind of celebration given the current circumstancesÓ and Òit is hard to celebrate after so much destruction happenedÓ, explained President Waterbury to Outlook, a reason that remained unknown for most of the students. The majority of students had a good time, meeting friends and new people, and especially enjoying the delicious buffet served both by La Cigale and the AUB Cafeteria. ÒThe reception is great, weÕre meeting a lot of people from different background and weÕre communicating and getting ideas,Ó said Philippe Kechichian, a new student. During the reception, the President welcomed the crowd and announced, for the third year now, the names of students who received the Merit Scholarship Awards, a full tuition as a reward for their high scholastic standings. Among the students who deserved this scholarship, were four freshmen, Robin Lahoud, Sasha Wehbe, Samar Al Fatayri and Ramzi Madi; and six sophomores, Mira Alarab, Samah Halawi, Rola Alame, Joanna Fayad, Antoine El Daher and Bernard Ghanem.