Prepared for Anything
Even amid ongoing crises, faculty and staff at the Lebanese American University are determined to keep teaching and supporting their students
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When the Iran war broke out in February 2026, Lebanon was already struggling through other crises. In October 2019, the banking sector collapsed and political unrest erupted, with the upheaval still ongoing. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions of higher education to move online in 2020, those of us at the Lebanese American University (LAU) were deep into finding ways to maintain continuity of learning amid severe unrest, roadblocks, and other disruptions. In fall 2024, Lebanon experienced devastating violence as hostilities escalated between Israel and Hezbollah: Rocket attacks bombarded Beirut and the south of the country, killing and injuring thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands, including LAU students, staff, and faculty.
LAU had just completed two years of work on a comprehensive self-evaluation in preparation for a reaccreditation visit from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), and we had to postpone the visit to the following year. When it finally took place in October 2025, it was a moment of institutional pride: an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with the NECHE team and showcase the resilience and work of the LAU community. Then, in February 2026, we found ourselves once again in a war zone as the United States and Israel attacked Iran and its regional allies. So, when the NECHE affirmed LAU’s continued accreditation against this backdrop in March 2026, the decision was especially meaningful.
The last week of classes and final exam period of the spring 2026 semester were relatively quiet with a fragile ceasefire in place in Beirut. Still, we were constantly pivoting between threatened escalations and assurances of a ceasefire, and we had contingency commencement plans ready to go. Thankfully, the ceremonies at our Byblos and Beirut campuses went forward in June. My own son, Salim, graduated with a bachelor’s in communication arts. It was a privilege to celebrate that milestone with him and more than two thousand other LAU graduates across various disciplines.
At the time of this writing, the ceasefire has collapsed and attacks have resumed. Nevertheless, summer classes are under way, and we are fully prepared to continue implementing our emergency and academic continuity plans as needed, while holding on to the hope that conditions will improve.
Download a pdf of the full Summer 2026 Dispatch from Abroad.
All photos courtesy of the Lebanese American University
Illustrations by Daniel Gómez Vega
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