Inaugural CelebratIon the MIkatI buIldIng ZIadeh Sawwaf buIldIng@internationalcollegelb alumni@ic.edu.lbLebanon113-5373367420South,Suite 1710 10003, USA www.ic.edu.lbicny@ic.edu.lb3005 Inaugural Celebrat the MIkat ZIadeh Sawwaf@international-college SawwafCelebratIonbuIldIngbuIldIngInaugural CelebratIon the MIkatI buIldIng ZIadeh Sawwaf buIldIng ICsummerNewsletter2019
InAUgURAl CElEbRATIon Mikati Building & Ziadeh Sawwaf Building
trustees emeriti Makram n. alamuddin ‘61 Mohamad S. H. al-Soleiman ‘59 Khalid al-turki ‘61 raymond W. audi Said S. Darwazah ‘76 Peter H. gerard thomas W. Hill Fouad Malouf ‘56 aida reed (luce) administration
Jonathan (Jon) a. Conner
6
FEATURES
Production coordinator: Sana Yamout
Wadad Hoss - Director, Middle School Kim Issa - Director of alumni & advancement
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Gala Dinner and Events
EDIToRIAl TEAM:
Mahmoud Shihab, Ph.D – Director, educational resources Center
William H. turner, treasurer anthony Jones, assistant treasurer richard S. Ward, Secretary gerrit Keator, assistant Secretary elizabeth (lizzie) adelman anwar al Mulla ‘63 Karim Baalbaki ‘94 (ex-officio) Selim a. Bassoul Mona Bawarshi ‘67 Wael o. Bayazid ‘70
Don Bergman, ed.D – President Paula Mufarrij - Vice President for academic affairs
................................................................................ 14 Dinner
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................................................................ 25 Contents suggestions,Forcommentsoremailusatrhaddad@ic.edu.lb Internat I onal College
Board of trustees
Zeina abou Khalil – Director, Preschool Diana abou lebdeh – Director, Upper elementary/Middle, ain aar Darren arbor - Director, elementary School Hiba Chaaban – Director, Human resources
Layout: Nazha Merabi, Tala Tabbara
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Moufid Beydoun – Vice President for alumni & Major gifts talal Jundi - Vice President & Chief Financial officer
Imad taher, Vice Chairman
The
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Frederik o. Crawford Walid Daouk ‘76 t.M. (Mac) Deford Bayard Dodge amal a. ghandour Yusuf a. Kan’an ‘71 Charles neal Maglaque Marwan a. Marshi ‘79 Safwan Masri theodore May John g. McCarthy, Jr. Maher Mikati ‘98 Mirna B. noujaim Ian reed Matthew a reynolds Mu’taz Sawwaf ’69 talal K. Shair ‘83 Issam Shammas ‘63 rabih Shibli ahmed tayeb Maya tohme (nassar)
Donald J. Selinger, Chairman
Farewell Dr. ‘B’
AlUMnI Updates Alumni Association
The end of the Saga: IC’s long journey ends
Bruce Knox – Director, Secondary School lina Mouchantaf – Director, Preschool/lower elementary, ain-aar
Katherine Murphy McClintic - Vice President of advancement
DEVEloPMEnT
ReemEditor-in-chief/Writer:Haddad
Contributing photographers: Dory Khayatt, Nehme Houri, Chafic Ariss ‘83, Reem Haddad
All andReunionAlumniBrunchCampusTour
AuGuST
IC Campus, Beirut
IC Campus, Beirut
summer 2019 3
July 12
IC Campus, Beirut
Date to confirmedbe
This7:30PMevent is to celebrate classes of 2000 through 2018.
IC Campus, Beirut
1960s ReunionAlumniDinner
1970s ReunionAlumniDinner
IC Campus, Beirut
7:30PM
Class of 1999
July 5
OcTOber
This11:00AMevent is open to all classes. July 7
10
For tickets and information please contact the IC Advancement Office at alumni@ic.edu.lb - Tel. +961 1 367 420
This7:30PMevent is to celebrate classes of 1970 through 1979.
20th ReunionAlumniDinner
July 6
Class of 1994 25th ReunionAlumniDinner
7:30PM
Let’s Party
n Established a formal College Admissions and Career Guidance Office.
Dear IC friends,
Farewell Dr ‘B’
n Appointed Heads of Programs for the Secondary School with expertise in the Lebanese and French Baccalaureate programs to provide oversight, supervision and support comparable to that provided for the IB program.
n Expanded IC’s special needs support across all grade levels from pre-school through middle school by adding specially trained teachers to support and assist students with learning challenges such as attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dysgraphia, and visual or auditory processing deficits.
In this, my last letter as the President of International College, I am both expressing my gratitude and sharing some of the school improvement initiatives of the past five years. Each initiative is the result of the collective efforts of all who are dedicated to International College and its students. Improvement and progress initiatives also require adaptability, flexibility and change. These are valuable life skills that students apply naturally, but that often makes us adults uncomfortable. I am aware that not all of the initiatives embarked upon have been seen as popular, as adding value, or being 100% successful. But for those of us entrusted with positions of influence and leadership, a major responsibility is to be a constant advocate and pursuer of progress, improvement, and Upongrowth.thesolid
n Established a school-wide counseling program focusing on students’ social and emotional wellness from pre-school through secondary.
n Added native French certified Assistant Directors to oversee, monitor and strengthen IC’s French section programs.
foundation of IC’s past, the following represent some of the notable school improvement initiatives taken during the past five years:
n Identified school-wide subject area specialists (e.g. math, science, social studies, Arabic, English and French) to strengthen classroom teachers subject content knowledge and
n Successful reaccreditation of IC programs and services from four major school quality control organizations/ agencies including the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), Council of International Schools (CIS), International Baccalaureate Office (IBO), and the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE).
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With Affection, Don Bergman, International College President 2014-2019
n Planted seeds to begin IC’s transition from a predominately teacher centered instructional methodology at the middle and secondary schools to one that reflects a more positive, encouraging and supportive learning environment where students share the responsibility for their learning, that utilizes widely recognized research based educational “best practices”, and classrooms where student’s potential and accountability is maximized through positive encouragement and recognition rather than a philosophy of consequences and sanctions.
n Prioritized student and campus security.
n Proposed and supported the transition to a new, comprehensive, and multi-faceted student data software platform (Power School).
n Promoted the concept of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to enhance IC’s traditional strengths in Math and Science theory and knowledge.
n Initiated the restructuring of the elementary PYP program by adding more specific and concrete academic content and resources to supplement the strengths of the PYP.
Each school has had its own unique characteristics, culture, opportunities and challenges. All of them experienced significant enrollment growth and increasing demand for admission. Many, like IC, were engaged in major campus redevelopment and construction projects, all were a blend of US, international and host country cultural environments, all served a demanding parent community with high expectations, and finally, all had remarkable and incredibly talented students.
n Created a more cooperative and inviting school/ parent partnership characterized by more openness, transparency, and communication.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni for what has been a most gratifying professional experience and one of the highlights of more than four decades as an international school educator. I have served as a teacher, director and head of seven international schools on five continents.
In closing, I am proud to have been a part of IC for the past five years and to have had the opportunity to experience Lebanon’s fascinating history and culture. Of course, it is people that represent culture and of all the countries and cultures I’ve lived in, it is YOU, the LEBANESE that have made these past five years so remarkable. My only regret is that I didn’t discover IC and Lebanon much earlier in my career. I can honestly say that I have experienced the cliché of having “saved the best for last”.
to ensure a solid foundation of subject content and appropriate sequencing of skills and concepts as students’ progress from one grade level to the next.
n Initiated the Danielson teacher professional development, supervision and performance appraisal protocol to improve the quality of teaching.
n Expanded the number and range of after school/co-curricular sports, clubs, and activities.
6 summer 2019
n June 11, 2019, a crowd gathered on IC’s Ras Beirut campus to celebrate the inauguration of the new Middle School and Preschool. Speeches were given. Guests looked awed. Wonderful buildings. Lucky students. They clapped. Among them, sat Board member Imad Taher. He had just delivered an overview of the buildings. He too listened to the speeches and clapped. He looked around the crowd. Very few knew. Very few realized that the evening’s celebration was hardly about bricks and mortar. If only they did know. Taher smiled.Thelong saga had come to an end. It was in 1989 that Taher was asked to join the Board. He was living in Nigeria at the time when the phone rang. It was his sister. “Someone from IC called up asking for you,” she said. “Maybe they want money.”Thatsomeone turned to be IC’s then president, Gerrit Keator. Join the Board and come fundraising with us. Taher accepted. It was his Alma Mater after all. Little did he know back then, that he would end up paying a pivotal role in the survival of IC in the Ras Beirut campus.
But that was where the problem was: it hadn’t.After it merged with AUB’s Prep School in 1936, IC thrived attracting students from all over the Arab and African world.
In 1962, an ideal spot was found: ≈690,000 m2 land in picturesque hills of Meshref, in the Chouf district about 25 km to the south of Beirut which overlooked the sparkling Mediterranean sea.This was to be IC’s home. Plans went effect. A famous American architect Edward Durell Stone was hired. Stone was making waves in the architectural
But by the 1950s, AUB was beginning to hum and haw. It needed space to expand. Sorry, but we need the campus back. IC mustAndgo.so in 1956, the two were officially separated by a presidential decree. IC was now an independent entity. The search for a new campus site began.
IC’s history is an epic story of sorts. A school is established by a Protestant missionary in the cosmopolitan city of Smyrna, Turkey. WWI. Fire. Nationalism. School moved to Beirut. It found another home. Or so IC thought.
Imad Taher with his grandson, Imad, at the elementary school inauguration in 2013
The end of the Saga: IC’s long journey ends
O
But any hopes of remotely vacating were dashed in 1982 during the Israeli invasion when war jets zoned in on the golden dome which topped Bshmoun’s new swimming pool. It was to be inaugurated that very day. Somehow, IC managed to use the campus for another year but the whole area had become a danger zone. Students were moved back to Ras Beirut and squeezed in the mostly unlikely places. Emergency classrooms were set up in the library, the cafeteria, ERC offices, and the basement of AUB’s men’s dormitory. Additional classrooms were rented from
1989 rolled around and Imad Taher joined the Board. “We weren’t thinking anymore ‘will IC survive’?” he said. “We were thinking will Lebanon survive?”
“It was 20 times as big as IC campus we have now,” said Taher. “The buildings were grand and sleek.”
By now, IC had been given a soft ultimatum: leave by 1980 - please. IC agreed. It was ample time to finish the Meshref campus.
Some members of the Board were advocating moving the school out of Lebanon. In fact some offers of affiliations
And this was only phase I. For now, the Meshref campus will accommodate the secondary school students only. The rest of the student body will move to the new campus as the construction progresses.
The school made another attempt to leave in 1978 when it bought the former British Community School in Bshamoun. The new campus was already custom designed for elementary school students and easily accessible from Beirut. For now, elementary school students - who have been attending classes in rented ACS classrooms - could commute. A master plan was drawn up. More students will be transferred to Bshamoun as construction advances.1980.AUB waited. But IC wasn’t ready yet.Finally, in a letter to AUB president Dr. Calvin Plimpton Chairman, an obviously frustrated IC Chairman of the Board, John Griswold, wrote that “much has been made of the June 1980 target date for IC’s departure. Due to the above considerations and the more important damaging effect of the war in Lebanon, such a target date becomes meaningless. Furthermore, any other such target date for the future
The new campus boasted six classroom buildings, a student center building and one dormitory building for boarders for both boys and girls. In addition to three green football fields, three asphalted volleyball courts, three basketball courts and three tennis courts.
at this point that any attempts to move IC to another location basically stopped. A more pressing problem was the elementary school.
bshamoun Campus 1978
world with his use of the “International Style” in his designs. He was noted for his designs of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Pepsico World Headquarters, the University at Albany campus and Beirut’s very own Phoenicia Hotel in the city center.
On October 21, 1971 the Meshref campus was inaugurated.
1975. Turns out that the ideal spot for IC was also the ideal spot for various militias. With a heavy heart, IC vacated Meshref.Itwasnow effectively back in Ras Beirut. Back to square one.
IC was going to become an architectural treasure, thought Taher, who at the time was working at a local architectural firm and got a sneak peek at the blueprints.
becomes, at this time, equally unrealistic. We are faced with conditions which are totally unpredictable and, therefore, beyond our control. Since 1975, the sheer survival of IC then and now has only been possible through the continued use of the Ras Beirut campus.”
On December 17 1985, Meshref was sold. The former British embassy was officially purchased. Bshamoun campus was up for sale.
“I cannot think of IC in another location. IC belongs where it is now. After 73 years of barely any development on campus, we were finally able to start transformingradicallythecampus.”–ImadTaher
ACS.Itwas
As luck would have it, then IC president, Alton Reynolds was approached by the owner of the building which housed the British Embassy at the Cornishe. Would IC be interested in purchasing it?
summer 2019 7
had already come in. Then IC Chairman Bill Turner refused as did, among others and quite vehemently, Imad Taher.
Now what? Now nothing, said Taher who had become the head of the Building and Grounds Committee. “We are staying where we are,” he said determinately.
“Our future is at Ras Beirut. This is where IC started. This is where the IC spirit is and these are the demographics for IC. Ras Beirut represents an intellectual environment around IC and AUB. It represents a mix and a diversity which is part of IC’s missions. The only place we can have this diversity is in Ras beirut. Nowhere else.”
Moreover, he told Taher, AUB even helped out in securing a large loan for the MeshrefObviously,campus.things didn’t go as planned. The Bshamoun campus itself was sold just after the war. Taher himself initiated the sale. With the construction boom in the area, the location of the Bshamoun campus as a school for IC was no longer ideal. Effectively, IC had nowhere to go. There was one last - rather feebleattempt. There was a vacant land just across the Ras Beirut campus for sale. But the school, now under the presidency of Robert Ober and just coming out of the war, didn’t have the funds. The land was soon snapped up by developers.
Certainly not partners and since IC wasn’t paying rent, it wasn’t a customerclient relationship. So were we squatters then? “We had to seek permission for any
alterations,” he said. “Let alone our plans to build a gymnasium, an elementary school and other things.”
The answer was always no. It was stifling. AUB obviously was sticking to its plans: we want our campus back. Kindly vacate.Bynow it was 1999 and the relations between the administrators of the two institutions had gone a little sour. And so, accompanied by board member Fouad Maalouf, Taher held some ‘mending relationship’ lunches and meetings with AUB administrators. At the same time, Robert Ober met with then AUB president John Waterbury.
Taher and Malouf laid out their case. One, IC refuses to budge. Two, if IC were to vacate, AUB - by law- would have to pay an evacuation fee worth half the value of land. Three, if AUB was to sue, it is highly unlikely that a judge would throw out 2,500 children on the streets. Four, it has been 73 years of an unspoken rent free arrangement - and will mostly likely remain so for the foreseeable future. AUB is getting absolutely nothing out of IC.
“IC belongs to Lebanon, to Ras Beirut,” he argued. “Moving IC somewhere else? It will not be IC anymore.”
Meanwhile in New York, IC Chairman Bill Turner was holding his own lengthy discussions with AUB’s chairman.
The 1990 Taif accord ended the war. IC did indeed survive. But, thought Taher, for how long? AUB’s position still had not changed: it wanted its property back. Perhaps more savvy that the earlier missionary-like board members, the new generation of Trustees made inquiries. The result: there was no official written agreement in 1936 nor was there one in 1956, when the two separated. Taher desperately tried to find some kind of document but to no avail. Finally, he travelled to the US to seek Constantin Zurayk who served as AUB’s Acting President in the 1950s. “We didn’t want a secondary school as part of the university,” Zurayk told Taher. “It wasn’t our job to run a secondary school and we needed the space. Yes, we wanted IC to move out.”
The way Taher saw it, there was only one solution: sell the campus.
8 summer 2019 Meshref Campus 1973
But emotions aside, the legalities of the affiliation were decidedly hazy. What exactly was the status of IC vis-ā-vis AUB?
Everything was set on the table. It was now 2001. The ball was thrown in AUB’s court. Will it accept?
Future plans
summer 2019 9
In 2013, the new Elementary School (consisting of two buildings) at the Ras Beirut Campus were inaugurated: The Hisham Ezzat Jaroudi Building and the Talal and Maha Shair Building. As part of the deal with AUB, the former British Embassy was handed over to the university.
IC held its breath. This was it.
After 73 years in Beirut, International College finally had a home of its own.
Enlarged classrooms from 42 sq. meters to 65 squ. meter ( in the middle school)
Highly efficient buildings: low e-glasses, motion sensors, light regulators, etc.
irrigation.Parking facilities for 109 cars.
It was a miracle, said Taher. “IC was now secure for the first time. It’s a dream come true. As for me, it was an honor to have been able to contribute to this security. This is where I studied and where I graduated. I feel that I have paid back my school.”
Preservation of IC’s 500 year old carob tree with middle and preschool encircling it.
All the buildings have received the Leed Gold Certificate (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Taher couldn’t believe it. Still, many lengthy negotiations, arguments and heated discussions waited ahead. We will sell you the campus, yes, but not the football field. What? balked IC. What’s IC without the football field. Ok. Then we have to approve your master plans. No, argued IC. That is now our business. More discussions. Some escalated. With every argument, Taher’s heart sank. What if AUB leaves the negotiating table? What if the talks fall through? He knew several of AUB’s board members were against the sale to begin with. What if they convinced the others?
Cutting the ribbon was Imad Taher - Board member and the Chair of the buildings and Grounds Committee - who had been overseeing and approving every step of the construction.
In 2019, a new Middle and preschool were completed on the Ras Beirut campus: The Ziadeh Sawwaf Preschool Building and The Mikati Family Middle School Building. Once again, Flansburgh Associates, who had won a US award for their design of the elementary school, drew up the architectural plans.
Solar panels in the elementary schools and installations for future solar panels in the preschool and middleBuildingschoolroofs, covered by canopies, to be used as playground or open space.
A master plan has also been drawn up for the Ain Aar campus which include the construction of various facilities.
IC’s saga had ended.
Elementary, middle and preschool mesh together Give impression of cheerful environment
The years passed. Finally in 2009 - 10 years after the arduous negotiations began and after a last hectic week working around the clock as Taher and Walid Daouk in Beirut and Turner and Board Member Dick Ward in New York - AUB and IC came to an agreement. Taher signed the agreement on behalf of IC. AUB President Peter Doorman signed on behalf of the university.
Water efficient water closets. Runoff water from drains are collected in a reservoir to be used for
n 2009, right after negotiations with AUB ended, IC launched its Campaign for Excellence fundraising efforts. A US architecture firm, Flansburgh Associates, which specializes in designing schools was commissioned to draw up designs for a new elementary school. On November 4, 2010 ground was broken and construction began.
Main features of the buildings
The old preschool building is currently under renovation and will be used as additional space for preschoolers. Future plans include the complete renovations of Sage Hall, Thomson and Rockefeller and the construction of an administration building. One of the buildings will be used for STEAM, arts and culture program while the other two will be dedicated to the secondary school
I
Yes. AUB will sell.
The Ras Beirut campus was now the full and legal property of IC.
Unveiling of the IC flag from the new Pre-School Building, “Ziadeh Sawwaf Building”
ZIadeh
Mr. Basim Ziadeh, Alumnus: PREP School and IC
InauguralPrograCelebratIonM
Walk to the new Middle School Building
Inaugural CelebratIon
SPeakerS
Inaugural CelebratIon the MIkatI buIldIng Sawwaf buIldIng
National Anthem and Alma Mater Welcome Message by Dr Don Bergman, IC President
Mr. Mu’taz Sawwaf, Board Member
Unveiling of the IC flag from the new Middle School Building, “The Mikati Building”
Reception
@international-college
@IC_Lebanon @InternationalCollegeLB @internationalcollegelb P.O.Box 113-5373 Beirut, Lebanon +961 1 367 alumni@ic.edu.lb420 215 Park Avenue South, Suite 1710 New York, NY 10003, USA +212 529 www.ic.edu.lbicny@ic.edu.lb3005
Mr. Taha Mikati, Chairman M1 Group
6:45pm
Today is a day of celebration at IC. We celebrate the inauguration of two new state of the Arts Buildings. The first is the new Mikati Middle School Building and the second is the New Ziadeh Sawwaf Preschool Building. With this celebration, IC looks to the future with great hope and determination to fulfill its mission educating and nurturing the future leaders of tomorrow. For the past 100 years, IC has been a success story; the best testimony to that are our present donors… With the help of Flansburgh, we are updating our Master Plan. Our next major target is to renovate and rebuild the secondary school and the New Media Center. This will depend on raising the necessary funds. In Ain Aar, we are planning to execute a major project, the auditorium/gymnasium center.
the MIkatI buIldIng & ZIadeh Sawwaf buIldIng
Mr. Imad Taher, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairperson of the Buildings and Grounds Committee
INTERNATIONAL C OLLE g E
Walk to the new Pre-School Building
Mr. Don Selinger, Chairman of the Board
June 11, 2019
Imad Taher, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairperson of the Buildings and Grounds Committee
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The Mikati Family
Maher Mikati, Imad Taher, najib Mikati, Don Selinger, Taha Mikati, Moufid beydoun, Azmi Mikati, Mona bawarshi, Issam Chammas
najib Mikati and grandson, najib
For our family, education is the cornerstone toward the development of a tolerant society, because we need to develop citizens who will know how to defend themselves with a pen, not with a gun….When I was a little boy, I used to be in admiration when reading the names of the American families, written on the various IC buildings: Rockefeller, Thompson, Sage and I used to dream that one day I would love to have the Mikati name associated with one of these buildings. I can proudly say that with God’s blessings and the support of my parents, my wife, my brother Najib and our families, the dream of the little boy is being realized.
Taha Mikati ‘64, Chairman M1 Group
Don Selinger, Imad Taher, Taha Mikati
This institution is where I made my first friendship, had my first crush, skipped my first class and eventually, instilled in me my first sense of belonging to a community. It’s where Bassem and I first met, graduated and hence developed a lifelong friendship and business partnership till today. It’s where we meet again today to give back to IC, after 57 years... This time, with my dearest wife, Rada, and my sweetheart daughter, Maymouna, who joined IC one year ago, we are here to give back to IC, and hope my daughter, Maymouna, follows my footsteps in her own way of course, to contribute to IC in any way she can.
Mu’taz Sawwaf ‘69, Board member
12 summer 2019
Don Selinger, Mu’taz Sawwaf , Imad Taher
Don bergman, Imad Taher, Mu’taz Sawwaf , Rada Sawwaf, basim Ziadeh, neda Ziadeh, Don Selinger Mu’taz Sawwaf , Rada Sawwaf, basim Ziadeh
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Basim Ziadeh ‘69, Alumnus: Prep school and IC
o usama Fansa, Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, basim Ziadeh
The donations to build these buildings are only a start and Mu’taz and I have committed to continue on this mission to keep this small but important base of education able to fulfil its role to the young who are the future of Lebanon. For this reason, we will endeavor to establish a 2 MUSD endowment fund specifically targeted for the maintenance of the building, to assist needy students, and to make sure that students with special needs have a place too. This fund will be with matched giving so all donations will be matched by us.
Don Selinger, basim Ziadeh , Imad Taher
14 summer 2019
The center will also act as a catalyst for IC’s extension program whereby IC teachers will train teachers in public schools. This way, IC will widen its impact in the community, giving public school teachers access to the advanced training given at IC. The Ghandour family will cover the cost of the center with one full-time staff member coordinating its activities, including building sustainable partnerships with public, private and civil society organizations.
reserves were exhausted and the school was operating day to day. Many trustees entertained the idea of the school being shut down. Bill insisted IC remain open.
• A transformative education for all students
Bill understood that IC was an important shining light in Lebanon that needed to be kept illuminated.
Every year, and in perpetuity, the Ghandour Family will give the school the amount of $250,000 to cover four full scholarships. The center will give these IC scholars, and other interested students from any Secondary School program, leadership training to help grow their skills and forge their personalities.
Don Selinger, bill Turner, Don bergman
• Extension Programs for the school to widen its impact in the community
IC is proud to boast that the Ali Ghandour Leadership and Civic Engagement Center will be one of the first schoolbased leadership centers in the region.IC’s
As announced during the Gala dinner, International College will officially inaugurate the Ali Ghandour Leadership and Civic Engagement Center this fall. The Center has two main objectives:
Bill understood how important IC was to the remaining students.
Chairman of the Board, Don Selinger, honoring former Chairman Bill Turner with a plaque and the announcement of the Bill Turner walkway (from Thomson Hall to Sage Hall)
Bill understood that IC was a vital part of what made Beirut an important educational and cultural center
Gala Dinner
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Elie Fawaz, Don Selinger, Alain and Irma balian
March 2019 16 summer 2019
Dinners$Events
Wissam and Souha Fahed, Ramzi ‘88 and Solange labban, Paula Mufarrij
Kim Issa ‘05, Edgar and Jessica Yammine, Enaam Mitri, Walid Matta, Youssef and Sandra ghostine
Ain Aar Community Dinner
Montreal
ghina Srouji, Ramez Tarazi ‘73, Carlos Del burgo ‘73, Ramzi Halabi ‘65, Rana Halabi ‘95, Joel Pienado, Khalid Hajjar ‘84, Moufid beydoun ‘64
o ula Majdalani, Sara Majdalani, Kate McClintic, Helene Amyouni, ghida Tayara, Wasim Sultani, Joe Amyouni ‘77
summer 2019 17
Toronto
18 summer 2019
IC President-elect Joel Pienado with IC alumni and friends
Kate McClintic, lina baba, Diana Dahdouh, nadine Harris, Elise Karam ‘72, Moufid beydoun ’64, georges Karam ‘69, Saad Dahdouh ‘72, Ahmad baba, Christopher Harris
Jamal Khalil ’91, Moufid beydoun ’64, ghassan Jahshan ‘90, ghassan osman ‘80, Tamara osman ‘90, Maya Khalil, Mohammad Saadeh ‘96, Rana Al Assad Saadeh
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Houston
Dallas
Sirine ghalayini ‘06, Hanneke Sakr, Joumana Abou Arraj, lina bekdash ‘86, Hani bekdash ‘75, Moufid beydoun ’64, Henri Abou Arraj, Marwan Sakr ‘76, gilbert Khoury ‘76, Tierei Khoury
Mona Hariri, Mustafa Hariri ‘75, nadim nehme ‘68, Souha nehme, Marun Haddad ‘64, Moufid bedyoun ’64, Mira Haddad, Wafa Itani ‘85, Kamel Itani, Kate McClintic, gaby bouri, Fadi bouri ‘81
Jumeirah, Zaabeel Saray, Dubai
Don bergman, Diana El ghorair, nabil Murad, Clarita Atallah, Rola ohannesian, Jessica Absi, Hiba Chamout
Join us for Alumni & Saturday,SuhoorFriendsMay11,2019at9:00MusicHall
Clarita Atallah , Rola ohannesian, Jessica Absi, Hiba Chamout, HE Elias Abu Saab, Justin Cooper, Rani ohannesian
IC Alumni & Advancement Office organized a Ramadan Suhoor in Dubai on May 11th at Masrah Ramadan Music Hall for IC alumni, parents and friends.
Full image of the evening 20 summer 2019
Rima Dajjani ‘92 & nabil Sakr
Souad Hanna and Elias Hanna ‘61
Mr. & Mrs nadi Fakhoury ‘83
Mona Maktabi ‘84, Youmen Hamdan ‘82 and friends
Farah & Houssam Rinno ‘ 83
Moenes ‘72 & Dania Haffar bazzi ‘78
Kim Issa ‘05, Jad Mneimneh ‘05, Mellissa Abou Karam ‘05
summer 2019 21
Raja & Susan Trad ‘76, Hiba Chamout
Rola & Hani Asfour ‘83
22 summer 2019
‘76
‘83
Marwan Stambuli sent in the following email:
Class 1965
Marwan Sakr sent in the following photo.
‘65
Reem Rashash-Shaaban writes that after resigning from the American University of Beirut where she taught for 33 years, she now has more time to work on her writing and art. Her latest short story “Grooming Rana” is part of the new anthology Arab Women Voice New Realities
‘75
We invite all our Classmates to visit our great website and enjoy our Gallery and Events at www.ic1965.com We miss you all and God bless those who passed away. www.marwanstambuli.com
. Her artwork has been lately published in Goat’s Milk Magazine, The Remington Review, Sukoon and one of her watercolors graces the cover of Twisted Vine. She held her fourth solo exhibition “ My Lebanon” on November 15th at the Artwork Shop in Beirut.
Mohamed Sinno sent in the following graduation pictures.
Updates
‘92
Updates
their families.
Ara is a business owner dealing with rare and luxury cars and Khalil is the Executive Vice President of Strategy at the Lower Colorado River Authority.
summer 2019 23
ShalabiKhalil went down from Austin to Houston to meet up with theirmadeAraKhalildinner.Alumni‘84MalkahsianAraattheBothandhaveTexashomewith
Karim Hajjali joined Food Quest as CEO in the UAE in July 2018 after spending 5 years in KSA with Fawaz AlHokair Group. Food Quest is a Dubai based restaurant operator and part of Abu Dhabi’s National Holding. His Kids have now both fled the nest with a son studying in London and daughter deciding between London and Spain for her graduate degree starting September 2019.
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bachir El-Saghir is currently a Doha-based Business Development Manager with Ibtikar Technology Solutions (www.ibtikar.qa) in the IT Field and has previously worked in Qatar since 2007 as a project manager and landscape architect with Projacs International (www.projacs.com) and Dar Al-Handasah (Shair & Partners)(www.dar.com); Priorrespectively.toQatar, he was in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where he worked in several industries including food (www. timhortons.com), retail with Grafton-Fraser
“I Have recently enjoy catching up with classmates and other IC alumnus at the Suhoor event organized by ICAA,” he said.
BeirutHelinkedin.com/in/bachir-el-saghir-mba-b9549925beMorehtml)UNDP(https://www.amideast.org)UniversityChapter,ofYouthInstituteMoreover,Q-Gardens/JournalPrestigeHetheLebanese(MilitaryFurthermore,Groupandwww.linkedin.com/company/grafton-fraser-inc-/about/)Inc.(https://inbusinessprocessoutsourcingsolutionswithSitel(www.sitel.com).post-AUB,heservedasaFlagServiceOfficerDraftOfficer)-ConscriptLieutenantwiththeArmy(https://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/en)aspartofthenmandatory1-yearmilitaryservice.alsoworkedasaLandscapeEngineerinLebanonwithGardens,anAssistantEditor-MiddleEastFoodwithChatilaPublishingHouse(CPHWorldMediahttps://cph.world)andasaLandscapeEngineerwithinDoha-Qatar(https://www.qatargardens.com)hepreviouslyvolunteeredwiththeDohaFilm(https://www.dohafilminstitute.com)attheAjyalFilmFestival,TEDxDoha,AmericanUniversityBeirutAlumniAssociationofNorthAmerica-OttawaCKCU93.1FM-RadioCarletonInc.atCarleton(https://carleton.ca),Ottawa,AMIDEASTaswellasaninternshipwith(http://www.lb.undp.org/content/lebanon/en/home.duetovariousindustryinterests.informationregardinghisprofessionalexperiencecanaccessedfrommyLinkedInprofilelinkbelow:isamemberoftheOrderofEngineers&Architects-(http://www.oea.org.lb)since1997,Lebanese
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June 2014- graduating from IC after 15 years. (IC President Mr. John Johnson and Secondary School director, Mrs. Paula Mufarrij)
leïla Charafeddine graduated with a BBA in Entrepreneurship from the Olayan School of Business (OSB) from AUB in 2017. She did internships for a year in venture capital, food and beverages, retail, real estate, and research and development. She then got a position as a Development Officer at the Sadr Foundation. The foundation supports projects related to women empowerment, childcare and education, healthcare, and good governance. She works with a team to write proposals to receive funding for the foundation’s projects and connect with national and international organizations. “Being part of the IC and AUB family has been a privilege that has benefited me greatly,” she wrote.
intermediate student from the late seventies until 1987 when I moved mid year to Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates and continued my studies at The International School of Choueifat (SABIS / https:// www.sabis.net) until 1991 where I graduated with a high school diploma and entered the Freshman Sciences class at The American University of Beirut,” he wrote. “The birthday photo was with IC classmates in my family home in Beirut in March 1979 at which I believe was during KG2.”
balsam Khodr has moved to take on a new challenge, currently holding the position of Learning and Development Manager at the InterContinental Dubai Marina since September 2018, after 8 years at the Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel Beirut having rotated between the different sections in the Human Resources Department.
24 summer 2019
Pic1: Bashir el Shaghir
Pic2: bashir pdf
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) and was as Articling Agrologist during 2007 with the Ontario Institute of Agrologists (http:// Withoia.on.ca)regards to his educational background, he has an Executive MBA from Hult International Business School (https:// www.hult.edu) and a B.Sc. in Agriculture + Diploma of “ingenieur agricole” from the American University of “I(https://www.aub.edu.lb).BeirutwasatICasanelementaryand
Updates
summer 2019 25
2. Our economic, monetary and infrastructure worries (devaluation, rumors regarding bank deposit haircuts, destructive corruption in managing infrastructure files by the political class)
A truly enlightened mini Brain Bites session took place on Tuesday, 23rd of April at IC Ras Beirut with Prime Minister Mr Fouad Sanyoura. The session was split into 2 parts: An introduction by PM Sanyoura then a Q&A session organized around 3 headings:
1. The latest regional geopolitical developments (deal of the century; Arab spring resurrected, intensifying sanctions)
3. Hope for a turnaround: what will it take? What can we each do to contribute? The event was an exclusive ICAA member’s event and although scheduled for one hour and a half, the session extended to three hours.
REPRESENT YOUR CLASS! JOIN US! If you are interested to represent your class, please join us and be a part of this team spirit! Info@icaalebanon.com Keep the IC spirit!
26 summer 2019
A casual get-together took place yesterday whereby ICAA board members met ICAA Class Representatives at the Golden Tulip Serenada Hotel on May 2, 2019.
If you are interested to represent your class, please join us and be a part of this team spirit! Info@icaalebanon.com Keep the IC spirit!
Notable admissions for the Class of 2019
Brown University, Georgetown University, Imperial College, Johns Hopkins University, London School of Economics, McGill University, Swarthmore College, University of Chicago, University College London, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, Wellesley College, Stanford University
summer 2019 27 Individual visits and tours, from the US, the UK, Canada, Europe, Australia and Lebanon 115 221outof Applied to abroaduniversities Students University Admissions and Career Guidance Center2019 College168Visits Students participated 500 JobExperienceShadowing 15 CareerOrganizationsCompanies/Fair College Applications 313 US 300 UK 201 AUB 90 LAU 23 USJ 22 EUROPE 82 CANADA 1 AUSTRALIA 1032 Number of students who applied to university abroad 20 39 11 45 63 78 16 64 Applied Abroad Students in the Program LebaneseProgramFrenchProgramCPPProgramIBProgram
International College P.O. Box 113-5373, Beirut, Lebanon. Tel. 961 1 367420/33, Fax: 961 1 367433. Email: alumni@ic.edu.lb 215 Park Avenue South, Suite 1710, New York, NY 10003, U.S.A. Tel. : 212 529 3005, Fax: 212 529 8525. Email: icny@intlcollegeny.com www.ic.edu.lb
@IC_Lebanon @InternationalCollegeLB @internationalcollegelb @international-college
