‘Existential’ threat to Lebanese universities amid Israeli action

Lebanon’s higher education system faces “existential” threats as students and staff are displaced by Israel’s invasion, a sector leader has warned.

Fadlo Khuri, president of the American University of Beirut (AUB), one of the country’s highest-ranked campuses, said there would be questions over his own institution’s future if it could not raise funds and start its second semester next year.

Israeli raids, part of military action targeting the Hezbollah terrorist group, have forced universities to move their courses online, while medical lecturers have left to join relief efforts.

“If the conflict continues and gets worse, we could need $100 million [£77 million] just to make up for the losses at the university this year,” Professor Khuri told Times Higher Education. “That’s a number we absolutely don’t have in our reserves,” which currently stand at about $45 million.

“We have been increasingly making it clear that we cannot afford to miss the second semester,” he continued. “If we miss the second semester right now, our only steady source of revenue is tuition, and some assistance that we get through scholarships from the US government…but as long as students are learning, we can pay our staff and faculty.”

Nearly 2,900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks against Lebanon since October 2023, with another 13,000 injured, according to the country’s Ministry of Public Health. Tel Aviv has said that its military action seeks to end Hezbollah’s rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Speaking to THE ahead of a talk at SOAS University of London where he implored the global academic community to pool resources for Lebanon’s universities, Professor Khuri said that almost half of AUB’s 9,000 students are displaced, while “at least” 700 have been made homeless, “and probably at least as many staff”. 

Meanwhile, 12 per cent of the university’s faculty – about 50 staff members – have travelled abroad to flee the violence, and two have resigned.

Professor Khuri said that while the majority of students have said they are able to engage with online learning, many have to put up with unstable internet access, as well as a lack of secure accommodation. However, only 60 per cent of students said they are ready to participate in a fully hybrid model.

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AUB is Lebanon’s largest private employer, so any threats to its finances have wider social implications. The university has been increasingly relied on to support the country’s medical infrastructure, Professor Khuri said, because 11 of Lebanon’s hospitals have been forced to close since the Israeli attacks began. 

The longer and greater the attacks, Professor Khuri said, the greater the threat to the country’s higher education sector and its research capacity, and “the higher the likelihood of losing some exceptional people”.

But university leaders in the country needed to remain “determined” in the face of the destruction, Professor Khuri said.

“The mood of the leaders is obviously of grave concern, but it’s one of determination. We recognise how important it is that we do not lose this academic year, that we do not lose our students or staff, that we make every effort possible and beyond what seems possible to educate people and uplift them, and to make sure that they are confident as we are that there will be a better tomorrow.

“This will end. I can’t say when, but when it ends, we need to be prepared to rebuild. I think university leaders accept our responsibility in the country and beyond.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com