The Communications Club has always been known for its long lasting tradition of freedom of speech.  The club fosters debates on hot media issues and tries to bring all students together in harmonious and transparent debate.
    Anouar Abdel Baki, a physics major, has been the president of AUB's Communications Club since 1998. "The club was inactive as of 1996," said Anouar, "so we redrafted a new mission policy to specify our objectives." Anouar explained that the opening of a radio station still is on the club's agenda and that another of the group's aims is to unify the University students by being one of their spokesmen in front of the outside media.
  Indeed, Anouar recounted that the club members felt highly "involved in the last Iraqi or Palestinian events, because this was hot news covered on the spot by all the local and international media."
 When it comes to the club's relation with the administration, Anouar clearly states: "We, as a club, have not much freedom.  We experienced some problems with the latest Office of Student Affairs.  However, we hope that the nomination of Dr. Nizameddine as assistant dean of students will be more helpful to us as long as he has been, since his designation to the post, much more attentive to student concerns."
 The latest activity of the Communications Club was last year's lecture on e-commerce, presented by Data Management CEO executive Chammas.  The next club event will be, as Anouar announced, a "controversial lecture on Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons by Ghazi Aad, president of the Lebanese association Solid, that constantly tackles this issue." 
 Another interesting exhibition planned will be one on "great revolutionary figures such as Gandhi, Che Guevara, Jamal Abdel Nasser and even Kamal Jumblatt," Anouar explained with a mischievous smile.  Indeed, many of the Communications Club opponents accuse it of being sectarian, with a majority of members belonging to the Druze community. 
 To this unfavorable criticism, Anouar replies by restating the aim of the club, which is: "Enhancing freedom of speech in AUB as well as in the country outside by rejecting any veto imposed on informative topics because all news should be transparent.  It is our role as Lebanese citizens to take active political stands when it comes to participating in the active life of the country, i.e. to influence our leaders' decision making.  However, I reject the accusation of sectarianism because it contradicts our rule of openness and freedom of opinion and that anyone interested in debating media issues is welcome."
 Anouar also explained that AUB students have always been known for their independence and unbiased stands.  Indeed, their critical evaluation of any event breaking out renders them most of the time unbiased and prone to denounce external transparency flaws.  Moreover, Anouar added, "We are by far more independent than students in other universities where freedom of speech is severely limited for economic or political reasons."
 Anouar also emphasized that many AUB students have lived outside the country, which is a source of personal enrichment.  With their parents still abroad, they are less prone to "family biases or milieu influences."  Moreover, Anouar explained the prevailing freedom of speech on campus by another factor, the long tradition of political activism on campus.  Hence, the function of the club relies on maximizing the expression of different stands to enrich the on-going media debates.
    Anouar doesn't hide the fact that most of the club members have strong political opinions, but that they try to remain as objective as possible when it comes to the presentation of hot issues or the opening of a debate.  The Communications Club is working hard to fulfill its mission statement despite the obstacles faced at the beginning of the year with the quasi-censorship imposed, as the CC president explained, by former administration members.
 "However," added Anouar, "we hope that every controversial difficulty will be solved with more maturity in the future.  After all, most of us are interested in political events more than in other issues.  This fact induced our sectarian classification and reputation.  However, we have a mission statement and we are working hard on its achievement."
 The honesty and transparency with which Anouar replied to the accusations concerning the Communications Club's affiliation is based on its mission statement's primary goal of destroying taboos and distorted information.  "Being active and informed," added Anouar passionately, "is a right that any student has or else should struggle to gain.  After all, we have a long tradition of youth activism in the country.  Why not pursue it maturely?"