Giving Day 2023: Uniting AUB’s Global Family

Vol. XXII, No. 1, 2024

AUB organized its 4th Giving Day on December 4, 2023. December 4 is also the day that AUB celebrated the 157th anniversary of its founding on December 3, 1866.

Organizing Giving Day on Founders Day highlights the importance of philanthropy at AUB. This was a theme that President Fadlo R. Khuri noted in his Founders Day speech: “This university would not have been established without the philanthropic support that Dr. Daniel Bliss, our first and longest-serving president, was able to gather from generous donors in the United States and United Kingdom. From the university’s founding throughout its tremendous growth–both in size and impact–philanthropy has been a constant thread,” he said.

The campus was buzzing on Giving Day: there were booths, a tombola with prizes contributed by 58 Giving Day sponsors, and a performance by the AUB Music Club. The competition among AUB’s seven faculties to win one of three Faculty Challenge trophies was fierce. The trophies were announced and awarded by President Khuri during a special ceremony on December 18, 2023, as follows:

Highest Percentage of Alumni Donors: Rafic Hariri School of Nursing

Greatest Number of Alumni Donors: Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Greatest Number of Faculty Friend Donors: Faculty of Medicine

“The ultimate goal on Giving Day is to have as much participation as possible,” says Dr. Khuri. “It is not just about the money raised, but about having our global family come together.”