AUK’s Inaugural Giving Day a Success
Over a five-day period, the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) held its inaugural Giving Day festivities. The Office of Advancement worked with a number of units across campus to raise funds for financial aid and a variety of other students’ needs. The range of activities spoke to the solidarity among AUK’s employees, specifically their shared commitment to enhancing student access.
Days 1 and 2 focused on raising awareness and building momentum. The Office of Advancement’s own “A Word for Giving” was the kick off. In this activity, members of the AUK community were supposed to write what giving means to them on boards by the main entrance. The boards would remain there until the end of Giving Day, by which point they were full of uplifting comments about the power of giving. “Quote Me” involved students in the Department of Design selling colorful pencils of their creation, within likewise colorful cases bearing pithy quotations. The College of Engineering set up a bean bag toss game that attracted attention to their departmental needs.
Day 3 of Giving Day was highlighted by live music in the AUK Auditorium. Manal Issa, Director of the Office of Advancement, addressed the large crowd, in both English and Arabic, on the significance of Giving Day and everyone’s potential to contribute. Ali Adeeb, head of the Music Club, enlisted the aid of professional musician Abdullah Azad on piano and singer Jegir Emin in fundraising for new instruments. The harmony of the saz, the piano, and the Kurdish vocals induced dancing in the aisles among the attendees.
On the fourth day, the AUK Exam Hall was transformed into a movie theater. Through cooperation with the Youth Art Cinema Club of Duhok, six Kurdish directors screened their short movies to support Giving Day and the local filmmaking industry. The films were all in Kurdish, set in Kurdistan, and no longer than 15 minutes in length, yet they were quite diverse. “The Dead Can Talk” and “The Troubled Bear and the Palace,” in different ways, dealt with the Kurdish struggle for autonomy. “A Way of Trauma” showed the hardscrabble living many in Kurdistan daily experience. “Empty Dreams,” directed by AUK student Sarhat Nariman, addressed the universal challenge of pursuing personal passion in spite of resistance and even ridicule from others. “Recasted” and “Sorrowful Jokes” focused on the troubles of production, the former spotlighting the pitfalls of child acting, the latter comedically showing just how many moving parts – i.e., things that could go wrong – a film crew must manage. A panel discussion involving all of the directors followed the screening, ending with questions from the audience.
Leave it to the College of Nursing, with its expected emphasis on health, to work with the Office of Advancement to put on the “Fun Run” that wrapped up Giving Day. Dozens of participants donned their athletic gear to run two laps around the AUK campus, for bonding, physical fitness, and raising funds for the College of Nursing. The atmosphere was more cooperative than competitive, but the first three males and the first three females to finish were awarded medals by AUK President Randall Rhodes. The entrance to the Mustafa Barzani Building, site of the start and the finish of the race, was crowded with enthusiastic spectators.
“Together for AUK” was a fitting slogan for the Giving Day activities, which brought together so many AUK units.
