AUC Celebrates International Community Day

The American University in Cairo (AUC) held its International Community Day on the New Cairo campus, bringing together Egyptian and international students, faculty, staff and alumni for a single campus event for the spring semester. Organized by a wide range of student organizations, academic schools and offices, the day witnessed a staff service recognition ceremony, performances by AUC international students and the AUC Egyptian folklore troupe, school face-off competition, alumni bazaar, AUC show case, history challenge and campus conversation. The day also included stops by academic schools, a community photograph, raffle prizes and ended with a performance by Rock n Lol Band.The day witnessed an international countries parade and country performances, organized by the Office of International Students and Study Abroad, in addition to several booths where each country was represented by its students, offering the community information about the country’s culture and a taste of its famous dishes. Yemeni student, Hafez Ibrahim, who recited a poem on stage by poet Anas Al Thwaini about Yemen, said, “having an international community day is a great idea, as it helps the international students meet and integrate with the AUC community.” In appreciation of their service to AUC, Interim president Thomas Thomason awarded 178 members of AUC staff who spent 15 to 35 years at the University. The celebration this year was special as AUC celebrated the service of one of its employees, Abdel Masih Moawad, who completed 70 years of service at AUC. Through different spots in the main garden, members of the community participated in an activity that helped them learn more about AUC’s schools and programs while collecting raffle tickets. The University Archives and the Main Library organized “Explore AUC History” booth, where members of the community were able to travel back in time through AUC history, watch films from AUC's early days, take an interactive quiz, and view historic photos and documents.  The Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment and the Office of Sustainability also mixed fun and information by inviting the community to play trashketball and other games to learn about how AUC has changed policies to reduce waste and save energy. The School of Sciences and Engineering spot showcased AUC’s hybrid electric car which competed in the 2016 Global Hybrid Electrical Challenge, held in Soma Bay this month, for Egyptian universities. Youssef Eskaros, a mechanical engineering senior and one of the six students in AUC team, explained that this competition is held in Egypt for the first time. Eskaros finds working on the electric hybrid car an opportunity to apply science and to find an AUC racing team in the future. Adviser to the AUC team of six students, Mohamed Ali, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, said that “each team starts working on the car with a ready- made kit, but has to program the controllers, develop their own driving strategy and make the car more efficient and faster than the rest of the other cars competing.” ​AUC folklore troupe gave an impressive performance at the International Community Day. Organized by the Student Union, the day ended with a performance by Rock n Lol Band, which included AUC alumni and students.