Students of the Makassed College for Girls.
It is a new conquest, in the world of woman; long generations shrank back from it... generations of submissiveness and ignorance!
I saw her — she of the slender heel and the flowing tresses... I saw her striding down the street, heavy books resting against her breast and papers piling high!
And today I heard her knocking at the doors of tomorrow, hopeful, defiant.
In an hour of study and hard work...
She is the girl of this age; in every field she works; in every corner her hands plant goodness — and life!
In the capital, Beirut, a wedding feast is held every day; with the morning, with the waking of the birds... a wedding in whose procession march tender young buds, and youth upon whose arms the mighty dawn of tomorrow is awaited.
And at every sunset, lamps are kindled atop the beacons of this wondrous city, scattering the darkness and raising the banners of guidance and direction... In its corners flower beds have been strewn, whose scent perfumes the air... and for once we walk among these blossoms in their comings and goings, and feel the work in their steps!
Man is afraid, in this age of ours; he fears her, for she has stormed the fields he had monopolized for himself through generation after generation, and he has been powerless to turn her back — and through all the ages he has ignored the fact that the bird of life flies true only on two wings.
Every year the schools of the capital cast forth a new stream, and every day they prepare another weapon — not the weapon our ears have grown accustomed to: it is a kind of explosive that sinks into the depths of humanity, bursting open the springs of its bounty and the hidden stores of its gifts.
The American University of Beirut is a beauty mark on the cheek of the capital; for years past it was reserved for young men, forbidden to the fair sex; today there stroll through its courtyards girl students in the age of roses and the unfolding of hopes. From 264 girl students last year, enrollment has risen to 270 this year, and 69 girls have entered the third university year, against 47 last year; every branch welcomes the girl except the branch of engineering... and perhaps she will knock at its door in the near tomorrow.