January 29, 1999

American Campuses in Beirut Strive to Restore Quality

By DEBORAH MESCE

8 years after the end of civil war, some U.S. academics return

Barbed wire still tops the stone wall around the seaside campus of the American University of Beirut, but the most visible damage from Lebanon's 17-year civil war is now gone. The university's oldest building, College Hall, which was destroyed by a bomb in 1991, has been rebuilt, and its clock tower once again defines the campus's skyline.

The institution, however,