College Has Jobs . . . and Some Rockets

“Low pay, hazardous conditions, intellectual stimulation.”

That is how a help wanted ad might read if Edmond Haddad, president of Middle East College in Beirut, were to write one. He will be in Southern California through mid-August recruiting professors. His 250-student co-educational college is, not surprisingly, understaffed.

About two-thirds of the 25-member faculty fled the campus last year after it was hit by rocket fire. This year, the rockets only whizzed overhead. He said the area around the East Beirut campus is relatively quiet now, but that fighting in the decade-old civil war is going on about five miles away.

“If you are afraid of things exploding in the distance, you will not feel comfortable there,” he said. So far he has two people who will be going back with him. Haddad, who earned his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate School, is making Southern California his recruiting base, but will travel anywhere in the country to meet a promising candidate.

“War-torn” is a modifier so often attached to Lebanon that it almost sounds like part of the country’s name. That worries Haddad, who said it is vital for educators to help reconstruct a culture that values peaceful coexistence.

“I see that the heaviest loss is a generation of young people who first opened their eyes to the sounds of rockets and have grown up in this environment,” he said.

He is looking for persons with master’s degrees or Ph.D.s, willing to work for a low salary, who can teach computer science, archeology, English, business administration or education. Preference is given to persons with a spouse who can also teach. Those interested may call him at (714) 796-1561.