Students and the Blisses
- From the early days of the Syrian Protestant College, smoking in student rooms was strictly prohibited. One graduate student recalled that while studying late one night in his fourth-floor room at College Hall, he assumed the administration was asleep and lit a cigarette. After finishing half of it, he tossed it out the window. Moments later, there was a knock on the door. To his surprise, it was President Daniel Bliss who asked if he studied his astronomy lesson. When the student confirmed he did, Bliss remarked, “Then perhaps you can tell me whether this is a night when meteors are expected to fall through the air.” The student hesitated, and Bliss added, “I thought you could tell.” From that evening on, the student never smoked in his room again.
- On another occasion, President Bliss caught a student smoking behind Assembly Hall. Startled, the student quickly tucked the lit cigarette into his pocket. Rather than reprimanding him, Bliss greeted him warmly, asking after each member of his family—father, mother, and grandmother—and requesting that the student convey his salaams to them. As they continued talking, the lit cigarette burned the coat and slipped from the student’s pocket. Bliss merely nodded politely, bid him farewell, and walked away without saying another word.
- Known for his quiet authority and unwavering integrity, Bliss inspired trust among his students. He wrote, “We utterly rejected the system of encouraging one student to spy on another. Trusting a boy makes him trustworthy.” Students often remarked, “We cannot lie to Dr. Bliss because he trusts us.”
- Professor Nicola Shahin recalled that in 1918, during final exams, he fell ill with typhoid and was unable to complete them. To his surprise, President Howard Bliss visited his bedside holding a diploma, saying, “I bring you today your degree in recognition of your four years of good grades, good conduct, and hard work.”