First Women Graduates, 1925
Excluding the earlier participation of women in the Nursing School starting 1905, coeducation was officially introduced at the American University of Beirut in 1921. Women were initially admitted to professional schools like pharmacy and dentistry, but during the first year of Bayard Dodge’s administration in 1923, the decision to admit women to the School of Arts and Sciences above the freshman level marked a highly controversial and radical shift. Prevailing social norms in the region largely confined women to domestic roles and discouraged coeducation, and concerns were raised about how male students—many of whom had little interaction with women—would respond.
Despite these reservations, the administration moved forward, aligning itself with broader regional trends toward women’s emancipation. In 1924, seven women enrolled, including Madame Ihsan Ahmad Shakir, a Muslim student from Egypt, whose husband enrolled as a special student in order to remain near her. That following year, the University awarded its first degree in pharmacy to Miss Sara Levy of Palestine. Enrollment increased the following year to thirteen women who integrated successfully into university life.
At first, women sat separately in the chapel and classrooms. They played tennis and went swimming only when no male students were nearby. They were not permitted to dance or participate in amateur theatricals with men.
The American School for Girls was established in Beirut in 1835 by American Presbyterian missionaries. In 1924, a two-year program was added to the high school, that led to the establishment of the American Junior College for Women in cooperation with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.
The Junior College for Women offered instruction at the freshman and sophomore levels, after which students could enter the American University of Beirut at the beginning of their junior year. Although they were not formally admitted to the University during their time at the Junior College, students were granted access to its laboratories and library. This arrangement strengthened their academic preparation while also providing suitable housing and a supportive environment for female students.
The first woman to graduate from AUB was Sara Levy (Ph.C 1925) while the first cohort of women graduates in 1926 included: Fortunee, Azriel (D.D.S.), Munirah Saffuri (B.A.), Gladys Shanklin (B.A.), Adma Abu Chdid (B.A.) who did post-graduate studies in Paris &. London, clinical assistant in gynecology & obstetrics at A.U.B., government physician and private practice Baghdad, worked at Johns Hopkins, Philadelphia, Duke's Hospital in U.S.A. These pioneering women graduates represent the early phase of coeducation at AUB and its gradual expansion across different faculties.