On February 14, to mark one year since the assassination of Trustee Rafic Hariri, the AUB community expressed its gratitude for the former prime minister’s long and unfailing support of education. At 10 am, some 400 students gathered in front of Main Gate, before heading out to join the national demonstration that was taking place in Martyrs Square in honor of Hariri, who is credited with having led the campaign to rebuild downtown Beirut after the war. AUB joined all of Lebanon in a shutdown, in memory of the former prime minister, and at 12.55pm, the clock of College Hall rang the death knell to mark the exact time when Hariri was killed, along with 22 others, including four AUB alumni. Simultaneously, hospital staff observed a minute of silence outside the AUB Medical Center. Later that day, President John Waterbury and the University’s vice presidents, deans, students, and faculty remembered all those who died on that fateful day, as they gathered in front of the cedar and olive trees that last year were planted in their honor outside the Archaeological Museum. The AUB alumni who were killed along with Hariri were former professor and minister Basil Fuleihan, nurse Mazen Zahabi, medical school graduate Rima Bazzi, and business school graduate Rowad Haidar. “After that terrible event, I could not help thinking of September 11 in New York; only because it too was a beautiful day,” said Waterbury, as he stood under the rain, honoring Hariri’s memory. “A deceptively beautiful day in which a terrible tragedy occurred right here in Beirut one year ago today…I know everyone in Lebanon is remembering Rafic Hariri in different ways. We remember him here primarily as our trustee for many, many years, and a great benefactor to the University. But not because he had a very special love for AUB, but because he had a very special love for education—education of all kinds. He knew as we know that it's the greatest investment that we can make for the future of Lebanon.” Waterbury also said that as the cedar tree that was planted in his honor grows, it should remind everyone of what it stands for. “It represents the spirit of this man; the spirit and commitment to growth; his spirit and commitment to peaceful growth,” he said. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, board member Farouk Jabre paid tribute to Hariri’s contribution to educating young Lebanese. “We know and we are convinced that as we have planted this tree and this tree will grow, Rafic Hariri did the same: he took care of the education of 35,000 young Lebanese who would have been lost,” Jabre said. “He gave them the chance to survive through education and professional work and he also secured a capital of human resources...They have already proven in various sectors, whether in Lebanon or abroad, that they are good people, good choices.”
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