UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1990-11_Page-009

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO DONALD MCDONALD PRESIDENT Dear November, 1990 In spite of considerable outside distractions and with some exceptions that I will mention later on, AUC is doing well this year. Total enrollment is slightly higher than it was this time last year, morale seems to be good, Egypt is quiet, and we are all too busy to concern ourselves overly with events in the Gulf. In my first report to you I will give you a brief summary of my own activities over the past three months, both within and outside of the University • . I will then discuss some matters that I want to bring to your attention and which will be discussed in more detail in the reports of the various committees. Finally, I will speak briefly on some plans I have for the future. Three days after this Board meeting I will have completed three very busy months in Cairo. Moving to a new position with new and different responsibilities and in a new location always requires significant adjustment and reorientation. When that location is 7000 miles from the U.S., with differing culture, language, and mores, the adjustment is extraordinarily leveraged. In order to learn my way around, I have invested a large amount of time in meeting and getting to know many leaders of the government, business, and education community outside of the University and to become more knowledgeable of the faculty, staff, and programs inside the University. Let me add here that my welcome from all quarters has been hospitable, open, and completely supportive. I could not have asked for a better reception. The involvement of the president of AUC with officials of the Egyptian government is much more intimate than I expected, certainly a great deal more than would be the case for a small private university in the U.S. I have met on a formal basis with the ~inisters of agriculture, education, petroleum, housing, and cabinet affairs, and with others on social occasions. All of those whom I met expressed admiration of, and in some cases, affection for, AUC. It was also my pleasure to meet with four of the 13 governors of Egypt, those of Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, and Port Said. 1/ ••