Impact Stories

The Kuwait Chapter traces its roots back to the 1970s when a group of Kuwaiti alumni, including Faisal Al-Mutawa (BA ’70), Nasser Al Munaifi (BS ’70), Marwan Salameh (BA ’70), Samira Al Humaidi (BS ’70), Khadija Bastaki (BA ’70), Altaf Al Sultan (BA ’71), Amer Bohsali (BBA ’80), Itizaz Natafji (BS ’79, MS ’80), Yasmeen El Saadi (BS ’79, MS ’80), and Maha Abbas (former student), began to get together informally to reminisce about their days on campus. They had been quite a tight knit group during their student days as Al-Mutawa recollected in a profile in MainGate magazine in spring 2005. “We were always talking, debating, arguing,” he remembered. “You all eat in the same building, study in the same building, sleep in the same building so the dorms become home, and the students you live with become family.”

There have been a lot of changes and challenges over the years, but there is still that feeling of family among alumni in Kuwait. “When we come together, the connection is there,” says Chapter President Lina Dalloul (BA ’91). “In fact,” she laughs, “sometimes you meet someone and feel a connection and then discover that you are alumni. AUB alumni are everywhere in Kuwait – in all the right places!”

Although the chapter has existed since the 1970s, it was not officially established until 1993. This was about the time that the chapter, under the leadership of then Chapter President Al-Mutawa, began to organize large – Some of these events were very large, attracting as many as 800 alumni and friends of AUB! – high-profile annual fundraising gala dinners. Senior university leadership often traveled from Beirut to attend the annual galas, which raised significant amounts of money for scholarships at AUB, including the WAAAUB – Kuwait Chapter Endowed Scholarship Fund. Proceeds from this fund, which is now valued at more than $300,000, have been used to award 13 scholarships since 2007. The gala in May 2019 was especially memorable with a special presentation to Al-Mutawa in recognition of “his exemplary service to his alma mater and AUB alumni in Kuwait.”

Over the years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of recent AUB graduates in Kuwait. There has also been an increase in the number and variety of chapter events. Many of these are more informal gatherings such as “family day out” and “ice breakers.” When the pandemic hit in spring 2020, the Kuwait Chapter moved online organizing a talk on May 8, 2020, on the implications of COVID-19 with Dr. Rana Hajjeh (MD ’88). The chapter also organized a fitness challenge (BE Fit For A Cause) in July and August 2020, a workshop on emotional intelligence in July, and yoga classes. Chapter members, friends, and families have recently gathered to support the AUB4Beirut Run and Giving Day. “All of us at AUB have been very impressed with the energy and dedication of our alumni in Kuwait,” says Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Salma Oueida. “They have been especially generous supporters of student scholarships.”

Dalloul credits a core group of alumni and friends in Kuwait for the chapter’s success. “These are difficult days for everyone,” Dalloul explains, “but we do what we can to help each other – and our alma mater. We always have.”