University of Beyrouth
The University of Beyrouth is a major coeducational research university offering degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level. The annual enrolment at the University of Beyrouth is 1,500 and is intentionally one of the smallest campus populations in the country in order to attract and cultivate the brightest minds available. The University of Beyrouth is a privately owned university founded by Hannah St Clair and her husband Sir Rodrigo Cavalleri in 1802 originally as a place of study for those desiring to become medical missionaries to far flung locales. The university property is a beachfront location within 10 kilometers of the coastal city of Beyrouth.
History of Beyrouth University
Beginnings
Hannah St Clair and her husband Sir Rodrigo Cavalleri purchased a property of 36500 acres along the coastline of southern Sayaffallah in 1801 with the intention of establishing a wine growing estate however during their cultivation of the acres for wine they discovered the property to be arid and the soil to be unsuitable for wine growing so instead they decided to build a university that could be used to train up medical missionaries to carry out the work of medical service for those in countries that lacked the most basic of healthcare infrastructure. Both Hannah and Rodrigo applied for a Crown Grant for funding for their university and received it on the stipulation that their university be coeducational and open to the brightest minds within Sayaffallah. Despite this being contrary to their original intention of offering placement to anyone who wanted to attend regardless of their brightness or lack thereof the couple decided to accept the terms of the Royal Grant and began construction in 1900 on the university complex.
The original university was to have a central plan with campus divided between the men's and women's residences with a central courtyard between both buildings and an administration building that could be used for classes as well as the daily office work required for running the university. The University was opened on August 1, 1802 with a total size of 25 students of those 20 being male students and 5 being female students who were there to study the fundamentals of medicine in order to take those fundamentals and apply them overseas. The first graduating class was matriculated from the university on December 20, 1806 and by this point enrolment had risen to a total of 60 students with an even 30 being male and 30 being female.
Diversity of courses and expansion
The revolution of 1900 produced a new course of leadership for the country with the Sultan assuming power in his coronation and the nation changing its course dramatically. As a result the Sultan ordered a general review of all Royal Grants issued previously and by 1920 the review for the medical college established by Hannah and Rodrigo was complete and the administration of the University were summoned to meet before the Chancellor of Education to discuss their Royal Grant application which had been approved previously. The Sultan had revoked several other Royal Grants for educational institutions during this time period that he felt were either abusing the trust of the royal grant or intentionally misleading the direction of their educational institution in a deviance from the terms that gave them the Royal Grant to begin with. Those institutions that ran afoul of the Sultan were required to pay back the full balance of their original Royal Grant within 2 years time including appropriate accrued interest on the balance or surrender the property of their institution to the government. It was under these circumstances and general climate surrounding Royal Grants that the administration went to the meeting with the Chancellor of Education to discuss the matter of their university.
The Chancellor of Education was impressed with the courses offered presently but made clear that the Sultan felt that the geographic location and its present offerings were far to limiting. The Sultan had intention to pay Beyrouth University a lump sum of considerable money gathered from the defunct universities and to assume governmental control of Beyrouth University so that it would be open to the public and to those from the surrounding town. The university administration petitioned the Sultan directly asking for a compromise of being able to keep the university private but opening it up to a greater degree of course offerings and providing enrollment to those living locally. The Sultan considered the proposal and within a year approved it to be implemented immediately in the following academic calendar.
The administration of Beyrouth University was unprepared to deal with an influx of students or offer an immediate expansion of their course offerings so they asked for a 2 year extension and received it from the Royal Grant they had applied for so long ago. The university hired a faculty of 20 to teach subjects ranging from the fine arts to biological sciences and education to prepare new teachers to be able to teach within Sayaffallah. By August 1, 1926 the college was fully prepared to open with its expansion and welcomed 305 new students many of whom came from the local region to learn. The new students matriculated on May 1, 1930 and the university by this point had grown to 550 students and required a dramatic expansion of the residence halls and began construction on Patrick and Abdullah Halls both of which would serve as auxiliary men's and women's residence halls to accommodate the increased demand for student housing on campus. Both Patrick and Abdullah halls were completed within a years time and were used by students beginning on August 1, 1931 and extending until its renovation on May 4, 1991 in which its frame was replaced and supports were supported by inlaid steel and concrete moorings to prevent erosion by the beach.
By 1962 the University size had reached 1500 at which point the University Administration passed a requirement that admissions standards limit the annual size of the student population to 1500 and to begin working to make entrance standards more rigorous so that the best minds could study at Beyrouth University and stay in residence there. Yet despite this several expansions were needed to accommodate so many students on campus and more residence halls were created along the shoreline to house students and provide space for them. In addition several new classroom buildings were built and course offerings were expanded in 1962 to allow for the studying of architecture, engineering and physics. By 1965 course offerings were again expanded to include film studies and animation as well as aviation studies. To accommodate this growth a small airstrip was built on the northeastern end of the campus allowing for the aviation studies to pick up steam dramatically.
Campus
The campus of Beyrouth University consists of 62 buildings of those 20 are residence halls and 30 are campus classrooms/departments from which courses are taught and the remaining 20 are auxiliary or office space used to support the campus specifically campus growth. The campus consists of meandering paths and extensive gardens as well as over 16 miles (25KM) of private fenced off beach shoreline that is for the exclusive recreation and use of Beyrouth University students, faculty and staff.
Dining Hall
The Campus Dining hall is a focal point on campus located directly behind the administration building and iconic with its towering bell tower and spires that takes definite Gothic architectural inspiration. The building was constructed in 1890 and was expanded in 1955 and again in 1990 to be able to seat the student body population. Beyrouth University has a unique tradition when it comes to dining as the University takes all of its meals together in the morning and in the evening with students left to find their own meal for the lunch time hour. All students file into the dining hall on basis of their class year with freshmen entering first and seniors entering in last and postgraduates eating in the exclusive Graduate Dining hall open only to graduate dining students. The Central Campus Dining hall other wise known as Campus Dining Hall is only for undergraduates students.
Graduate Dining Hall
Built in 1910 this Dining Hall is limited specifically to Graduate and Postgraduate Students and like its undergraduate counterpart features its own dining hall ritual. All students eat their meals together however there is no order for entry into the dining hall there is though a table reserved at the center of the room reserved exclusively for faculty and staff or invited dignitaries to eat at and is off limits for students to sit around unless given permission by the faculty and staff during an event. The Graduate Dining hall features the portraits of past dignitaries who have graduated from the university and at each meal a topic is presented for debate and discussion in what is considered the Dining Method designed to stimulate intellectual activity and to promote healthful digestion.
Faculty Dining Hall
The Faculty Dining Hall is located on the top floor of the Administration building and is strictly off limits to all but the faculty and administration to dine in. Photography is strictly prohibited and the dining hall is guarded by security staff when in use to ensure that those dining are not disrupted. Unlike its student counterparts there is no set time for dining in the Faculty Dining Hall except for the evening hour which is considered a formal dining hour that faculty may opt in or out of depending on their preference. The Faculty Dining hall is lined with rich mahogany walls featuring the portraits of each university president and distinguished faculty member upon their retirement from the university in addition to sweeping floor to ceiling views of the ocean and the university grounds.
Iceberg Library
Iceberg Library originally served as Snottus Library after a generous donation from industrialist Yasmin Whebe that paid for the construction and engineering costs of the library during its construction in 1915. The library was built in the most unique location only accessible by a tunnel in the first floor of the administration building that goes over 75ft into the ground and comes out approximately a half mile in the ocean. The entirety of the library is built underwater with seven layers of thick reinforced glass wall and solid concrete and steel walls and support columns around the library. Much of the library is built into the ground itself on the seafloor while the other half is built above the seafloor allowing for panoramic views of the coral reefs that exist all around the library itself.
The library began construction in early 1910 with engineers coming from all across Sayaffallah both to provide their suggestions on the construction of the facility but also to observe what already was taking place. The problem however was that the administration could not come up with an idea they liked for the overall look and the construction of the library so the administration held a symposium on their campus during the summer when all the students were away and housed all of the engineers interested in submitting their proposals in the residence halls on campus. From there the engineers were provided space in which to work on their proposals and given a month to prepare and present their proposals in a private meeting with the administration and Yasmin Whebe who was invited as a special guest because of her generosity. Several of the most prominent architects in Sayaffallah presented their proposals for the construction of the underwater library which administration stipulated must be large enough to allow for 60,000 students to be in the library at any one time and for over 12 million books in the future to be located within the library. The space alone was to be colossal and was designed to be impressive not just to look at but to be a part of. In addition to this they called for part of the library to be above the surface of the water to allow for evacuation in the event of a disaster. All of these considerations were taken into account by the enterprising architects during the construction of their proposals for presentation.
In the end it was a student from the nearby Orthodox school of St Alexandros College located in Corsos that ended up impressing the administration and Yasmin Whebe the most. The student was Griogo Saphopoulous who presented an original architectural blueprint that placed the library a half mile out on a dynamic coral reef and required that the entire space connecting to shore be used as a library and open up to a beautiful reading room with floor to ceiling windows. Saphopoulous was an instant celebrity in Sayaffallah and was given great widespread acclaim for his designs which ended up being published in the leading newspapers throughout the country but Saphopoulous did not want the attention instead refusing to take any interviews and desiring anonymity while he remained completely dedicated to seeing the project built from start to finish. And in 1949 with Saphopoulous at the age of 57 the project was finally completed and the process of moving books from their places in various buildings on campus began in earnest. The library became an instant icon in the literary publications of the era from magazines to small flyers to newspapers and film reels the new library captivated the attention of a nation. Soon administration were having to clear out small segments of the opening hours for tours to be conducted in the library for the general public as the interest continued to remain so dedicated to the library's success.
In 2002 the library was closed for a year as major renovations were conducted to ensure the integrity of the glass and other structural elements to keep it in total working condition for decades to come. 2003 the library was reopened to much fanfare and the celebrations lasted for many months as the nation again celebrated the courage of a lowly student and the insight of that student in creating one of the most recognizable landmarks in the history of Sayaffallah. Today the library has a marine observation room adjacent to the underwater reading room that allows researchers and students and the general public to watch the wildlife without disturbing those studying in the reading room. The observation room is rectangular in shape and features three floors by which people can be with seating facing front and back and the roof being a glass rectangular window to allow for observation of marine wildlife directly overhead. On each floor there is seating for 250 people in reclining chairs allowing them to see the wildlife from the comfort of their chair. In addition to this there is already talk of extending the observation room by building an underwater guest lodge that would allow luxury accommodations for tourists to stay near the campus of the university while being able to sleep completely underwater in a pressurized setting.
In 2004 the name was formally changed from Snottus Library to Iceberg Library following a student contest.
Administration
The following is a list of prior University Presidents that have formed the administration of Beyrouth University
- 1802-1812: Hannah St Clair & Rodrigo Cavalleri
- 1812-1840: George Abernas
- 1840-1869: Abdul Rasfoulah
- 1869-1910: Faisal Raqsein
- 1910-1940: Ismail Pagotti
- 1940-1945: Hillard Van Dyke
- 1945-1949: Cristiaan Leeuwenhoek
- 1949-1952: Ruud Ruyter
- 1952-1965: Thibaut Vertonghen
- 1965-1980: Laurent Hazard
- 1980-2000: Gianluigi Bonucci
- 2000-Present:Maria Renazi
