Initiatives to Support Low-Income Students

Emergency Financial Aid Fund

First there was a devastating political and economic crisis in Lebanon. Students rose to the occasion by demonstrating their exceptional civic duty and commitment to bettering the country, participating in peaceful demonstrations.

Next, there was a global COVID-19 pandemic. Students quickly adapted, switching to online learning and continuing their much-needed education – their only hope for a solid future in this uncertain and unpredictable world.

Then – when we thought it could not get any worse – a devastating explosion rocked our capital, taking the lives of 200+ people, and injuring around 6,500 others. It has also left hundreds of thousands homeless. Students mobilized, setting up aid tents in the areas most affected, and volunteered to help those on the ground.

While our Lebanese American University (LAU) students make us proud by proving their immense resilience and perseverance in times of tremendous difficulty, we know the reality is that they are hurting and are in need of help.

Students’ parents have lost their homes, jobs, been laid off, or found themselves grappling with a salary that no longer meets their most basic needs as a result of a collapsing national currency. In fact, more than 70 percent of our 8,500 students now have demonstrated new financial need. Many have even considered dropping out of LAU.

Losing a generation of youth isn’t an option, nor will LAU fall short on its motto of not yielding. Keeping LAU students enrolled is of utmost importance to the institution, Lebanon, and the world if we want to see any prosperity and peace in the future.

The graph below highlights the steep decline in the tuition-paying ability of families in recent years. This does not reflect today’s situation among students, which is much worse.

LAU Seeks and Rewards Creative High Schoolers with Scholarships

The Open Day at the School of Architecture and Design motivates aspiring designers and rewards top projects with scholarships.

Always keen on helping young students explore their field of study, LAU invited more than 100 high schoolers interested in majoring in art, architecture and design, for the School of Architecture and Design (SArD) Open Day on April 30.

At the newly renovated Gezairi Building on Beirut campus, the students enjoyed an eye-opening immersive experience that inspired them to design and create.

Director of the Foundation Program Silia Abou Arbid, along with faculty Lee Frederix, Christine Kettaneh and Hayla Saab initiated the students to the role of artists and designers in a fast-changing creative industry and introduced them to the different majors on offer at SArD. They also moderated discussions on the social changes that creative disciplines could help achieve.

Following a comprehensive brief, the high schoolers sprang to work in the new state-of-the-art studios and labs, to create a series of art pieces on specific themes.

Toward the end of the day, the artworks were exhibited for review by a jury panel. The top three winners were awarded LAU scholarships as follows:

• Scholarship covering 30 percent of tuition fees: Lynn Abdo Kmeid from Collège Maristes Champville.
• Scholarship covering 25 percent of tuition fees: Luana Imad Monzer from the International School of Choueifat – Choueifat.
• Scholarship covering 20 percent of tuition fees: Rama Samer Salam from Lycée Abdel Kader.

Students interested in learning more about applying to LAU should get in touch with the Student Recruitment Office.

USAID Announces $50 Million for Higher Education in Lebanon

During her visit to Lebanon, Administrator Samantha Power announced additional aid.

As published by USAID:

Today in Beirut, Administrator Samantha Power announced USAID will provide $50 million for Lebanese and refugee students living in the country to attend the American University of Beirut (AUB), LAU and Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU).

Of the $50 million, $15 million will support 140 full undergraduate scholarships to AUB and LAU for financially disadvantaged yet academically meritorious students. The remainder of the funds will provide partial need-based financial aid for about 3,500 students over the next three years to help students who can no longer afford tuition amidst Lebanon’s economic crisis.

Since 2010, USAID has provided more than $156 million in full undergraduate scholarships to more than 1,600 Lebanese and refugee students who might not otherwise be able to attend a university. USAID also works closely with these universities to prepare students with technical and manufacturing skills applicable to emerging sectors, such as solar power.

This new funding reflects USAID’s continued commitment to empowering youth to shape Lebanon’s future.

LAU’s Higher Education Scholarship alumnus Antonio Bakhos welcomed esteemed guests and thanked USAID for their generosity stating, “I am here today to tell you that dreams do come true and that I, Antonio, from Sebeel Public High school achieved my dreams and was able to make my parents proud by being the first person in my family to graduate from the university”. He later introduced fellow AUB Higher Education Scholarship alumnus Buthaina Al Abrash who gave her testimony of success as a refugee in Lebanon who managed to excel both academically and personally.

Wissam Moukahal Wants Lebanese Youth to Succeed

Having assisted 34 LAU students since 2018, the Z. Moukahal Charitable Foundation established by Wissam Moukahal (BS ’95) continues to support the recipients of its “Rafeek Program Scholarship” even beyond graduation over the long haul through advice, opportunities, and career help.

In a meeting with 21   of the scholars September 27 in Beirut, he explained that the foundation’s mission was to help the Lebanese youth continue their education during these difficult times.

“My relationship with you started with a financial scholarship, but I do not want it to end there,” he said.

Over the years, Moukahal has created a bond with these future leaders, remaining in constant contact with the students and counseling them about their careers and plans beyond graduation. He has also helped some of the scholars secure jobs in prestigious regional and multinational companies.

The LAU alumnus, himself, had had to rely on LAU financial aid and family assistance to complete his degree when his father went bankrupt. Since then, Moukahal has acknowledged the value of quality education as a universal right. That is why in the face of economic challenges, Moukahal increased the budget to assist as many students as possible.

As he places a huge emphasis on empowering women through his foundation, one of his conditions is that at least 50 percent of the scholarship recipients be female.

Underscoring his love for LAU, the alumnus insisted that students keep their university in mind. His speech inspired the students, whom he praised and reminded of their responsibility as future leaders of the country.

“Being here with you today, I feel hope. In fact, you are the hope,” he said. “My generation failed, but we are here to support you and we want to help you succeed,” he added.

Noting the precipitous events afflicting Lebanon since the October 17 revolution, he urged the students to help rebuild their country. Whether from Lebanon or abroad, everyone, he said, should give back to their homeland.

“From the UAE, I’ve been an active advocate for Lebanon – I’m as involved as each one of you in what is happening,” he said.

Moukahal concluded his speech by advising his students to build up and work on the individual. Choosing to leave or stay was not the issue, but what mattered was how to channel and apply their success. The listeners could have no better example than the speaker himself.

Artists Rise for the LAU Emergency Financial Aid Fund

Alumni, faculty artists and friends of LAU donate to LAU ArtsRising online auction organized in aid of students whose education is at risk.

The auction will be further enriched by the works of 10 friends of LAU such as this piece by Raouf Rifai, entitled “Darwich Ice Cream.”

The auction will feature works by eight faculty members such as this piece by retired associate professor Chaouki Chamoun.

Captivating works by 18 alumni will be auctioned. Pictured above is “Arabesque” by Liane Mathes Rabbath. Five of the participating alumni also teach at LAU.

In support of the LAU Emergency Financial Aid Fund, the university will be holding its first online art auction, LAU ArtsRising, from Thursday, February 18 to Monday, March 1, 2021. Organized in collaboration with ArtScoops, the event will feature a wide range of multimedia art by notable LAU alumni and faculty artists as well as friends of the university.

All proceeds will go toward funding current and prospective students who risk losing out on their education because of the financial hardship posed by the economic crisis in the country.  

From thought-provoking portraits and abstracts to sculptures, each of the pieces curated embraces Henri Matisse’s mantra that “creativity takes courage.” A driving force for our showcased artists, this spirit of endurance is matched by that of our students who persevere in the face of untold challenges, compounded by the pandemic and the devastating blast in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020.

“We are fully aware of the great weight that our students and their families shoulder under these difficult conditions,” said LAU President Michel E. Mawad, “and we will do everything in our power to share that burden. The LAU ArtsRising online art auction is one of many creative solutions we have implemented to help safeguard our students’ future and continue delivering quality education.” 

The twelve-day auction will comprise artwork generously donated by renowned Lebanese painter and former Associate Professor of Fine Arts at LAU Chaouki Chamoun, Department of Art & Design Chair Hannibal Srouji, alumna Mona Hatoum (’72), alumna Rana Raouda (’83) and our distinguished partner in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design, Elie Saab, to name a few. 

For the artists who had once benefited from financial assistance, this was an opportunity to pay it forward.

“Contributing to student financial aid is a pleasure to the soul,” said Chamoun, who is gifting his painting Land and Mountain of Peace, “especially when it comes from someone whose education, and ultimately his success, was mostly provided for by scholarships, love and the support of others.”

A world-famous multimedia and installation artist, Hatoum has generously offered two pieces from her series T42 and T42 (Gold), in which she has subverted the basic form of a white china teacup by doubling it. The result suggests something highly intimate, which, like The Kiss by Romanian Modernist sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, depicts two forms so close that they merge.

Donating the pieces to her alma mater, Hatoum hopes the generated funds will offer critical support to students and help keep education accessible to more than the privileged few. “When I was a struggling student in the early ‘70s at Beirut University College (BUC), now LAU, I was fortunate to receive financial aid from the university, which allowed me to complete my studies,” she said. “I am happy to now be in a position to donate artworks through the newly formed Mona Hatoum Foundation.”

The proceeds from the auction will be immediately deployed so that academically strong but financially vulnerable students are given every opportunity to realize their aspirations and become the outstanding professionals, thinkers, and leaders the country so desperately needs.

View Catalog

Go to the Auction

Give to learn Give to Live Gala

The Give to learn Give to Live Gala was truly a remarkable night of philanthropy. You can still make a contribution in support of student financial aid and cancer care at Lebanese American University via the Annual Gala link in our bio (at the bottom of Sponsorship and ticket information section). Thank you for your commitment to LAU and to Lebanon.