American University of Beirut Seeks Funds
The American University of Beirut, which has already experienced an exodus of foreign staff, is appealing for funds to help overcome a financial crisis.
The university’s Jordanian co-president, Ibrahim Salti, said Tuesday in Amman that the New York-based board of trustees wants to raise $36 million in three years from donors in the Middle East, North America and Europe.
He said the 121-year-old university, still regarded as among the best in the Middle East, faces a possible $13-million deficit on this year’s budget of $30 million.
Salti said most of the university’s foreign teachers fled because of poor security in strife-torn West Beirut, although he indicated that conditions have improved since Syrian troops took control of the mainly Muslim sector last February.
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