Speech delivered by President Pro Tem Dr. Sharif Fayez on the opening of the Undergraduate Program

American University of Afghanistan
March 2006

In the name of God

It is a great honor for me to welcome you all to the opening ceremony of the Undergraduate Program of the American University of Afghanistan.

Excellencies: Supreme Court Justice, Dr. Salam Azimi and his colleague Justice Baha, Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Azam Dadfar and his deputy minister Dr. Huseinian, Minister of Education, Mr. Haneef Atmar and his Deputy Minister Dr. Ghaznawi, Minister of Urban Development, Engineer Yosef Pashton, President Karzai’s Cultural Advisor, Mr. Zalmai Hewadmal, and Education and Health Advisor, Dr. Najibullah Mujadaddi, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Omar Sultan, Chairman of the AUAF Board of Trustees, Mr. Mirwais Azizi, Governor of the Central Bank and trustees of the AUAF, Mr. Noorullah Delawari, AICC President Mr. Azarkhsh Hafizi and AICC Vice-President Mr. Hamid Faruqhi, and other dignitaries. 

Thanks, Mr. Hafizi for organizing the fundraising meeting in the Serena Hotel. My special thanks to you for participating in this important ceremony, which should be a historic day for the American University of Afghanistan.

I would like to acknowledge that this university could not have been established without the generous support of the U.S. Congress and the most effective cooperation of USAID officials, particularly Dr. James Sarn, USAID Deputy Director Dr. Carl Abdu Rahman, and my friend Mr. Mark White. I am very grateful to the U.S. Ambassador and his staffs for their close cooperation with the AUAF.

Our good fiduciary friends, Dr. Jon Summers and Ms. Jane Grube, thank you for helping us establish a university administration. I am sure our friendship with The Asia Foundation will continue for many, many years to come.

I would like to extend my thanks to members of the AUAF Board of Trustees, particularly to Mr. Azizi and Mr. Bayat for their generous contributions in renovating two of the buildings on this campus.

As you may know, the American University of Afghanistan, following an American-style university system, has an international Board of Trustees, some of whom are here in Kabul. The board is composed of highly successful and socially-committed Afghan and American businessmen, such as Mr. Azizi, Mr. Bayat, Mr. Frederick Berger, Mr. Farid Maqsudi, Mr. Ibrahim Mohib, Dr. Akram Fazel, and distinguished public officials, such as Dr. Ishaq Nadiri, Chief Justice Dr. Salam Azimi, MP Qayum Karzai, Governor of Da Afghanistan Bank Mr. Delawari, Dr. Musawai, and others. 

It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the achievements of the AUAF faculty and administrative staff, without whose extraordinary efforts and commitments, we could not have launched so successfully our three fundamental programs: the Professional Development Institute program (PDI), the Foundations Studies Program (FSP), and now the Undergraduate Program. My tribute to Dr. Frank Petrella, Mr. Simon James, Ms. Desi Dzhorkova, Ms. Tara Stone, Ms. Lisa Roegner, Ms. Rebecca Carter, and the rest of the faculty and administrative staffs for your excellent professional efforts.

 The AUAF needs many friends in the media and we have enjoyed the friendship of ATN, TOLO, the National TV, and AINA. In particular, I would like to thank Mr. Roshan, the president of Afghan National and Television Network, my close friend, Mr. Shafie Rahel, the editor of Afghanistan Times, Mr. Dashti, the editor of Kabul Weekly, and friends from VOA,  Radio Free Afghanistan and other radios.

I don’t want to end my acknowledgements without naming two great Afghan and American celebrities, Mr. Seddiq Barmak and Mr. Jeff Fahey, who have always promoted this institution through their arts and talents.

Finally my old friend, Ann Marlowe, a free-lance American journalist is here. Once again thank you, Ann, for your significant cash contribution of $50, 000 for the renovation of the AUAF Library.   

Let me also say a few words about the AUAF. I have been asked many questions about the AUAF. This is one of the repeated questions I have been asked? Why the American University of Afghanistan? What are the American characteristics of this institution? I think our new students are more interested in knowing the answer to this question.

The American-style higher education overseas started with the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1866. During the 1960 and 1970s several such American-style institutions were established. In the 1970s, these American universities and their affiliates abroad established the Association of American International Colleges and Universities (AAICU). In terms of form, these institutions have distinct approaches to curriculum, evaluation, governance. They offer liberal arts-based education degrees based on the American credit system.

More importantly they embody certain characteristics of the American culture of higher education. Barbara Britingham and Diana Strammer in an article titled "What is American about American Higher Education? How Culture Shapes Universities abroad" lists five characteristics of an American-style university abroad:

1. An optimistic belief that people can improve themselves;
2. The importance of choice – equivalent to academic freedom;
3. The American habit of forming associations and groups;
4. A commitment to the free sharing of ideas and opinions;
5. A pragmatic approach to solving problems – and a belief that they can be solved.

   
These are the values that the AUAF will embrace together with the universal values that the Afghan and Islamic cultures have embodied over the centuries.  The American University of Afghanistan by the combinations of the three words – American, university, and Afghanistan – will follow a selective approach of combining in itself the best of the three components. Through joint Afghan, American, and international efforts, the AUAF can become a regional university, with world-class academic standards.

Thanks for your attention.