Rita Mufarrij Merhej delivered the keynote speech at the AUB Legacy Ceremony. She congratulated the new students on their acceptance to AUB and said their education would instill an understanding and respect for human rights. She spoke of AUB's legacy inspiring students to become leaders and help create a better future. Merhej also discussed her long family history with AUB, with many relatives who attended. She urged students to embrace AUB's culture and support its mission and values by acting as responsible, dignified, honest, and compassionate people.

1. AUB Legacy Ceremony
AUB Alumni Keynote Speech
Delivered by:
Rita Mufarrij Merhej
September the 24th, 2010
I am truly honored to have been invited to speak in the name of AUB Alumni parents on this very
special occasion. Sharing with you this privileged experience, that of handing down to our
children the AUB torch along the same paths we took years ago, is extremely rewarding. First of
all, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to all the new students gathered here: Your
acceptance at AUB is testament to your hard work and your dedication to your studies; today, we
are celebrating your success among your family, friends, and the AUB community, soon to
become your larger family. This academic success demonstrates that you are already taking steps
towards becoming not just leaders in your chosen fields, but also active agents to ensure a better
human rights future, so may you all have the will and the passion to help make this happen. One
thing I know for sure is that your education at AUB will instill in you an understanding of, and
respect for, human rights, principles and values, and day after day, semester after semester and
year after year, you will also understand that these are a real part of your everyday life. It is very
important for us, parents, to bequeath the AUB legacy to you: let it uplift and inspire you, just as
it had inspired us as we grow older and more mature. Through this legacy which is the only
common thing you share in spite of all your differences, you will learn order, hope, humility and
brotherhood; we hope this legacy will unite you in the search for a better life for your own good
and the good of our country.
I personally have a very long history with AUB, it’s almost genetic! My father, the late Iskandar
Mufarrij, AUB graduate of 1939, my uncles, Dr. Afif and Dr. Brahim Mufarrij, may their souls
rest in peace, my cousins, Drs. Walid, Nazih, Imad, Nancy, George and the late, beloved-to-all
Dr. Amjad Mufarrij, my sister Joyce, my nephew, the handsome doctor who takes care of you at
the AUH Emergency Center, Dr. Afif Mufarrij…And the list goes on and on. It was only natural
that I join AUB…It is only natural that my children join AUB, first my daughter Laura, and now
my son Joseph. I feel joining AUB is a family tradition, a family heritage, or better still, a rite of
passage from late adolescence into adulthood.
To all the sons and daughters gathered here tonight, and on behalf of all the parents, I want to tell
you that we are very proud of you, but I also would like to urge you to make AUB proud of you,
for being a student here is not a temporary stage in your life: AUB is a culture that you belong to,
and with which you will identify for the rest of your life. AUB is a legacy that we are proudly
passing on to you, the way it has been passed on to us…We protected it, we cherished it, we
cultivated it, and in doing so, we became better people trying to make this world a better place,
each one of us in his/her own special way. Now it is your turn: embrace the AUB culture, make
the best out of this experience, let it inspire you all the way toward self-actualization, but make
sure, in the process, to give your best to AUB, to support its mission and its values, and act
accordingly…that is, as a responsible, dignified , honest and compassionate human being.
Good luck to you all, long live AUB, long live Lebanon.
Rita Mufarrij Merhej