Best of CASE Asia-Pacific Region Award
 

Institution: Lebanese American University

Title of entry: LAU, The University on the Hill

About this entry: We created the first official account of the university's history by developing a book that defined its history and celebrated its major milestones. As a university that went through several stages in its history, we didn't have a common, shared understanding of our history. This was important so we can empower our ambassadors, and increase the sense of belonging to the institution. The LAU Book team overcame a scarcity of an archival base by doing a large research endeavor to gather facts, interviews and photos. They visited the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, and they interviewed over 183 persons. The history, heritage and legacy of the university was to be found in books, letters, correspondence, but also with LAU's retired faculty, staff. Hundreds of pictures needed to be restored, retouched and calibrated. The book was able to meet the expectations of a diverse community of alumni, retirees, faculty, staff and students. While much of the content was very new, and never before collected under one narrative, the form was also impressive with a hard-bound "coffee-table" style designed by LAU's Strategic Communications Department.