The Office of Communications of the American University of Beirut (AUB) has issued a statement debunking the circulating rumors about the university shutting down or leaving Lebanon.
Entitled “Deeply rooted and staying in Beirut,” the statement assured that the news published by local newspaper Al-Joumhouria about AUB “seriously considering shutting down” was not true.
“The Office of Communications wishes to deny, in full and in detail, all allegations contained within this article and similar articles written in recent days, which have no basis in reality,” AUB stressed in the statement.
Days before Al-Joumhouria’s article, Al-Arabiya English alluded to the possibility that AUB might relocate to Dubai. Head of Communications at AUB, Martin Asser, was quick to debunk the news on Twitter.
“The university reasserts that it has been located in Beirut and in Lebanon since 1866 to serve the peoples of Lebanon and the region,” issued AUB Office of Communications.
“Its mission is higher education and equipping students to enter society to effect positive change so that Lebanon and all the region’s peoples can ‘have life and have it more abundantly.'”
AUB is a historic and iconic part of Beirut. Since 1866, it has become the leading university in all of Lebanon and ranks second-best in the entire MENA region.
It has an impressive list of alumni; in fact, 19 of its graduates are cited as the co-founders of the United Nations.
Although it is going through some financial struggles in Lebanon, it has affirmed that it is here to stay.
