Join Together. Give. Make an Impact.
Those were the themes of AUB's first Giving Day on December 3, 2018. It was celebrated on Founders Day, the occasion each year when the university remembers the visionaries who established the college that became AUB more than 150 years ago. “Philanthropy was critical to the establishment of this university," explained VP for Advancement and Business Development Imad B. Baalbaki, “and is important to AUB's continued success, so it made sense to make Founders Day our Giving Day."
AUB alumni and friends participated in impressive numbers: 1,051 donors from 26 countries, 34 US states and the District of Columbia, and seven Canadian provinces. 30 percent of those who made gifts for Giving Day 2018 were first-time donors. Generous matches from Mazen Dajani (BBA '59, MA '69), Abdallah Darwiche (BEN '75), Trustee Nabil Habayeb (former AUB student 1977-79), Trustee Hisham Jaroudi (BAR '66), Trustee Emerita Ann Z. KerrAdams, Trustee Maher Mikati (BBA '01) and Dana Mikati (BBA '02), and Trustee D. Scott Wise brought the total raised during Giving Day to $616,822.
There was also a Faculty Challenge between AUB's seven faculties—a friendly competition to determine which faculty would secure the highest percentage of alumni participation. The Faculty of Health Sciences won first prize, followed by the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing and the Faculty of Medicine. The faculty that attracted the greatest number of alumni donors was the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, followed by the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business and the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture tied for third place.
