Photos compiled by Aliah Salih | These photos appeared in the Fall 2017 edition of AUCToday and are courtesy of the University Archives.

Since its founding, AUC has always welcomed students from different parts of the world. Charles R. Watson, AUC’s founding president, laid an “emphasis on international relations” at AUC.

“Here in Egypt, we are international in language, in customs, in race, in culture. The training of any Egyptian must include training in internationalism. This is achieved in our College not through language studies, history classes, [and] sociological and economic courses, but through the very practical training given in this College by its very life. Let me read to you the racial types included in our enrollment: Egyptian 60 percent, then come Palestinian, Armenian, Greek, American, Syrian, British, French, Malayan, Sumatran, Italian, Persian, Mesopotamian, Higazi, Javanese [in Indonesia], Turkish, Maltese, Russian, Moroccan. Do you imagine that any student can live and study in our international atmosphere and not gain an international training which will fit him for Egypt’s outstanding international life?”

— Charles R. Watson, AUC’s Founding President
“The Place and Program of The American University at Cairo,” 1933

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Check out some more historical snapshots from AUC’s rich history here.