Sally Abou Melhem , Office of Communications, communications@aub.edu.lb
New graduate and undergraduate scholars of the Tomorrow's Leaders (TL) Scholarship Program, funded by the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI),
were welcomed to academic year 2019-20 at both the American University
of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) in a joint
reception held at AUB's Maamari Auditorium.
The Tomorrow's
Leaders program supports academically qualified and financially
disadvantaged students with leadership potential in the MENA region,
through providing scholarships to pursue their graduate and
undergraduate studies at leading institutions in the region, in line
with the program's vision to prepare the next generation of MENA leaders
for the 21st century. The program offers academic and civic
education to its scholars, with a focus on leadership development and
community service opportunities, aiming to equip them with the
knowledge, skills, attitude, and commitment necessary to develop their
potential as future leaders. It also seeks to foster among them the
professionalism, ethical conduct, and tolerance that will enable them to
become globally competitive leaders and change agents in their
respective societies.
The Program is funded by the US Department
of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) program within the
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination, and
partners with two host institutions in Lebanon, namely AUB and LAU.
There are currently 217 MEPI-TL students attending both AUB and LAU, and
to date a total of 193 have graduated from the two universities. The
scholars are from various parts of the MENA region including Libya,
Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,
and Morocco.
Attending the reception for the new MEPI-TL cohort
were AUB President Fadlo Khuri, AUB Provost Mohamed Harajli, LAU's Vice
President for Student Development and Enrollment Management Elise Salem,
Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Beirut Win Dayton, MEPI–TL
directors from both LAU and AUB, in addition to MEPI-TL graduate and
undergraduate scholars as well as staff from both universities.
Khuri
delivered his welcome remarks saying, “All of you, the students who
come through this program are consistently among the best and brightest,
even in this high-achieving academic environment. And, as any seasoned
educator will tell you, any institution benefits just as much—if not
more—from a diverse range of highly talented students, just as much as
the students themselves benefit."
MEPI–Tomorrow's Leaders Program
Director at LAU Dina Abdul Rahman then spoke on behalf of LAU. “Indeed,
the primary objective of MEPI–Tomorrow's Leaders program is to build a
cadre of young leaders who are civic minded, intellectually able, and
professionally skilled, who will become the community and national
leaders of the future."
Deputy Chief of Mission Dayton also
addressed the audience saying, “Today, we honor a new group of
tomorrow's leaders who will dedicate themselves as active and informed
citizens to build better societies." He added, “Collectively, with the
hundreds of tomorrow's leaders who have preceded you, and with hopefully
hundreds more that will follow your good footsteps, we believe that
your leadership and contributions will have far reaching positive
impacts in your communities, in your countries, in the region, and in
the world."
MEPI–Tomorrow's Leaders Graduate Program at AUB
Director Rabih Talhouk in turn welcomed the students of the new cohort,
assuring them that they will have a very positive impact on AUB, and
expressing his happiness that stems from the fact that he will be
working closely with such students. He stated that an application has
been made for future funding in order to host more students in the next
academic year. “We are hoping that this program continues to grow,"
Talhouk said, thanking the Department of State, as well as AUB and LAU
for hosting this program.
MEPI–Tomorrow's Leaders Undergraduate
Program Director at AUB Hani Hassan finally shared with the attendees
that since its inception, the program at AUB and LAU has had a total of
410 students who graduated or are currently studying, noting that around
58 percent of them are young women. He then advised the scholars that
even though the program may seem challenging at times, they must not
allow these challenges to overcome them, and that they should remember
the challenges, big and small, that they had already overcome to get to
where they are now. “We are more than confident of the impact you will
have before you even graduate. Your presence in our institutions is not
only life changing for you but it is also life changing for us."
AUB
MEPI TLG student Rania Bou Said from Lebanon, and LAU MEPI TL student
Manel Roumaissa Benabid from Algeria, also took the podium and shared
their stories and experiences of getting accepted to the program and
joining their universities. Scholars of the new cohort then joined the
officials for a group photo