When war, and an ensuing internal displacement crisis, broke out in March 2026, AUB’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE) immediately jumped to work, deploying student volunteers, funding, and leadership to shelters across Beirut. The center began its work in 2006 as a student-faculty taskforce on reconstruction following the July war and was institutionalized by AUB two years later in 2008 as the CCE, allowing its until-then sporadic work in crisis response and civic engagement to be formalized going forward. Playing an increasingly significant role at AUB, the CCE utilizes the passion and ingenuity of students to provide aid amid Lebanon’s myriad crises, both ongoing and novel.
Core Programs for Student Engagement
The CCE runs three primary programs to engage AUB students in service:
- Engaged Scholars Program: A 3–4-year extracurricular program for scholarship students to participate in community engagement and gain experience working in complex landscapes before graduation.
- Strategic Community Initiatives: Long-term interventions addressing specific structural issues or crises that the university has committed to responding to.
- General Education Courses: CCE’s newest foray into combining civic participation with AUB’s academic ecosystem, featuring a 3-credit course titled Fundamentals in Community Engagement, open to all AUB students.
When the 2026 war began, Rabih Shibli, a founding member and the center’s executive director, was instructing this general education course. The class was about to begin its hands-on portion—completing rotations with various NGOs and national ministries—when the escalations began in early March. With 20 years of experience mobilizing crisis response at AUB, Shibli initiated his response promptly by emailing his students and urging them to take action:
“If you are in a position where it is safe for you to offer help and extend the hand to those most in need, I strongly encourage you to do so. Even the smallest act of solidarity can make a meaningful difference.”
Frontline Relief in Action
The CCE’s primary work during the 2026 escalation was in collaboration with Offre Joie, providing aid in two shelters for internally displaced people: one in Karantina and another in Dbayeh for the families of Lebanese Army soldiers. CCE provided support to the shelters and Offre Joie by supplying funding, student volunteers, human resources, strategic guidance, and logistics management.
CCE utilized its resources—including reserve funding from previous crises alongside fundraising and in-kind donations from AUB organizations like the France Alumni Association and the Psychology Student Society—to improve health, safety, and comfort in the shelters. For example, CCE used its funding to purchase toilets and showers for the Karantina shelter and to equip the Dbayeh shelter with pillows and mattresses. On one rainy day, CCE volunteers sealed plastic weatherproofing over fabric tents. When questioned about identifying needs on the ground, Shibli responded that in emergency situations, the needs tend to be obvious.
This 2026 response also came with a unique set of challenges compared to 2024 and earlier crises, including fewer volunteers due to heightened overall safety concerns, as well as fatigue from both international and local aid streams leading to reduced support.
Beyond Temporary Heroes
Since its founding, the CCE has responded to several defining crises in Lebanon. Shibli names three that have shaped CCE’s crisis response methodology, which he calls “frontliner engagement”: the 2006 war that led to its founding, the Syrian refugee crisis where they worked nationwide, and the 2020 Beirut blast. The CCE operates on a core set of values adapted from the Red Cross: neutrality, impartiality, independence, and humanity—which form an essential foundation for any program or initiative the center undertakes.
Based on the CCE’s twenty years of work and close contact with civil society at large, Shibli names several flaws in Lebanon’s crisis response. These include high government polarization, underqualified leaders, and a reliance on short-lived initiatives that disappear as soon as key figures step down. In a country constantly confronted with crisis and the daunting task of reconstruction, developing systems and an every-changing framework for response is essential.
How To Help
Below are the AUB bank account details to receive any donations:
New York:
Bank Name: JP Morgan Chase, NA
Bank Address: 4 Chase MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11245
Account Name: American University of Beirut
Routing Number: 021000021
Account Number: 005-022622
SWIFT: CHASUS33
Designation: Center for Community Engagement
For any inquiries, you can contact them through email: cce@aub.edu.lb
Katja Muller
Katja Muller is an English Language and Literature student at Haverford College. She has a strong interest in social justice and community engagement.