First Group of SPC (AUB) Students
The college started with eight faculty members, three departments, and sixteen students, three of which were from Beirut, one from Tripoli, and twelve from Mount Lebanon. The fee for a day student was five Turkish pounds and for a boarding student twelve additional pounds.
The students were: Constantine Khoury (Bhamdoun), Jirjus Akl (Gharzouz), Ibrahim Jirjus (Bhamdoun), Salim Diyab (Tripoli), Yusuf Hajjar [21] (Bmekkin), Halim Nassif (Souk al-Gharb), Fathallah al Sousa (Beirut), Elias Tabet (Bhamdoun), Yusuf Mashaqah (Deir al-Qamar), Ali Nasr Eddine (Kfar Matta), Jirjus Sassine (Beirut), Jirjus Khuri (Beirut), along with Kaysar Ghurayyib (Abeih), Ibrahim Khairallah (Bhamdoun), Ibrahim Musawwir (Zahle), Na’um Mughabghab (Ain Zhalta), and Yaqub Sarruf (Hadath). Only the last five formed the class of 1870.[22]
What became of the first graduates?
Kaysar Ghurayyib became a doctor in 1874 then worked as a physician at the English Hospital in Jaffa, Palestine. Died in Jaffa, March 1919; Dr. Ibrahim Jirjus Khairallah received his MD from the United States and lived in Brooklyn, New York. He had a long, interesting career in the US and died in Beirut 1929; Na’um Khalil Mughabghab became principal of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) School in Cairo and from 1905-1914 and was Chief Climate Section in the Survey Department in Egypt. He died in November 1919; Ibrahim Musawwir worked in the Chief Translation Office and Public Works Department in Cairo and received the Imperial Order Mejidiah. He died in Halwan, Egypt, January 1920; Yaqub Sarruf, born in Hadath, Beirut, in 1852, BA 1870 and PhD with honors from AUB in 1890. He was the manager of the Tripoli School before he became an instructor at AUB from 1873-1885, editor of several well-known publications: al-Muqattam, al-Muqtataf, al-Hilal and Sudan Times and author of many books. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and founder of al-Majma al-Ilmi, in Beirut. He died in July 1927.[23]
Samples of Diplomas of the Syrian Protestant College, 1870-1871
These are two diplomas of early students at the Syrian Protestant College, Na’um Mughabghab and Yusuf Hajjar who graduated in 1870 and 1871’ their families donated these diplomas to AUB to preserve for posterity.
Na'um Mughabghab, BA 1870; Headmaster Church Missionary School, Cairo, Egypt; Chief Climate Section, Survey Department Egypt. [24]Deceased in 1919.
The diploma was presented by Naoum Mughabghab’ s grandsons, Theodore and In'am Ra'ad to President Hoelscher In 1980. The diploma was a Bachelor of Arts granted to Mughabghab on July 26, 1870, written in Arabic, and signed by Daniel Bliss, Cornelius Van Dyck, John Wortabet, George E. Post, and David Stuart Dodge.
Yusuf Hajjar physician; born in Bmekkin, Mount Lebanon, MD 1871; married: one boy, two girls; Worked at the Syrian Protestant College as clinical assistant and was also a member of District Court, Lebanon. Deceased, Bmekkin in 1888.[25]
[21] Both Yusuf Hajjar and Salim Diyab graduated with an MD in 1871.
[22] يزبك، ي. أوراق لبنانية. المجلد الأول آذار 1955 .ص: 120-121
[23] First Degree Granted by AUB Resurfaces. Al Kulliyah Magazine, April 1980, (1)
[24] American University of Beirut, Alumni Association. (1953). Directory of Alumni, 1870-1952. Beirut: American University of Beirut, (1).
[25] Annual Report to the Board of Managers, July 18th, 1873, (33).