New academic year starts off with impressive number of new students and faculty

"This year promises to be an excellent year, since enrolment has been very high, on par with the most peaceful periods," said Salim Kanaan, director of Admissions.

"We are at full capacity in terms of student numbers."

AUB currently has a total of about 7,000 students.

Some 60 new faculty members, more than 20 percent of whom are foreigners, and about 1600 new students, of whom 217 are international students from 32 countries, arrived on campus for orientation week at the end of September.

"This year we have a very dynamic group of faculty from all five continents," said Rima Iskandarani, the new faculty facilitator, noting that this has been the biggest group of new faculty members to date.

"They are bringing with them lots of new ideas to help improve things."

The Office of Student Affairs, members of the orientation committee from various faculties and departments, as well as current students designed a series of meetings, recreational activities, presentations, fairs, lectures, and demonstrations during the orientation week which was held September 20-26.

Assistant Professor Amy Clary, who joins the English department from the University of Maine, said she wanted an opportunity to teach American Literature to non-Americans.

"I chose AUB for its reputation and also for its amazingly beautiful campus," she said.

Other faculty members concurred, saying they believed they could do meaningful research at AUB, while connecting with the region.

AUB President Peter Dorman told new faculty members during their orientation sessions to think of AUB as a place to connect with the region and one whose mission is to promote liberal arts, freedom of expression and thought, and tolerance and diversity.

He shared his recollections of AUB as a young boy growing up in Beirut and playing on campus, noting his deep roots with the University, and encouraging new faculty members to also connect with it at different levels.

"I do hope you will take advantage of both the intellectual stimulation and the social and cultural stimulation that AUB offers," he said. "I also hope that you will be close to your students as well as faculty members in other departments."

The Official Opening ceremony to welcome the new academic year will take place on Oct 6 at 12 noon, in Assembly Hall.

Deans from all five faculties addressed the new academicians, telling them to take advantage of AUB resources, and engage in multidisciplinary research, by collaborating with other departments.

Assistant Professor of History and Archeology Paul Newson chose AUB because he believed it to be the best place to study Roman archeology.

"I am very surprised to find Beirut so fascinating and diverse," he said. Newson comes from Durham University in England.