Baghdad College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baghdad College is an elite secondary school for boys in Baghdad, Iraq. It is among the nation's most highly regarded preparatory schools, boasting several well-known alumni and countless Iraqi professionals and intellectuals now living throughout the world. The school sits at 11/45 Murabba'ah Street in Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris River.

1 Jesuit Tradition
2 Baathist Nationalization
3 Alumni
4 Reference

[edit] Jesuit Tradition

The four American Jesuit founders of Baghdad College

In 1931, at the request of the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad and at the direction of Pope Pius XI, a group of four American Jesuits arrived in Baghdad and established Baghdad College as a secondary school for boys. Known as "BC on the Tigris," the school was staffed with priests from the New England Jesuit Province.

While Baghdad's Christians welcomed the Jesuits, Muslims were initially suspicious of their intentions. However, the Muslims eventually embraced the institution as it became clear that the Jesuits' mission was to provide a rich education, and not wholesale Muslim conversion. The trust grew as the Jesuits at Baghdad College enthusiastically participated in Muslim and Christian feasts in the homes of their students. The commingling of traditions, cultures, and religions led to an unanticipated infusion of intellectual curiosity into the Baghdad community.

The history of Baghdad College is largely the history of modern Baghdad itself. The first test of strength occurred during the pro-Nazi coup of Baghdad during World War II. The American Jesuits continued their work at Baghdad College during the 1941 Iraq Coup, when other Americans were fleeing. This bravery was said to impress Iraq's Prime Minister so much so that he enrolled his two sons in the school after the coup was put down.

Through the 1950s, the make-up of Baghdad College's student body was approximately 50% Muslim, 35% Catholic, and 15% Eastern Orthodox. Before the Jewish exodus of 1948-1951, Jews also constituted a significant proportion of the student body. Over time, the lush 25-acre campus grew to include nine major buildings, a boarding school, a minor seminary, a library, and laboratories. Before the establishment of Baghdad College, prominent Baghdad families had sent their sons to Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt. Baghdad College's closer proximity and superior education reversed this trend, and a network of contacts from well-known families grew out of the school. In 1956, the success of Baghdad College led the Jesuits to establish another school in Baghdad: Al-Hikma University.

[edit] Baathist Nationalization

The Jesuits had deliberately avoided involvement in politics, but the threat of their expulsion from Iraq always lingered. Despite wide acceptance in the Baghdad community, each government crisis offered an opportunity for successive governments to expel the Jesuits and discontinue their work.

Signals of serious trouble arose in 1967 when the American Embassy in Iraq closed as a result of the Six-Day War with Israel. The American Jesuits remained at the school despite the exodus of most Americans from Iraq.

In 1968, however, the Baathist coup drastically changed the country's political landscape. Private schools, Muslim and Jesuit alike, were nationalized (as had been done a decade earlier in Syria). Rejecting the pleas of Muslim professors at Baghdad University, the Baathist government - and the first government of Iraq to do so - seized Al-Hikma University and ordered the Al-Hikma Jesuits out of Iraq in November 1968. Ignoring the warnings of the Baathists, hundreds of students gathered at the airport to bid farewell to the Jesuit Fathers - affectionately referred to by the Iraqis as fadheria. The government subsequently took control of Baghdad College on August 24, 1969 and gave the remaining 33 Jesuits three days to leave Iraq. In total, 145 Jesuits worked at Baghdad College. Five are buried next to the school's chapel, land that still belongs to the Society of Jesus. Baghdad College has remained a public institution since the Jesuit expulsion, but has retained its elite status nevertheless.

During the 1980s, both Qusay and Uday Hussein attended the school, each terrorizing students and staff and flaunting the school's strict rules. In an interview with The New York Times, school headmaster Yacob Yusef noted of the two brothers: "Qusay was very stupid; he got a 4 percent on one of his midterm examinations. Uday was smarter, sometimes the teachers would answer the questions for him." Omar al-Tikriti, son of Iraqi secret service leader Barzan al-Tikriti, ran for student representative. When he received only two votes, his bodyguards beat the winner, leaving him paralyzed. All students were forced to attend classes on Saddam Hussein.

In late 1993, Uday Hussein appointed himself as the school's president and immediately relieved the headmaster, Qutaiba Al-Durubi, from his duties. The plan was to restore the school to its pre-nationalization status. This started with reinstating the Dean, Assistant Dean for Science Affairs, and Assistant Dean for Students Affairs positions to be held by Laith Al-Qassab, Muwaffak Al-Sam'ani, and Farid Arseen, respectively. Muwaffak Al-Sam'ani, both Baghdad College and Al-Hikma University graduate and a professor at Al-Hikma University for several years during the 1960s, was the true mastermind behind the plan. All curricula was replaced and all the best teachers in the country were literally forced to transfer to Baghdad College. Many of the original (Jesuit-era) traditions were restored including Al-Iraqi, the school's once famous yearbook.

Although Uday Hussain lost interest in the school three years later, the improvement efforts didn't stop. Many hope that after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and removal of Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party, the school will be able to return to its former glory.