David Arnold: The university has always had two main pillars in terms of its mission. One has been to train and educate successive generations of leaders for Egypt and the Arab world. And I think that part of our mission is reflected in, you know, the fact that we have alumni like Suzanne Mubarak and Queen Rania, you know, the head of Saudi Aramco and, you know, very distinguished ambassadors and heads of major corporations. So, the foundation of that effort is really a strong U.S.-style liberal arts program.

The second is sort of to serve as a cultural and educational bridge between East and West, and in particular between the U.S. and the Arab world. So we now have more than 500 American students studying at the university. Some are just doing intensive Arabic, some are semester abroad students from different universities in the U.S. We have a number of American graduate students who are coming to do Middle East studies or studying, um, Islamic civilizations, or doing work in international development or international human rights. A variety of different fields.

How the war in Iraq

Jim Newton: This is probably jumping to the punchline here but how does uh, the war in Iraq and American presence in the Middle East generally, how does that play itself out on your campus?

David Arnold: I think it's certainly created an atmosphere where American foreign policy is under increasing attack within the region. It's certainly created a greater sense of anti-American sentiment generally in the Arab world. But because AUC has been there for 90 years, through good times and bad times, through World War II, through 1967, you know, periods where, where for a long time the American University of Cairo was the only American institution there — there wasn't an American embassy, there wasn't, so... We're kind of an accepted part of the landscape. This is the second oldest university in Egypt, after Cairo University. And certainly is seen, widely and correctly, as the best and strongest university not only in Egypt but widely in the region. So folks are able to see past the immediate questions of American involvement in Iraq or U.S. foreign policy because their interest is in getting a high-quality education, having the ability to get good jobs, um, and you know, seeing AUC as a vehicle really for their long-term goals and aspirations.

Girls rule

Tim Cavanaugh: You mentioned 90 years. The American University of Beirut has this history of, in the distant past, uh, being the product of Protestant missionary work in the Middle East. Is AUC the same?

David Arnold: Very similar roots. AUB started in the 1860s, as a Presbyterian mission. AUC came along in the early teens. The plans were initially put in place before World War I, but they couldn't do anything until the war was over, so it started in 1919. So it started as a joint venture, as far as I know the only joint venture between the Dutch Reform Church and the Presbyterian overseas missions.

Tim Cavanaugh: It's about time for those two to get together.

David Arnold: Yeah, but it didn't last! But very early on the university was established as non-sectarian institution. Early on they saw the merits of becoming a co-ed institution rather than just a school for young Egyptian gentlemen, so it became co-ed in the 1920s. In fact there's a wonderful story about the first female student they admitted, who came in at the age of 16 in 1921 and promptly became the editor of the student newspaper, the head of the student union, swept up all the prizes at graduation, got a full scholarship to go off to Smith College in the United States. And the women students have been following that pattern ever since.

Tim Cavanaugh: Uh, what is happening these days with the rise of — well I guess it's been on the rise for quite some time in Egypt — but Islamism, and are you seeing much pressure from that on campus?

David Arnold: We're seeing. It's part of the wider society. You know, there's growing religious sentiment, whether it's political Islam or just a stronger faith-based sentiment among the population as a whole I think you can debate. We have seen, for example, a demand for students to come with a face veil. And we have had a policy of not allowing that...

Tim Cavanaugh: Not allowing it or not requiring it?

David Arnold: Not allowing people to come fully veiled. And we unfortunately lost in a court case in Egypt, where they said no you can't have a blanket prohibition on that, that that constitutes an infringement on religious freedom.

Jim Newton: What was the basis for that, for wanting to ban it?

David Arnold: We had been following a decree that Education Ministry had instituted, so in effect the court was reversing the Education Ministry.

Tim Cavanaugh: So it wasn't just your campus?

David Arnold: No this was general, and we were just the proximate victims of following the government's decrees. But um, but there is I think growing pressure from the Islamist movement for, you know, political reform, for opening up, so on and so forth. And AUC is very much a part of the wider society. So we do see that. We've had debates on issues from, you know, allocating prayer space on the campus, that sort of thing. But these are pretty much within manageable bounds.

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