For Our Students, for Our Patients

Fall 2022

More than 200 people gathered at the Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room in New York City on November 17, 2022, for a celebration of AUB’s enduring mission.

In his welcoming remarks, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Philip S. Khoury spoke about that mission: “to graduate individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, and civic responsibility… We believe in freedom of expression and tolerance of differences,” he continued. “We abhor violence and we cherish enlightened discussion – where opposing views are not vilified but respected.”

The event was also a fundraiser: $4.4 million was raised in the period leading up to and during the dinner in addition to a $10 million commitment from an anonymous donor for an endowed scholarship fund benefiting Palestinian students and a $5 million gift from Trustee Mutaz and Mrs. Rada Sawaf to establish the Rada and Mutaz Sawaf Center for Arab Comics Studies, both announced during the dinner. Reflecting on the dinner, President Khuri said, “It was one of the finest gatherings of minds and hearts in support of the American University of Beirut that a person could ask for.”