AUC Today

From Inside AUC
A monthly newsletter for AUC alumni

Below are entries from the monthly contest
that ran in Inside AUC, the alumni e-newsletter

                                                                      In connection with AUC’s 90th anniversary, alumni
                                                           were asked to send their most memorable experience
                                                           at the university through the monthly contest.The
                                                           following are some of the winning entries.

Exam Trivia

I was once preparing for the final examinations. Back then, exam schedules were posted, and I wrote down my whole schedule, but I didn't pay attention to the fact that a few days later, the schedule was modified.

On the day of a chemistry course final exam, I woke up relatively late, having studied the course well.As the exam was at 12:00 pm, I thought I’d go through the curriculum once more just to make sure that I haven’t left any loose ends. I left my home in Heliopolis at around 10:30 am, arrived at AUC at around 11:00 or 11:15 am, parked my car and calmly headed to the Main Campus where I met Hatem El Sayegh, a brilliant classmate whom I asked with much confidence if he had prepared for the exam well. He replied, wondering why I was asking, and I said,“Because the exam is at 12:00.” I ran toward the Science Building. I was shocked to see Dr. Kenawy coming out of the campus and visibly heading home. I thought the course was over, and that it would be my first “F,” with all the consequences this would have on the GPA (which was above 3.4). But I still ran hopelessly to catch Dr. Kenawy and explain what had happened to me.The best I hoped for was an incomplete.

After listening briefly, Dr. Kenawy turned around in a very cool manner and asked me to follow him.We arrived to his office in the Science Building, and he gave me the same exam that was given a couple of hours earlier to the rest of the class. I answered all the questions in a very relaxed atmosphere, and even if I can’t remember the grade I got in the course (B+ or A-), I remember I got close to the full mark in the final exam.

This is a day I will never forget, even with all the minute details.This kind of trust existed between AUC and its students, and that is one of the reasons why I spent five years in undergraduate studies and almost four years studying for the master’s degree, during which I was always happy and enthusiastic going to class in the morning. I still like to pass by AUC whenever I have the chance. Security people amazingly are still the same, for the most part, and they remember me, which makes me feel good as I figure I don’t look that much older.Although more than 16 years have passed since I graduated, I still feel it was yesterday.

Nazih El Naggary ’92, ’99, France

Cozy Campus

As one of the 1944 alumni, I still like to keep in touch. I used to edit the Campus Caravan in 1944, and I still enjoy receiving and reading news from dear, old AUC. Much change has come about over the past 64 past years, but I retain a memory of a very happy and active life spent in the “old town campus.” I enjoyed every moment of it.The chanting of “Crimson and Gold, Hold Team Hold” still rings in my mind’s old ears.We used to cheer the sporting basketball teams competing with invited teams from other institutions and kept chanting this refrain whatever the outcome.

Of all the extracurricular activities, I enjoyed our drama groups, Moliere and Maskers. I spent many happy years at AUC, which was then a cozy place — just one old but beautiful building in the heart of Cairo. Our lecture rooms were not all smart or comfortable, but it is the people who make the place. I recall short geological desert trips I made with Vandersall to examine the sand layers and other formations and fossils, and night gatherings on the roof to view the planets through the telescope.As students, I remember a party in the desert of Giza. Someone had brought a gramophone, and we had some dancing. I am a very petite person (almost a midget) and one of the boys (I can’t recall names) was very tall and cheeky. He asked me to dance with him. I spotted a chair, stood on it and said,“Come, let’s dance.” Someone took a picture, but I haven’t kept a copy.We had a good laugh then.

Phyllis (Hatwell) Preston ’44, England

Serenity

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I had class at the rare books library on Sheikh Rihan Street. On my way to
class, I would stop at a nearby food stand and buy my favorite Egyptian dish, koshari. Before class, I would
sit on the white benches in the library yard and review my reading before class. It was peaceful
.
Kat Conlon (YAB ’07), United States

Embarrassed in Class

This incident being recounted is not one about me, but one that indirectly impacted me. I had signed up for a psychology class with Dr. Nicholas Ciaccio, (“the blond angel”) and my cousin, Leamon Wongbay, happened to do the same. On the first day of the session, Dr. Ciaccio proceeded to take the required roll call.When he came upon Leamon’s name, he gave his perceived pronunciation, not being usual names that he was accustomed to. Leamon, on the other hand, feeling a compulsion, instantly interjected with a correct pronunciation — a wrong move in my opinion (He had also fumbled with my last name). Dr. Ciaccio, not being one to be upstaged, in his signature stance — a cupped fist under his chin and the other hand akimbo — gave her his classic glare and quipped,“Honey, I only speak major languages.” Whew! That come back invoked a roar of laughter from the class. Needless to say, I was coying in my seat. Leamon was dumbfounded.

Gail Farngalo (Liberia) ’85, United States

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