A Home Away From Home
Students on the Beirut campus now have a home away from home, following the recent opening of the Widad Khoury Student Center.
Located at the corner of Upper Gate, the 4,307m2 building connects to Nicol Hall via a spacious and futuristic revamped cafeteria. The ultra-modern center was designed so that students “could have a place they feel is solely theirs,” said Dr. Raed Mohsen, Dean of Students for the Beirut campus. “They can meet to listen to music, play games, socialize, or study.”
The building was designed with “special consideration to sustainability and energy management,” noted Georges Hamouche, Assistant Vice President for Facilities Management. The Center houses the Outreach and Civic Engagement Program, SINARC, and the Office of the Dean of Students, which comprises Academic Advising, Counseling, Career Counseling, Campus Activities, and Health Services. It is also home to a new gym, music and choir rooms, dance studio, student club meeting rooms, a Red Cross office and film screening room, as well as two classrooms, a student lounge and games room boasting table tennis, table football and billiards.
A typical day at LAU will find the building crowded with students. “I really like the new building and spend a lot of time here when I’m not in class or the library,” said Dana Younes, an English major. “It’s nice to see that the University is staying true to its values of student centeredness through such an inviting building,” she said.