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A month ago, I got recommended by a friend to work for Align, the official Olayan School of Business (OSB) monthly electronic newsletter at the American University of Beirut (AUB). I applied and immediately got accepted.
A month ago, I got recommended by a friend to work for Align, the official Olayan School of Business (OSB) monthly electronic newsletter at the American University of Beirut (AUB). I applied and immediately got accepted.
In a spontaneous effort to expose the truth while trying to cheer the deserving people up, I published an opinion piece on my personal profile on Facebook and my personal blog “Mind Soup” discussing the effect of ‘wasta’ and favoritism on decisions made by several departments in AUB while focusing on the recent results of the Medical School acceptances. This opinion article, entitled “There is no ‘wasta’ at the American University of Beirut” raised much more controversy that I have anticipated, and I recieved tons of supporting messages and opposing messages to my personal e-mail address and Facebook inbox. This article has received more than five hundred distinct hits from 17 different countries on the blog alone in two days.
Two days after that, I received what I would like to call a “hate phone-call” from an anonymous private number bashing me for writing the article. I, then, pulled the article down from Facebook and my blog for security reasons, but then put it up again after I received tons of requests from friends who haven’t got the chance to read it.
Tuesday morning, I receive an e-mail from the Align faculty advisor and a personal phone call requesting to see me to discuss some “bad news.” I didn’t think of it very highly and proceeded to work on my INFO 200 project until I had some free time. During that meeting, I was informed that effective immediately, I was fired from Align and no longer hold a “Staff Writer” position. I was told that someone with a high position accessed my personal blog and read the ‘wasta’ article, asked around about me, and requested from the Dean of OSB to lay me off from Align. I was also requested to remove the Align logo and link from my blog. I was being exiled for voicing my opinion on my personal blog which has no relation whatsoever to Align.
In accordance with that, I recieved a formal letter which relieved me from my duty at Align. This letter clearly blamed my ‘firing’ directly to the ‘wasta’ blog post, as follows:
It has come to my attention that you posted an article to your personal blog entitled “There is no ‘wasta’ at the American University of Beirut.” Your blog post does not uphold the spirit that the extended team abides by. […] Consequently, we cannot associate ourselves with writers who heavily criticize the larger institution that ALIGN represents and at the same time promote it in another context because this action lacks internal integrity. Therefore, I regret to inform you that effective immediately you will no longer be a staff writer for ALIGN. […]
It was very clear that this decision was not made by the advisor of Align, but from higher authorities at AUB. For that, I am very appreciative of the whole Align team, and especially its advisor, for the opportunity to be part of such a hard-working team. I sincerely hold no grudge on any of the Align team members, nor the Dean of OSB or any AUB employee that took part of making and implementing this decision.
What seems annoyingly interesting is how these official got hold of my blog and read my article. After some investigations, I was tipped off by a source (who shall remain unnamed) that one premedical student who got accepted to the AUB Medical School got so upset by my opinion piece that he/she directed a highly influential figure in AUB to my blog, who then took this extreme measure. I’m still not sure if this information in one hundred percent accurate, but I would rather not believe that AUB officials stalk students online activities.
This experience has proved pretty much that as much as AUB tries to uphold the Western values, and pretends to give its students the right to freedom of speech, this notion is very doubtful. It is very sad that students have no right to voice their opinions, even using personal means such as Facebook or personal blogs. I am sure that all hell would have broken loose if my article would have been published, as I was considering, in Outlook, AUB’s official student newspaper.
Moreover, I was very grateful for the reaction I immediately recieved from friends and colleagues about this issue. My inbox was flooded with support letters from caring friends and colleagues that made this loss seem much more of a victory than I thought.
I would just like to thank my friends and colleagues for all this support and assure them that I am in no way upset or disappointed for being fired for defending deserving students and voicing the truth. On the contrary, I take this as a huge compliment. My voice was heard by some high official in AUB who got so pissed to the extent that he/she had to hunt me down and fire me for the journalistic integrity that I uphold.
They all know that what I am saying has a huge extent of truth in it, if not completely true. They could have simply caught my bluff and retaliated with a press-release denying my claims (like what have been done on previous occasions), but what they did only makes my point stronger.
They all know that what I am saying has a huge extent of truth in it, if not completely true. They could have simply caught my bluff and retaliated with a press-release denying my claims (like what have been done on previous occasions), but what they did only makes my point stronger.
I consider this unfortunate incident as a blue ribbon on my chest. It pushes me forward to pursue a third major in journalism after I was thinking about it for the last two years. I now know how hard it is for true journalists to make it in real life. If they thought they have shut me up by firing me, they better think again. I am a true journalist now.
P.S. Voluntarily after this incident, I have discontinued the article “There is no ‘wasta’ at the American University of Beirut” for personal reasons. I do not want it to affect my higher education career.
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© Mind Soup 2010. This article cannot be redistributed or republished in part or in whole via any means without the written approval of the author.
© Mind Soup 2010. This article cannot be redistributed or republished in part or in whole via any means without the written approval of the author.
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Comments
good for you hijazi! really, you are an excellent writer and don't ever let anyone stop you. this is most definitely your forte. :)
keep on writing and we shall all keep on reading!
You seem like a great writer nevertheless. Cheers. :)
I don't know in which world you live in, but if you have gotten your face about of the books for a minute there and participated in AUB activities, you will clearly notice that Wasta runs everything in AUB. If you did not get a wasta, it doesn't mean that everyone else didn't. Please have some common sense.
Another thing, there's a thing called "Freedom of Speech", in case you have never heard of it. By law, people cannot get fired for their opinions and beliefs even if they are published using personal means such as Facebook or personal blogs, no matter who I was accusing. I am a good journalist and I can balance between my objectivity when writing for Align, and my personal beliefs on my own personal blog. If AUB cannot separate between work and personal issues, then clearly they have a complex.
Thank you for your complement. Cheers :)
Anytime :)
But we should keep in mind that the AUB accpeted 28 students from outside AUB!!!
But Hijazi...after all, what happened had happened! And we cannot change it.
It is like when Brazil lost the world cup and all brazilian fans began saying that France paid for them to do so.
And if the Wasta thingy was true... nothing will happen. I think that most of the people will be blaming themselves for not getting a wasta after all...
It realy hurts when the AUB do not take under consideration all recommendation letters and all extracurricular activies, but what i see is that 80% from all the people who got accepted deserved it.
Anyways Abou l Moudz it is good to read your article... It is very rare to find someone who does not resist and defend people.
Thanks 7:44 PM, I'm glad you liked it.
Rita, I would send it, but I'm sure they will hang me on the Armenian mashna2a that's in fornt of West Hall this week. I'm not sure I want to die soon.
I'm digging your avatar btw :P
What people don't understand is that what makes a good journalist is his ability to cope with the situation he is in. I am entitled to my personal opinions and I express them freely. Work should be separated from the personal side. When I write for Align or any other newspaper, I am as objective and precise as possible. I do not get my opinions interfere in my writings there. However, if journalists don't have the right to express their personal opinion on personal blogs, then there is really no need for journalists to begin with.
Another thing, my work for Align was totally different and has no connection what-so-ever to my article. Apparently, AUB cannot distinguish between personal opinions and professional work. They have showed utter unprofessionalism by firing me.
If I am to quit every position I hold in AUB because there are things I don't like about the system, then why even bother study at AUB in the first place?
"They have the right to do that. Just as you-as a writer-have the "freedom of thought", you have to be commited to them as a newspaper in your thought."
ya3ni ya istez hijazi, yalli baddo yekol min khobz al soltan lezim y7arib bi sayfo !
mish ma32ool koon m3ayyanak 3andi ta tiktob t2oom tinshor 3ordo, inno just 7ot 7alak ma77alon :P ba3den gher hek , ossit al wasta mish bass bil AUB al wasta bi kel al 3alam! Harvard fiya wasta! :P mashina!! as if u didnt get used to life or the world we live in!
Walla al 3azeem ma3ik 7a2 ya rita, bass shu baddik ti7ki, tab al 7ayet hek mrakbi, fi nes in power bass sad2ini very weak la2inno ma bya3rfo keef yit3amalo ma3 shi doddon aw opinions against their opinion!
in my opinion haydool nes d3af, and by doing what they did proves shu 2al hijazi habeeb albi :P la2inno ana ma3o 100%
During my interview iddem minni mahmood harb ijeh telephone min 7ada mhim asking about a premed student w 3am bi 2ilo hayda lezim yfoot!
so don't be sad for whatever happens, tansho :P
You can also come forward too with the information you have about Mahmood Harb, but obviously you don't want to reveal your identity, and I respect that because you are looking out for your own future.
Personally, I found it to be very much worth the risk, and it prides me very much that I was fired for defending these people.
hadees el AUB!!
and the comments are just a prove!
thnk u sooooooooo much w alla yzeed lli mitlak:)!!!!
address.
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