AUC has a Legacy of Long Lost Student Clubs
BY MARY ARAVANI
![Al Quds was active in 2007 and worked to raise awareness of the Palestinian conflict [Caravan Archives]](http://www.auccaravan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Al-Aqsa-e1415694124820.jpg)
“There is no measure that could say whether a club will continue or not… but in some cases we have students who establish [one] but later graduate and leave it behind,” said Sayed Omar, the student organizations senior specialist at the Office of Student Development (OSD).
The club then faces limbo when the founder doesn’t “pass the baton” on to someone else or leave a legacy to be continued.
The Jerusalem Friends Club is one such student activity that is now defunct. Established at the Tahrir Campus in the 1970s, it was a popular amalgamation of activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause.
Mahmoud El Lozy, currently professor and director of the AUC Theater Program, was studying at the time and remembers the club well.
“It was probably the most popular club on campus,” he told the Caravan. “It was basically a Palestinian club and at that time, we were all politically conscious; we were aware that the Palestinian question was the question of all Arabs.
“The club dealt with political issues and with the question of the liberation of Palestine, but in time of course this changed,” he said.
Sarah Hassan, a business marketing senior, seemed keen about the idea of joining such a club if it were still available.
“I think I would have joined because I’m really interested in this issue…I would like to see it reappear because the Palestinian issue is a never-ending topic that always has new updates,” she said.
According to documents found in the Caravan archives, the Anti-Drug Team in 2003-2004 was a club formed to discourage students from using any type of illegal substances.
Mohamed Hassan, a current Theater and Film junior, told the Caravan, “I probably wouldn’t have joined the club because I’m a chain smoker.”
Although a relatively new club, he believes the Anti-Drug Team likely fell by the wayside because it was unpopular.
“I probably wouldn’t like to see it re-emerge because I believe it’s approaching the issue [of drug abuse] in the wrong way.”
A popular club around 2006-2007, was called the The Bussy Project.
The club dealt with women’s issues and was inspired by Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, a play composed of a series of soliloquies that dealt with female issues or situations ranging from rape to menstruation.
Mariam El Attar, Music and Theatre programs coordinator and AUC alumna who was a student at the time of the club, remembers the nature of the project.
“Every semester, they’d have scripts about women’s issues and some [of these] were performed [on stage],” El Attar said.
“It was a popular club and it wasn’t just about performances; they also had surveys about women’s issues,” said Attar.
The Bussy Project, although no longer an AUC club, lives on.
Sayed says it has now evolved into a non-governmental organization (NGO). The official Bussy Project website says “… Bussy now aims to tackle the complexity of gender issues from the perspectives of both women and men.”
There have been a number of other clubs and organizations that appeared and disappeared over the past decade.
These include clubs such as Fathers’ and Sons’ Reception, Egypt My Love, The Touring Club, Mission E, and Friends in Need.
There were even student dance organizations such as the Hip Hop and Latin Fever clubs.
