LAU alumni reconnect with their alma mater
The university holds its annual Alumni Homecoming week.
Alumni enjoy dinner and entertainment at the MusicHall.
Networking and remembering the good old days over a homecoming brunch at Casper & Gambini’s.
President Jabbra addressing Louaize, Amchit and Byblos graduates at the Byblos campus.
In Byblos, alumni learn salsa moves and steps with renowned dancers Flako and Anna.
The Beirut all-Class reunion brought together Beirut and Sidon graduates.
The Beirut reunion continued with the Beirut Alumni Chapter hosting “Chady & Gaby Comedy Show.”
“I have memories in every single corner of this campus, as in my own house,” said Hisham Abou Hamdan, who graduated from LAU with a business degree in 1997. Every year, he attends the LAU Alumni Homecoming, accompanied by a former classmate who today is his business partner. “I spent six years on this campus, you can imagine how it feels to be back,” he added.
The annual Alumni Homecoming kicked off this year on July 21 with a dinner at MusicHall, during which the selection committee granted alumna Maha Kaddoura (‘70) with the Alumni Recognition Award, while the Alumni Achievement Award went to Joumana Dammous Salamé (‘92).
The event was followed by all-class reunions on LAU’s Byblos and Beirut campuses and a homecoming brunch at Casper & Gambini’s.
According to Abdallah el Khal, Alumni Relations office director, this series of events allows members of the LAU community to reconnect, network and learn about each other. “Only the university can fulfill the role of keeping alumni connected,” he said.
At this year’s reunion, it was clear that the goal has been fulfilled. Former classmates, different but still recognizable from the yearbook pictures displayed, hugged the older versions of each other in disbelief.
Ibtisam Labban (’71) does not drive at night but made an exception to be able to attend the reunion. “I enjoyed every bit of the campus life,” she said while sitting on a bench with another former student of the Applied Science program. “I wish I could start all over again.”
In his welcome speech, President Joseph G. Jabbra greeted the alumni and reminded them of the responsibility, as well as the privilege, that comes with being part of the LAU family. “Serving others so that they have better opportunities has been LAU’s mission,” he said, “and as former students, you are an eternal part of this endeavor.”
With palpable pride, he enumerated the success that LAU has achieved in recent years, including the soon-to-come prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation for the Adnan Kassar School of Business, LAU’s nomination as leader of two of Model UN’s major programs and the progress made by the Alice Ramez Chagoury School in transforming common misconceptions about nursing.
Jabbra pointed out that LAU seeks to provide not only technical training, but education in its true meaning. “Since its foundation in 1835, LAU has become a bridge between the East and the West,” he said. “We are all human beings, and this is what we are truly teaching at LAU.”
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