The AUC vs. Cairo

A view of Cairo from the Citadel in Islamic Cairo
AUC's old campus in Tahrir Square (downtown)
AUC's new campus in New Cairo (both top and bottom pics)
I meant to be more consistent with my posts (reporting from Cairo), but I'm lacking a bit in time management skills.

Well, attending the American University in Cairo (AUC) has been a completely different, and at times opposite, experience from simply living in Cairo. It's as if they are completely different worlds.

AUC has a reputation in the Middle East of being the best university in all of Egypt. And being the best comes with being the most expensive as well. Other reputable universities are Cairo University and Ein Shams University. Al Azhar University was once highly regarded as well, but today it's only considered to be good for learning Arabic. Among these universities and throughout the country, Egyptians know that AUC's student population mostly consists of students from the elite class. Many of them are children of ambassadors, army officials and other important people and they come from a lot of money. But there are also a number of students who attend AUC on scholarship.

AUC seems to resemble a high school rather than a university because of how cliquey it feels. As a joke, but also partially based on truth, one of the school newspapers printed a map of the campus where they showed the hangout spots of all the social groups at AUC. There's the infamous "Gucci Corner", the "Goth spot", the steps where the "Cool Kids" chill and plenty of others that escape my memory right now. I had been hearing rumors about these groups since before I even arrived in Egypt, but I took it all as a joke. Little did I know, that these hangout spots actually exist. On top of that, there appears to be a divide between the "elitist" kids and the scholarship students. It's easy to see that they all hang out with their respective groups and the reason for that is because of the girls and how they look. Almost all of the "elitist" girls do not wear the hijab or headscarf, whereas most of the scholarship girls do wear the hijab. I never thought the hijab could be so representative of what "class" a girl comes from.

In the U.S. I have usually met Muslim girls who wear the headscarf solely for religious purposes. So far, my time in Cairo has shown me that a girl wearing the headscarf here does not necessarily reflect anything about her religious or moral values. Many girls here are forced to wear the hijab because of their family or simply because their culture expects them to. Sometimes it becomes surprisingly hard to find the girls who do wear the hijab for Islam.

What's even more surprising is how women who wear the headscarf are treated in Cairo. Veiled women are not allowed to enter any nightclubs or bars. Some people consider veiled women to be low class. Others think that if they are admitted into clubs or bars, they would be a religious reminder for everyone else, meaning that those Muslims who are drinking and getting high would just feel too guilty if they were to see any veiled women while they're having the time of their lives. Not quite a justification for discrimination, but that's just my opinion.

Going back to AUC, I think that most Egyptians see AUC as a symbol of supposedly modernization, secularism, the rich, etc. It's true that a significant minority but nevertheless a minority of girls wear the hijab on campus, however, AUC is still its own bubble that only represents a certain economic class in Cairo. Getting to know other Cairenes has been more of a challenge than I thought it would be. And it doesn't help that I have little confidence in my Arabic skills, so there still seems to be a language barrier.

Although, I do want to make clear that whatever students I have met at AUC, whether they are part of the "elitist" class or scholarship students, have been extremely kind and friendly towards me. They are always willing to help and even though passing through the "Gucci Corner" of campus was intimidating at first, it never feels like the students are out to get you or bully you.
AUC is simply a different world. Not necessarily bad, but one that is not quite representative of the real Egypt and where the greater number of Egyptians come from or what they go through.

Comments

David Vilder said…
Interesting article! I attended AUC as well in spring 2010 and I am far from content of my experience. I never saw such a bubble within one country.

Once a poll came out saying what Egyptian students thought of Americans and vice-versa. What Egyptians thought was that "American smell, and they are cheap because they eat at El Omda, a falafel place"... no comment.
Anonymous said…
Hi.
This is my first time visiting your blog. I've been doing some research, because I, like you, have been living abroad for some time now and I've come back to join university and now I'm torn between AUC and Cairo university.

I guess I just wanted to thank you for this article, because I'm about 90% positive now that I'll be joining Cairo University. The whole "class segregation" simulation thing that everyone says about AUC just repels me to be honest. I've had a pretty itinerant life, and not once have I ever gone to a place where your class or how you dress matters so much, and I'm definitely not gonna start now.
AUCian said…
Yes...it's disappointing that this segregation exists at AUC. Nevertheless, I'm very pleased to say that everyone I've met has been very friendly although I should note that I have not met one of the "Gucci" AUCians. I would have just hoped there was wasn't such a barrier between the locals and the foreigners.

@David: That comment about El Omda and americans being cheap about going there - they obviously don't understand that one of the major reasons foreigners come to AUC is to get a taste of Egyptian culture; el omda with egyptian falafel gives them that (literally) . It's a bonus that it's very affordable.
Anonymous said…
dude u r right ur description is very accurate that's how all egyptians look at the AUC it's just a one big fancy highschool where egyptian billionaires sons and famous belly dancers daughters are enrolled in it it's all about money if u got the cash u get in there it's not like harvard or yale where u need brains actually more than any other thing
AUCian 09 said…
if any looser said that AUC is about money only and its only about fun. Well thats because you are a big looser and you cannot even enter it ! and if anyone has told u that AUC isn't hard, thats because he is a looser like you !! ... i'm a student at Construction Engineering Faculty and it is really great, you have no idea how do we study !!! so keep ur shitty talk to yourself and dont mention the name of AUC !!! Thank You for reading :S
Anonymous said…
"AUCian 09 said..."

THANK YOU !
Anonymous said…
@AUCian 09
If AUC students have such an amazing linguistic mastery of English such as that of yours, then I'm just glad that I'm a Medical Student in The Cairo University,
And In case you did not know, I had to get over 98.5% on the last year of GSCE in order to get into this facility.

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