WE NEED TO LISTEN BEFORE RESPONDING

Dear alumni and friends,

We all have limited amounts of time, much as we wish it otherwise. The AUB community has been most generous with theirs with me for 10 years now. I greatly appreciate it. We all need to use our time on earth to fully comprehend the challenges each and every one of us face, before we decide how to best navigate them and embrace the opportunities that come with them.

WE ALL HAVE LIMITED AMOUNTS OF TIME, MUCH AS WE WISH IT OTHERWISE

As a community—board, students, staff, faculty, friends, and alumni—we have risen to that challenge together on many vital occasions. Often against tremendous odds. The successful execution of our BOLDLY AUB capital campaign, the financial transformation of the university, dramatic enhancement in access to AUB through increased financial aid and assistance to our students and patients, the recruitment and retention—indeed the rebuilding—of a world-class faculty and staff, the launch of AUB Mediterraneo and AUB Online, the acquisition of Keserwan Medical Center, and meaningful improvements in student life and academic quality; all of these, achieved amid often dire circumstances, stand as testament to our unity and collective determination. These are no small feats. These advances are not inevitable. They are made possible by the resilience and shared vision of our community.

This period is one of great opportunity but also enormous uncertainty for the university. What have we learned from our previous travails, and what should we focus on now? These are questions we must address openly, but also swiftly.

Time is vital.

We have endured other periods of deep uncertainty: the pandemic, Lebanon’s economic collapse, the August 4, 2020 port explosion, and the wars on Lebanon and Palestine. It is during such times that wise leadership and a strong community united by core values help us charter rough seas. We have navigated those well. But past resolve is no guarantee of future success. That is all the more reason to remain open to discussion, debate, and disagreement. That very openness was among the towering strengths of Pope Francis during his 12-year papacy.

IT IS DURING SUCH TIMES OF DEEP UNCERTAINTY THAT WISE LEADERSHIP AND A STRONG COMMUNITY UNITED BY CORE VALUES HELP US CHARTER ROUGH SEAS

Little could have prepared us for the passing of this singularly gracious and empathetic pope just one day after delivering his Easter Sunday blessing. I am deeply saddened and feel his loss—one shared by more than a billion people today, including many non-Catholics and even non-believers. Yet his life is a lesson in what I see as one of our core challenges: where to choose evolutionary change, where retrenchment, and where quiet revolution. All under major duress. Permit me to elaborate a bit.

One of my favorite quotes from Pope Francis was cited in his obituary in The New York Times: “We are often chained like Peter in the prison of habit,” he said of the church in a speech at Saint Peter’s Basilica in 2022. “Scared by change and tied to the chain of our customs.”

LITTLE COULD HAVE PREPARED US FOR THE PASSING OF THIS SINGULARLY GRACIOUS AND EMPATHETIC POPE JUST ONE DAY AFTER DELIVERING HIS EASTER SUNDAY BLESSING

In the summer of 1985, my brother Ramzi and I visited the Church of Saint Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli). We are lay Presbyterians who have, all too infrequently, attended church. But, we are both unreservedly curious about the world, including the traditions of the largest Christian faith and about Saint Peter, arguably the greatest saint in the Christian canon and the first pope. The church we visited four decades ago is named after the biblical story of Acts 12.

Peter is imprisoned and shackled—until, in the dead of night, an angel appears and frees him. Pope Francis reframed that story into a profound metaphor: we are not bound by iron chains, but by habit, custom, and our fear of change. And often, like Peter, we remain captive until something greater shakes us awake.

WE ARE OFTEN CHAINED LIKE PETER IN THE PRISON OF HABIT.”

POPE FRANCIS

Since our visit, I have often thought about how the chains of Saint Peter constrain us all—in our careers, our choices, and our lives, irrespective of faith or denomination. How we fail (or choose not) to cast them off, wary as we are of losing the good in our customs, traditions, relationships, and institutions, driven as we often are by the zeal to improve.

Pope Francis, with all his resolve to reform and all the good he did, never felt far from those chains. In my formed view, that was a mark of wisdom and balance; to remain aware of those chains, to consider carefully when to break them, when to stretch them, and when to hold fast, but to always appreciate the proximity of those chains in life.

This pope was also a uniquely good listener. A Jesuit, he took to heart the teachings that my late friend, Hanna Khoury, taught me two decades ago—a principle he learned well at Al Jamhour School in Beirut:

“People miss all too often the opportunity to stay silent and first listen to others.”

Pope Francis understood this profoundly—especially in the need to listen to the softer, more unfortunate, and more urgent voices in any room.

WE NEED TO LISTEN BEFORE RESPONDING AND WELCOME THE OTHER PERSON’S WORD AS A MESSAGE

As Pope Francis pointed out recently, we tend to talk much but listen little, in our homes, our workplaces, and especially on social networks. We flood the world with words and images but rarely engage with one another meaningfully. This is something interesting. Many times, in everyday conversations, a reply is already forming before the other person has even finished speaking.

We need to listen before responding. Welcome the other person’s word as a message, as a treasure, even as potential help to ourselves.

Despite his increasingly frail condition, Pope Francis never stopped working for the people. Raised with a sincere sense of duty, this “physician of the soul,” as he once promised his mother he would become, remained especially close to those who had been alienated, forgotten, or marginalized.

We work daily to help AUB become once more that place where wisdom and boldness intersect, knowing when and where and how to stretch the chains, or whether to hold fast. We are fortunate to have a truly admirable board of trustees, committed to the university’s mission, its faculty, staff, and students. None of us are perfect, but to have such an impressive group of devoted individuals among us is unfortunately not the norm across academia today.

WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE A TRULY ADMIRABLE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, COMMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY’S MISSION, ITS FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENTS

Among my overarching goals, I strive to focus our remarkable AUB community, individually and collectively, on building deep trust, broad understanding, and effective action. This personal element often arises not from ego, but when I feel as if we have run out of time, or more often, that we have failed to use time optimally.

This admirable pope did not accomplish all that his followers hoped for, nor all that he undoubtedly believed he would. Pope Francis’ greatness lay very much in his acute understanding of Saint Peter’s chains. He embraced the role of emancipator of the poor and downtrodden, but stayed bound by those invisible chains of Saint Peter, to protect the mother church. Pope Francis left the world better for his advocacy of people from every walk of life and for his carefully stewarded, but quietly revolutionary, papacy. His legacy will be felt well before it is fully understood, but it will long endure in the hearts and minds of the people who most needed his rare blend of wisdom, character, love, faith, courage, and generosity.

On a far, far smaller scale, we at AUB must resolve to do the same.

WE WORK DAILY TO HELP AUB BECOME ONCE MORE THAT PLACE WHERE WISDOM AND BOLDNESS INTERSECT, KNOWING WHEN AND WHERE AND HOW TO STRETCH THE CHAINS AND WHEN TO HOLD FAST

Office of the President
American University of Beirut