Shemaine Bushnell Kyriakides
On December 5, 2022, the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Beirut, Lebanon, celebrated Founders Day, an annual event in which the university community gathers to pay tribute to, in the words of President Fadlo R. Khuri, "those who, on December 3, 1866, began what was then the Syrian Protestant College and set it on the path to becoming the diverse, inclusive, and transformative seat of higher learning and research excellence that it is today". Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos was invited to give the keynote speech at the University campus in Beirut.
Before introducing the Mayor, AUB President Khuri praised Phedonos for being "a remarkable leader, an anticorruption crusader, an advocate for accountability, transparency, and responsibility, a champion for a better tomorrow for all, a man determined to leave his imprint in such a way that future generations will have hope, and indeed 'have life and have it more abundantly'".
The Mayor, in response, spoke about the “inseparable relationship of education with peace, democracy, and prosperity," and praised the AUB founders and faculty for allowing the establishment of AUB Mediterraneo in Paphos. The Mayor went on to describe the type of education that will be offered at the American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo, one “channeled with the principles of democracy, equality, social justice, and liberalism.”
AUB - Mediterraneo is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2023 and is expected to accommodate approximately two thousand students while offering three faculties in computer science, economics & business and civil engineering.
