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The Trustees of the Syrian Protestant
College (SPC ) had taken on a huge
undertaking. Perhaps they hadn’t realized
how huge until they found themselves
covering the yearly deficits from their
own pockets. Still their campaign to so-
licit funds began in 1903, must continue.
Already, Mrs. Russell Sage from NY has
sent in her donation to build a dormitory
for students. And so the Trustees took
a vote: the Sage Dormitory should be
located somewhere either on or adjacent
to the present athletic grounds. It was de-
cided that it should be placed upon high
ground, west of the College’s Jesup Hall.
The construction began.
On October 11, 1911, according to the
handwritten manuscripts of the Board of
Trustees meetings, stored carefully at the
AUB archives library, “the president an-
nounced the occupation of Sage Hall.”
The trustees could now concentrate on
the next phase: soliciting funds for the
preparatory buildings.
It’s been clear for quite some time that
the SPC must have its own preparatory
school.The standards of students applying
to the College were just not up to par.
The only solution was for the SPC to
build its own prep school. On March 12,
1912 the Trustees “reported and recom-
mended that three new buildings be
erected on the bluff of the west campus,”
according to the archived minutes.
The three buildings proposed would
house a new “recitation hall to accommo-
date senior and junior students, a junior
dormitory, and a refectory to accom-
modate kitchen, dining room and service
facilities of the department.”
Two sets of estimates were presented: one
for £14,950 and one for £13,400 pounds.
The campaign fund number showed the
figure of £13,470.
And so it was that the Trustees took their
historical decision to construct a prepara-
tory school “favoring the more expressive
style of building and authorizing the
president to secure government permit to
build.”
On November 5, 1912 ground was broken
for the first of the new preparatory build-
ings.
Largely planned by then principal of
the school, William H. Hall, the build-
ings were ready for occupancy in the
fall of 1913. The first one was dubbed
Rockefeller Hall, the second Thomson
Hall and the third was simply referred
to as the “Refectory” (today’s preschool).
Extra funds donated by a Mrs. Martin in
Vermont, were used to make over an old
house for the principal to live in. It was
named the “Martin House”.
The SPC soon became the American
University of Beirut and its “Prep” school
eventually became the International Col-
lege. (In 1936, AUB President Dr Bayard
Dodge invited the International College
in Smyrna to take over the preparatory
classes).
Today, IC is one the most renowned
schools in the international educational
area boasting a state-of-the art education
and a diverse student body made up of
over 70 nationalities.
Almost a century later and in a bid to
continue the work of the SPC Trustees,
a new campaign was launched in 2009 to
build a much needed elementary school,
new facilities and renovate the much
loved “preparatory buildings”.
A legacy of names
12
WINTER
2010