BAU celebrates 60th batch of graduates, meets challenges by establishing a university hospital and embracing AI

More than 2000 students graduated this year from the Beirut Arab University in a central ceremony held on the university’s campus in Debbieh. (Supplied)

University President Dr. Wael Abdel Salam hands one of the graduates his diploma. (Supplied)

• Decrease in the number of Arab students, with more than 1,600 students who registered for the new academic year
• The university’s administration takes pride in the number of graduates, which has reached about 120,000 men and women since its inception

BEIRUT: Beirut Arab University, the fourth-ranked university in Lebanon, is racing against time as it organizes the graduation ceremonies of its 60th batch of graduates and welcomes the new academic year, which brings with it challenges that are no less daunting than those of the previous years.
The university’s administration takes pride in the number of graduates, which has reached about 120,000 men and women since its inception. The students specialize in different faculties that have been successively added: humanities, law and political science, business administration, architecture — design and built environment, engineering, sciences, pharmacy, medicine, dentistry and health sciences.
However, the university, staff and students now have significant concerns.
Dr. Wael Nabil Abdelsalam, the professor of general surgery who was newly appointed as president of BAU, said: “In this fast-moving world, innovation should be the focus of the next phase, as it is the only way to address the challenges of the job market at a pace that keeps up with the digital world, AI and other technologies that are shaping our present and future.”
He said: “The university faces today the challenge of proving to the world that disregarding the human element in the scientific and cultural scene is the start of the civilization and identity’s decline, and renewed scientific research is a weapon to protect humanity and its ideas.”
Throughout decades, BAU was referred to as the “university of Arabs” as it was sought by Arab students who studied scientific, literary, legal and social specializations in Lebanon, fields where its role has now declined.
According to Zina Ariss, director of public relations and communications, the university now “serves its Lebanese community in particular, and the Arab world in general.
“The number of Arab students has declined due to the security and economic conditions in Lebanon,” Aris said.
“1,605 students of different nationality have registered for the 2023-2024 academic year, and those include Palestinians, Iraqis, Sudanese, Algerians, Bahrainis, Saudis, Libyans, Jordanians, Omanis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, Egyptians, Tunisians and Yemenis.”
“We are a generation of trauma,” said graduate Youssef Al-Amin, from the faculty of humanities, in his speech. He spoke for the 2,119 graduates holding bachelor, master and doctoral degrees from 10 faculties, as he summarized the challenges the students have faced over the past four years.
During the graduation ceremony, which was held a few days ago on the university campus in Debbieh, 20 km south of Beirut, Al-Amin said: “We have all experienced the most horrific crime on August 4, 2020, during the nuclear-like explosion of Beirut port and persisted as the people were still picking up the pieces and the victims without any justice or truth. We were an online generation due to the coronavirus pandemic, and persisted. Despite the dollar, tuition and electricity crises, we did not give up, and today we hold our certificates amid all this chaos, our dreams have not been realized but we are not broken.”
The university is moving toward establishing a university hospital.
Abdelsalam said that the hospital “will incorporate the expertise and excellence accumulated by the faculties and will enhance the medical sector in Lebanon under the signature of Beirut Arab University.”
Ariss said that the idea of constructing this hospital “has been lingering for quite a while.”
“The university is working to create the suitable conditions to turn this idea into a reality, thus serving our Lebanese and Arab community,” she said. “The economic feasibility studies have been conducted for a while, however, the economic crisis in Lebanon has hindered its implementation.”
Ariss noted that under BAU’s new president, the idea is now being given serious consideration to implement and fulfill the dream.
The Bir Wal Ihsan Endowment owns BAU, along with other educational institutions.
Ariss denied any intention for Alexandria University to relinquish its role as BAU’s partner, as has been rumored in Lebanon.
She said: “The relation with Alexandria University is excellent, and there is a cooperation agreement between the board of trustees of the Bir Wal Ihsan Endowment and Alexandria University that includes academic and scientific collaboration, including education, research, seminars, conferences, the use of laboratories and libraries, student training, and scientific and academic development through BAU’s mechanisms.”
The Bir Wal Ihsan Society founded BAU, a private Lebanese institution for higher education, in 1960. The campus was established in Beirut near the Sijn Al-Raml, a prison in Tariq el-Jdideh where prisoners of conscience communicated with the university students through loudspeakers to learn about news from Lebanon and the world and coordinate protests and strikes to free the prisoners. The university later incorporated what remained of the prison, which can still be found on the university campus.
In this year’s graduation ceremonies, awards were distributed to top students under the names of the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the late Secretary General of BAU Issam Houry.
Some of the alumni who have held prominent positions in their countries include: Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Tawfiq Kreishan, Qatar’s Minister of Interior Abd Allah Abn Naser Elthany, UAE’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Hussein Al-Shaali, Kuwait’s former Minister of Education and Higher Education Sulaiman Al-Bader, Saudi Minister of Hajj Dr. Fouad bin Abdul-Salam Al-Farsi, President of Al-Quds Open University Younes Amr, former governor of Jerusalem Jamil Othman Nasser, as well as diplomats, deputies, writers, poets, thinkers and economists.