Hope and renewal lit up the iconic New York Public Library in downtown Manhattan on the evening of March 13, as close to 300 LAU supporters gathered for the LAU Centennial Gala Dinner to celebrate a national milestone and embark on a new century of education and service to the community.

Distinguished guests included New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United Nations Hadi Hachem, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations Ambassador Tareq Al-Bannai, Consul General of Lebanon in New York Majdi Ramadan, members of the Board of Trustees, LAU President Emeritus Joseph G. Jabbra, alumni, donors, and friends of LAU committed to upholding LAU’s mission.  

President Chaouki T. Abdallah announced the largest-ever gift to LAU by Trustee Ray Debbane and his family to support and name the New York campus and launch the university’s mission on a global scale. The event also raised over $2 million to support education and healthcare in Lebanon.

Chairman of the LAU Board of Trustees Philip Stoltzfus spoke about some of the most recent storms the university has weathered. From the uphill battle to retain talent, physicians and students to securing COVID-19 vaccinations and delivering quality healthcare across the country through its mobile clinics, LAUers—faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the university—”were bound together by a collective purpose,” he said.

“LAU is a trusted institution because we always try to do the right thing, decade after decade, in times of crisis, in times of blessings, for 100 years,” added Mr. Stoltzfus. “It is not always easy, and it is nearly always expensive, but acting this way is not a choice, it resides in our mission, the formative values of our founders and our sacred covenant with Lebanon.”

Dr. Abdallah distinguished between hope and optimism, borrowing from author Victoria Safford, who wrote: “Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope, not the prudent gates of Optimism.” He invited the attendees to join him “in holding the gates of hope open for more students in Lebanon and around the world, as we usher in the second century of LAU.”

Welcoming the attendees, LAU trustees and co-chairs of the Centennial Gala Committee HH Sheikha Intisar Al Sabah and Mr. Peter Tanous underscored the university’s commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders in Lebanon and beyond, inviting to the stage an alumnus who exemplifies this spirit.

Yousef Dakramanji (BS ’23), who hails from the village of Danniyeh in North Lebanon, had a captivating story to share. One of six siblings, he did not originally plan to apply to LAU because he knew that the tuition cost was beyond his family’s means.

However, an LAU merit scholarship, combined with generous financial aid offering, paved the way for him to become a first-generation university graduate, and eventually, a Fulbright Scholar at Michigan State University, where he is pursuing his master’s.

“Your support is changing lives and carrying hundreds of students like me from our small villages to LAU, and from LAU to the whole world,” said Dakramanji, reflecting on his undergraduate education as “a lifeline for me and my parents.”

At the Centennial Gala, the university honored two icons who exemplify Lebanese success at home and abroad: Alumnus Sassine Ghazi (BS ’91), the president and CEO of Synopsis, and three-time World Music Award winner Elissa, an advocate for women’s rights and cancer patients.

In his speech, Ghazi was in awe of how far LAU has grown since he was a student in 1988, never imagining that he would be at its centennial celebration.  “Here’s to 100 years to come,” he cheered for his alma mater, expressing his love for Lebanon, its heritage and its people.

Lebanon, said Elissa, “needs passionate leaders with access to education” today more than ever. “It is our collective duty to nurture this hope and empower future generations to believe in themselves and dream so they can best represent Lebanon anywhere like yourselves,” she added.