Al-Hikma University (Baghdad)

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Al-Hikma University in Baghdad was founded in 1956 by Jesuit priests from the New England Province of the Society of Jesus. It was located at Zaafarania, on the southern outskirts of Baghdad and was an extension of the work of the Jesuits who had a permanent presence in Baghdad since four Jesuits had founded a secondary school, Baghdad College, in 1932. The intrepid history of the Jesuit mission in Iraq has been chronicled by Father Joseph MacDonnell S.J., late of Fairfield University, in his book "Jesuits by the Tigris". The Jesuits were expelled from Iraq in 1968 by the Baathist government. Initially, the student body numbered only 45, but, by the time that the university was closed,there were 656 students. Over its lifetime, around 1900 students graduated from the university. The student body was extremely diverse in ethnicity, religion and gender and was roughly 40 percent Muslim, 32 percent Catholic, 21 percent Orthodox Christian, and about 7 percent Jewish. The staff was also mixed: roughly half of them were Jesuits, while Iraqi lay teachers, both Christian and Muslim, Fulbright Professors, and a small group of volunteer teachers from abroad made up the rest. Reunions of graduates of both Baghdad College and Al-Hikma University continue to be held bi-annually. The most recent one was organised in Chicago in July 2006.