UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1989-11_Page-012

President's Report Page 4 Washington Public Relations Luncheon November, 1989 In the fall I appointed Mrs. Christine Covey as our Washington representative. I was able to introduce her widely in Washington1 she spent a week of orientation at AUC, and she will be at the Board meeting. As she resided in Cairo for three years until this summer as the wife of the DCM in the Embassy, she already knows Cairo and AUC well and thus continues our practice of having a Washington representative who is really interested in AUC rather than a professional lobbyist. With her appointment we are able to proceed with adequate staff support to organize the "Washington luncheon" the Board decided upon but which we were unable to implement last year. Details on the latest proposals for the luncheon have been reported to the Public Relations Committee. The keystone of the event will be an award for "perceptive (or distinguished) journalism on the Middle East" to an outstanding media representative, an AUC academic presentation (speech by a faculty member on a current subject of interest) being the second main attraction. The target audience primarily is Congressmen and Congressional staff. We will expect corporations to buy tables that will cover the costs, but not to the extent of making the luncheon a fund raising occasion. Mrs. Covey, with the help of Mobil staff and the New York office, will both plan and implement the lunch. Nominees for the award will be processed through the University and decided upon by the Board along procedures used for honorary degrees. Rare Book Library and Other Construction With most of our legal problems surmounted, the Contractor working more diligently, and our own new supervisor, Mr. Morgan, on the job, the dormitory project is at last moving smoothly. Our attention has shifted to the Rare Book Library. Dar El Handassa, which designed the Jameel Center, has taken on responsibility for remodeling the Sheikh Rihan building. It has prepared excellent detailed plans. In October we held a consultation in Cairo on these plans that included the most knowledgeable person from the Library of Congress, Frazer Poole; Cecil Byrd, former AUC President and a rare book librarian; the Director of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens; the Director of the AUB museum; a former head of antiquities, and a former head of the National Library of Egypt; Mrs. Wisner; Mrs. Bond; and Dr. Betts, Director of ARCE