All in the - American University of Beirut

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Seen and HeardIn the fall of 2011, AUB had 2,026 registered students who identifiedthemselves as non-Lebanese. Over 65 nations were represented in thisgroup, with the top 10 most represented nationalities being:13579USAJORDANPALESTINESAUDI ARABIAUNITED KINGDOM246 810SYRIACANADAFRANCEAUSTRALIAIRAQLive Life AbundantlyUT VITAM HABEANT ABUNDANTIUSHABEANT—even if you don’trecognize that Latin phrase, you’llprobably recognize these words:That they may have life and have itmore abundantly. How did this Latinphrase come to be AUB’s motto?Well, it seems that the facultycommittee that met in early 1921to consider the issue decided thata motto in English would be “triteand undignified” while a motto inArabic was “unsuitable because itis not the language of many of thestudents and alumni and would beincomprehensible to these and tofriends of the University in otherinstitutions and in other parts of theworld.” They concluded that a mottoin Latin, however, was consistent with“the universal custom of educationalinstitutions in various parts of theworld.”Although the committee didconsider an alternative Latin phrase(Lucem Dare, Virtutem Facere, givelight, give virtue), it chose AUB’s mottoat least in part because it was fromone of Daniel Bliss’s favorite Bibleverses (John 10:10): Ego veni ut vitamhabeant, et abundantius habeant,which is translated in the King Jamesversion as “I am come that they mighthave life, and that they might have itmore abundantly.”At some point—no one is quitesure exactly when or if this was donedeliberately or in error—“et” was omittedand AUB’s motto became UTVITAM HABEANT ABUNDANTIUSHABEANT and translated into Arabicas wa-litakuna lahum hayat wa-takunahayat afdal. Not everyone approves ofthe Arabic translation: As’ad AbuKhalilwrote on his blog (http://angryarab.blogspot.com/) in July 2010 thatthe motto should have been translatedas … wa-takuna hayat azkhar.Although AUB Professor RamziBaalbaki agrees that azkhar is a moreaccurate translation for “abundant,”he says that afdal “is not wrong” andwas probably chosen because it ismore commonly used than azkhar.Baalbaki, who was awarded the KingFaisal International Prize in ArabicLanguage and Literature for 2010 (seeMainGate, fall 2010, pages 20-21),also notes that afdal is the word8 MainGate Fall 2011 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate
The motto's marble plaque was restored this fall.used in the authoritative 1870 Arabictranslation of the New Testament(wa-liyakuna lahum afdal), which wasbased on the original Greek text.As the University has movedbeyond its missionary roots, somehave suggested that it is no longerappropriate—if it ever was—that theUniversity’s motto is a verse fromthe Bible. Interestingly, this was discussedin 1921 when the facultycommittee noted that “if we shoulddecide to choose a Scriptural textfor a motto we would have as precedentssuch institutions as Oxford(Dominus Illuminatio Mea, the Lord ismy light) and Columbia (In Lumine TuoVidebimus Lumen, in thy light shall wesee light).In addition to having the weight ofhistory on its side, there is also a gooddeal of evidence that the University’smotto continues to resonate for manycurrent members of the AUB family,“Institutions of highereducation in theArab world have theopportunity, if notthe responsibility, toenshrine the valuesembedded in traditionsthat are unique to thisregion, which emphasizesuch ideals as thecentrality of familyties, local and regionalhistories, the scientificlegacy of the MiddleEast, a notably richliterary and philosophicaltradition, the pacifist anduniversalist kernel ofthe Islamic and Judeo-Christian faiths—the ahlal-kitab—and the historictolerance of ethnicstrains of all kinds.”—President Dorman,Opening Ceremony 2011Common Abbreviations found in MainGate (MG):ACS: American Community SchoolAUB: American University of BeirutAUBMC: American University of Beirut Medical CenterCAMES: Center for Arab and Middle Eastern StudiesCAMS: Center for Advanced Mathematical SciencesCASAR: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz AlsaudCenter for American Studies and ResearchCCECS: Center for Civic Engagement and Community ServiceFAFS: Faculty of Agricultural and Food SciencesFAS: Faculty of Arts and SciencesFEA: Faculty of Engineering and ArchitectureFHS: Faculty of Health SciencesFM: Faculty of MedicineHSON: Rafic Hariri School of NursingIbsar: Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable FuturesIC: International CollegeIFI: Issam Fares Institute for Public Policyand International AffairsKSA: Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaLDEM: Landscape Design and Ecosystem ManagementOSB: Suliman S. Olayan School of BusinessPSPA: Department of Political Studies and Public AdministrationREP: Regional External ProgramsSPC: Syrian Protestant CollegeWAAAUB: Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB9
Page 1 and 2: Fall 2011 Vol. X, No. 1All in theFa
Page 3 and 4: All in the FamilyMainGate Fall 2011
Page 5 and 6: P r e s i d e n t ' s v i e wAmong
Page 7 and 8: .edu.lbAt AUB, 2,980 studentsreceiv
Page 12 and 13: including President Peter Dorman,wh
Page 14 and 15: The 1867 leather bound medical manu
Page 16 and 17: and encouraging physical activity i
Page 18 and 19: R+DNametag: Karen Moukheiber, PhD,A
Page 20 and 21: President'sreception fornew student
Page 22 and 23: Thomas (a former colleague of Young
Page 24 and 25: NYU students proposed the site of t
Page 26 and 27: My Father. Reflections (2010) by Af
Page 28 and 29: in with more evidence-based researc
Page 30 and 31: “All my research is qualitative,
Page 32 and 33: True LoveAUB StyleOne day somebody
Page 34 and 35: Nadim Homsi (BA ’60)Hala Mukhar (
Page 36 and 37: that I should graduate with a diplo
Page 38 and 39: in Brazil helping children andexecu
Page 40 and 41: Campus CourtshipLifelong LoveThey s
Page 42 and 43: Walid Dirani (BE ’92) and Thurayy
Page 44 and 45: 1950194019301920Ruth Rea(d. 1993)m.
Page 46 and 47: Beyond Bliss Streeta l u m n i p r
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Page 54 and 55: Clockwise from top left: May Monia
Page 56 and 57: Identify yourphotos forfuture issue
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Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t
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FRIENDS andCOLLEAGUESLebanese histo
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ing. Malouf served aschairman of th
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Return AddressAmerican University o
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