AUC the Fragment, the Bubble

The murder of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni shocked the community and outraged us all.

Investigations into the case are still ongoing, and, despite a number of accusations, the culprit remains largely unknown.

Most conversations surrounding this tragic incident mainly touch on the suppression of academic freedoms in Egypt, with a group of angry students and faculty biting back at the administration for what they see as a largely insufficient reaction.

But let’s take a moment to look at how this incident will leave its mark on AUC as an institution, and what it shows about our community.

It is high time to reconsider the way AUC works within the public and private sphere in Egypt – to remember that academia and research means more than having a well-stocked library.

It is time to really think about how members of our community are represented beyond our gates.

The events of the last five years alone have shown that AUC is neither a bubble, nor an oasis. Events that take place outside of our campus find ways to seep through, making us just as susceptible to ideas and processes that we do not control.

After this gruesome incident, it is time for us to really decide what matters to us as a community and how we communicate that to each other, to the administration and even to the rest of the international academic world.

Some will come together over this tragic murder while others will do so over dinner and budget planning.

Recognize the importance of this critical time for our institution as it approaches its 100th anniversary.

It will take more than a big campus and strong faculty members to spell continuity for this university for another 100 years.

On behalf of The Caravan staff, I would like to extend our condolences to Regeni’s family and friends.

Nadine Awadalla, Editor-in-Cheif