Institutions teach tolerance, respect for diversity, presidents say

New York -- American universities in the Middle East are important agents for social and developmental change and help deepen understanding between East and West, say the leaders of four major American educational institutions in the region.

The American University in Cairo, American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University and American University of Sharjah -- with a combined enrollment of more than 22,000 students -- have thrived and are valued and respected throughout the Arab world, the presidents of those institutions say.

The presidents say they see their universities as a creative force for culturally sensitive social change in their communities. They also see their universities helping pave the way for a more peaceful and prosperous region and educating generations of Middle Easterners and Arabs who understand American values and can enter into a positive dialogue with the United States.

"Our American institutions play the role of agents of change in two ways," said Joseph G. Jabbra, president of Lebanese American University, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York March 29. The first way is "by providing students with the opportunity to go through an educational process where reason and the heart come together ... so that they learn, for example, how to solve conflict by peaceful means, how to accept the other, although the other might have a different opinion, without recourse to violence."

The second way is by calling on an "army of alumni" that now numbers more than 100,000 who occupy important positions in civil society, government and public service, Jabbra continued.

Also central to the schools' mission is the education of women. David Arnold, president of the American University in Cairo (AUC), said, "In our part of the Middle East and Arab world, one cannot overlook the importance of that in terms of societal change and social progress," he said.

Founded in 1919, AUC admitted its first female student in 1928. The Lebanese American University opened in 1866 as a school for girls and did not admit men until 1974. American University of Beirut (AUB), founded in 1866, became co-ed in 1920. At the American University of Sharjah, founded in 1997, some 45 percent of the students living in dormitories are female, according to the school's Web site

The universities also support and strengthen civil society institutions in the Middle East, Arnold said. The university in Cairo has a variety of student community service and outreach activities connected to local nongovernmental organizations. It also is home to the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, which studies charitable giving in the Arab world.

John Waterbury, AUB president, said that common to all American institutions of higher learning is the set of values they try to impart to their students: a sense of mutual respect and tolerance of people of diverse backgrounds.

"We seek to encourage responsible free speech and, of course, responsible academic freedom," Waterbury said. "We expose students to a wide range of choice in the design of their program and studies. We all emphasize a liberal arts education, [and] broad-based exposure to the great wealth of human creativity and knowledge."

Founded in 1997, the American University of Sharjah (AUS) is the "youngest" of the four universities. Chancellor Winfred L. Thompson said that the university is unique in that it was not founded by an American connection but by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Sharjah, who established the institution on the American model of higher education even though he was educated in Egypt and the United Kingdom.

Envisioned as a leading educational institution in the Gulf region, AUS is thoroughly grounded in Arab culture part of the revitalization of intellectual life in the Middle East, Thompson said.

"We try, within the unique cultural circumstances that we find ourselves, to conduct all our activities as much as we would as an American institution located in the United States in terms of our values and traditions and the ways in which we provide young people with an educational experience," he said.

The universities are also helping Americans understand the Middle East better, the presidents say.

Arnold said that the American University in Cairo has seen an "enormous increase in the number of American students who want to come to study Arabic and understand more about the history, culture, the religion, the politics of the region. We have seen a tripling, quadrupling of the number of study abroad students."

"That augurs very, very well and very positively in terms of starting to increase the level of American understanding and awareness of the Middle East," he said.

For more information, see the Web sites for the American University in Cairo, American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University and American University of Sharjah.

For more stories on U.S. society and values, see Population and Diversity.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Source: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=April&x=20070403140033atiayduj0.393429