Together with the American University of Beirut (AUB), LAU hosted a welcome ceremony for more than 300 scholars of the Middle East Partnership Initiative Tomorrow’s Leaders Program (MEPI-TL) on September 28 in Irwin Hall. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy C. Shea, LAU President Michel E. Mawad, AUB Associate Provost Jocelyn DeJong representing AUB President Fadlo Khuri, as well as the MEPI Beirut team, university leaders, faculty, staff and students attended the event.

Hailing from across the MENA region, the students in the Undergraduate Program (TLU), Graduate Program (TLG) and the Gender Scholars Program (TLS) were selected through a rigorous process that assessed their academic standing as well as leadership potential.

The TL programs have been made possible through generous funding from the United States Department of State. Since 2008, the TL program has provided full tuition to underserved students from the Middle East and North Africa region as well as provided access to exciting internships, dedicated faculty mentors, and enrichment workshops to help them develop their leadership skills.

In addition to an excellent education, students are offered training in community service, gender equality, and leadership, among other valuable opportunities.  TLU students, for instance, can also apply for a study abroad program and spend a semester at a U.S.-affiliated partner university in their junior year.  This experience is designed to broaden their global perspective through cross-cultural and academic exchanges.

“The depth of our appreciation is difficult to convey but can best be expressed by rededicating ourselves to the finest American values of freedom, democracy, gender equality, equal opportunity and the rule of law,” said Dr. Mawad in his welcome address. “TL embodies the very spirit of youth empowerment for a brighter future of our own making.”

On behalf of the U.S. Government and MEPI, Ambassador Shea congratulated the students for being selected and on their “commitment and dedication to making a positive change in [their] communities. We believe in your ability to build a better future – that is why we are investing more than $70 million in MEPI-TL scholarship programs,” she added.

Dr. DeJong shed light on the transformative power of the TL experience’s ability to impact lives, especially in the Arab region where, as she pointed out, 25 percent of young people are unemployed.  “Programs like these really help you to build cohorts of professional networks, and you truly learn as much outside the classroom through a host of civic engagement and volunteer opportunities as you do in the classroom.”

At LAU alone, around 800 scholars, 60 percent of whom are women, have benefitted from the TLU, TLG and TLS programs, said MEPI-TL Executive Director at LAU Dina Abdul Rahman. She further expressed her admiration for “what these amazing change-makers are doing and anticipate achieving in the future, in order to ensure a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive world.”